digitS'
Garden Master
People seem amazed that I use a spading fork to cultivate a fairly large garden. I honestly don't know how well it would work for other gardeners but wanted to share some information on how it works for me. Keep in mind that I have one garden where I've been using the spading fork for the last 17 years. I don't have to step on it to sink it to the full depth of the tines. Just showing up with the fork once a year now keeps that soil as soft as cake flour - or, nearly.
Also, my garden soil has rocks. It is amazingly rocky! That may be a benefit to using the the spading fork. Not that it has rocks but that it isn't 100% clay or something just a little different. I don't know. Essentially, this soil has provided about 99% of my gardening experience.
Finally, I have lots of time. Here is what I've found: In my worst soil. Where I have just barely been able to build a little depth last year when I was finally able to get all of my gardens into beds again, pre-expansion & post tractor guy in that garden. Anyway, the very worst soil! It takes me 15 rocking moves with my foot on the spade to get the tool down to its full depth. 15! I counted and counted how long it took with me standing there rocking that fork down where I could loosen a maximum amount of soil -- about 30 seconds.
Measuring what I accomplished, it was about 1/2 square foot of soil for every 30 seconds. Or, a minute every foot . . . For a bed of 100 square feet, that would be 100 minutes. Quite a long time to be standing out there with 1 foot on the spading fork. I recommend spending a little time looking around at the birds
, moving earthworms out of harms way when you catch sight of them 
, Pulling a weed or 2 with your hands , and mopping the brow or blowing your nose ands these things are required :/. Two hours?? It won't take that long. Worst ground!
I can cover that much good ground in not more than 20 minutes.
The neighbor asked me why I wasn't turning the soil with the fork. I gave him a pained expression and told him my back isn't up to it. It is step on, step back and lower my end of the handle all the way to the soil surface, if necessary. I may have to poke at a wet clod a little if it doesn't fall apart. Raking, whatever else is necessary, can be done after the soil is loosened to the 11" that the fork is capable of. There is really no need to turn the soil over. Weeds can be picked up and tossed to the side. In fact, the spading fork is particularly good at getting bad weeds out of the ground.
My wife told me yesterday that she would get the plants in the new garden area and I should save my back by going on to another place to use the fork. I mentioned that she once told me I should use the rototiller "to save my back." After I showed her how ill-advised that advice was by sleeping propped-up on the couch for 3 weeks because I couldn't lie horizontally in bed with all the back pain - she became a believer in the spading fork. I didn't take her advice on planting. No doubt, I'll be able to use those 3 weeks against her from here on out!
Steve
suffering from doing all that planting yesterday
Also, my garden soil has rocks. It is amazingly rocky! That may be a benefit to using the the spading fork. Not that it has rocks but that it isn't 100% clay or something just a little different. I don't know. Essentially, this soil has provided about 99% of my gardening experience.
Finally, I have lots of time. Here is what I've found: In my worst soil. Where I have just barely been able to build a little depth last year when I was finally able to get all of my gardens into beds again, pre-expansion & post tractor guy in that garden. Anyway, the very worst soil! It takes me 15 rocking moves with my foot on the spade to get the tool down to its full depth. 15! I counted and counted how long it took with me standing there rocking that fork down where I could loosen a maximum amount of soil -- about 30 seconds.
Measuring what I accomplished, it was about 1/2 square foot of soil for every 30 seconds. Or, a minute every foot . . . For a bed of 100 square feet, that would be 100 minutes. Quite a long time to be standing out there with 1 foot on the spading fork. I recommend spending a little time looking around at the birds
, moving earthworms out of harms way when you catch sight of them , Pulling a weed or 2 with your hands , and mopping the brow or blowing your nose ands these things are required :/. Two hours?? It won't take that long. Worst ground!I can cover that much good ground in not more than 20 minutes.
The neighbor asked me why I wasn't turning the soil with the fork. I gave him a pained expression and told him my back isn't up to it. It is step on, step back and lower my end of the handle all the way to the soil surface, if necessary. I may have to poke at a wet clod a little if it doesn't fall apart. Raking, whatever else is necessary, can be done after the soil is loosened to the 11" that the fork is capable of. There is really no need to turn the soil over. Weeds can be picked up and tossed to the side. In fact, the spading fork is particularly good at getting bad weeds out of the ground.
My wife told me yesterday that she would get the plants in the new garden area and I should save my back by going on to another place to use the fork. I mentioned that she once told me I should use the rototiller "to save my back." After I showed her how ill-advised that advice was by sleeping propped-up on the couch for 3 weeks because I couldn't lie horizontally in bed with all the back pain - she became a believer in the spading fork. I didn't take her advice on planting. No doubt, I'll be able to use those 3 weeks against her from here on out
!Steve
suffering from doing all that planting yesterday
... adding to my list of must have tools.....
