Why I Decided To Till My Garden 

I posted this on your last video but don't know if you saw it so posting it again........I am not sure why no one knows this but if you plant wild garlic in your gardens you won't have any aphids. I grow them in my flower and vegetable gardens. Even my roses don't get any aphids. They reseed themselves and have a tiny bulb underground so if you get too many you can just cook with them. They have a very mild flavor. One year I planted petunias in pots and the aphids must have been mad at me because they covered my petunias. I planted one garlic plant in the center of each pot and now I don't get any aphids. I have added the to all my other potted plants too. My local greenhouse had them growing everywhere on their lawn and asked if I wanted some and I said sure. I planted them to eat but years down the road I realized I never had any aphids so it was purely by accident that I got rid of any aphids.🙂

I used to till - now I grow everything in the blue recycle bins that the town used to use - they gave them away when they switched to the mechanical arms. I have about forty of them. I cut the bottoms out and use them like a raised bed. Works great - drilled holes for heavy wire hoops - frost protection and bug cloth. I made drip irrigation attached to each bed (rows) from my water barrels. I have an old pool filter - about twenty-five gallons - for the supply. I can add fertilizer to it and direct it to the rows that I want with shut-offs. I pump the collected rain to that barrel. I had to make the rows wider last year so that I could get my stool and big feet to fit without cramping me up - that happens when you get old - ninety-two years - the doctor, last week, said that the only thing wrong with me was my weight - six foot - 190 pounds - every test came in at 100%. The healthiest old goat that he's seen - makes me happy.

When I was converting the front lawn to a garden space, I found that whoever had built the house decades ago had dumped all their construction waste there and buried it over. This included 200 lb. sandstone boulders that protruded up through the soil, and unfortunately had to be lifted out by hand. I also encountered all kinds of glass shards and scrap metal, and a lot of random garbage, which are apparently typical of suburban construction. I regret tilling this area since I caused a lot of damage to the nearby tree roots, but the construction waste had to come out, and it's the only time I will have to do this. I've since taken a new approach of core gardening by placing bundles of organic material at roughly ground level, and then burying the whole thing with topsoil and compost in order to mound up the bed. Instead of bales of hay, I'm using bundles of newspaper that would otherwise get thrown in the recycle (which would cost the town fuel to transport and process) that are tied up with sisal twine. I also went around the neighborhood and swiped everyone's discarded Christmas trees in the first week of January, so I could cut them up and bury them for a new hügelkultur bed I'm building.

1 till then no till is the way to go when you’re starting a new area to plant for sure!!! Great video & explanations!!!🪱🪱🪱

This actually makes a lot of sense. Suburban lawns are typically crappy fill (e.g., clay and/or rock), get fertilized and herbicized several times per year, and no amount of compost overlay will really fix that in the first few seasons. Hope as we may, Charles Dowding. I don't want to till my existing no-til gardens, but maybe a round or two of broad forking will help.

Wow, Eric, that was mind boggling! I live on the east coast and I follow Charles Dowding and a number of other British gardeners. Realizing that they are growing on ancient soils that were farm lands and pastures and, like you, I'm growing on an area that was cleared for houses in the last half century and around here was pure sand to begin with. I finally have the answer to Why is this so hard!?

Thank you, this is *exactly* what we did, and I got so much crap for it in my online gardening groups. We’re also in SD and our soil was rock hard clay. We did a full year of heavy mulch with no results. Our pick axe could barely made a dent. We covered the yard with a few cubic yards of compost, and tilled with a rental tiller. 3 months later and we have worms and life returning to the soil!

Thanks for explaining this. I am just starting out and have noticed that the soil I have to work with is pretty compacted and not in great shape so tilling once at the start seemed like the thing to do but I held off since I just kept hearing advice saying never to till. Tilling once makes a lot of sense, in the right circumstances.

As new gardeners it's difficult when you follow a certain philosophy. Especially when the people you follow often time took years to develop their own. Every situation is different so why would there be a singular solution. Solid observations, well thought out solutions = sound advice. Cheers Kevin From Victoria Canada

Try adding gypsum then soak with water. It will make tilling much easier, plus adds calcium.

Where I am, rocks have babies. There are so many rocks tilling is a must. Successive planting gets better, but sometimes I feel like they move and settle in my beds. It does give me a chance to add nutrients, biochar, rice hull, vermicompost, etc.

Love this. I started working in my grandparents garden in 1944 on their farm. My mom did the victory gardens and I started with my husband while a junior in college. The only way I knew was organic. I have been no-till gardening for several years on our land now. We are too old and crippled, but the 3, 5, and 15 gallon buckets keep us growing food and flowers. I just have to smell and touch the earth. It becomes a death until we stop. The buckets help since I am in a wheelchair.

I did break up the soil with a pitchfork for many years. At first, the soil was soft, but after a few months, it seemed to settle again to a very firm upper layer. I think there is truth that there is a "structure" to untouched soil that you breakup with tilling. Now I just add compost, and leave it otherwise.

I could never tilled my backyard, I have too many underground cables running and I don't even have cable in my house. So I did Charles Dowding method. I've been very fortunate to have a great backyard with hardly any weeds and great soil. You got to do what you go do for starting a veggie garden.

When I first started the garden here my clay ground was so hard you couldn't even get the tip of a shovel into it. Whenever it rained (and it rains a lot in Tas!) the water just sat on top of the ground turning it into a constant mud pit. I originally tilled mine but in the years since I've just been adding organic matter on top of the originally tilled ground. It's now chock full of worms and other life and the water no longer just sits on top of rock hard ground without soaking in.

I completely agree with you Kevin. Anyone who has clay knows that it can be like cement. Not a lot of living things can survive in cement-like conditions. Tilling on a regular basis = no; tilling once in the beginning = yes, if needed. Your space looks great! 👍

I LOVE THIS! Kevin you have no idea how valuable this video was. As you know I'm a boring old soil scientist so I'm ALWAYS talking about "dirt" and I recognized this ALL the time in the gardens of folks I am helping. Tillage is a tool and a valuable tool that is very important for anyone in your situation. GREAT VIDEO! Love from Canada ❤❤❤

Tili, We used a one till only method of starting a garden in The Philippines. We then added rice hulls and sand to loosen up the clay soil that had been rice field for over 100 years. We compost rice hulls, rice straw and garden waste. One till was needed initially to break up the top of the old rice field. Great video. Thank you for sharing. Stay well and stay safe. Be blessed!

The biggest takeaway I got from this awesome video was that gardening and soil care is a lifetime long endeavour. Thinking of your life in terms of the number of growing seasons is such a fundamentally connected way to view your life. And if you're growing healthfully, eating healthfully and nurturing your growing space, I find it difficult to imagine a more rich way to live your life.❤❤❤

100% agree with 'whatever works for you' + knowledge! I have heavy clay, full of rocks, so I till each section several times, incorporating compost, picking out the stones, breaking up the clay clods by hand, until the soil is loose and 'rich' and then I switch to no dig. I haven't got enough time to wait for the earthworms to do all the work! This has worked for me and I have several beds with beautiful deep healthy soil. One rule for everyone doesn't work!

Thank you. This is my exact situation with Sacramento clay in a 70 year old suburb. I feel so relieved now. Heading out to finish tilling this morning then off to the Farmer's market for my organic starts! I'm really glad I found your video. What a relief.

Jacques pulling weeds was reminiscent of every infomercial lol

I love seeing this, as someone who just moved to a new home where the soil is basically straight clay, I did some research and realized I really need to till up the ground add organic matter and then do layers of the clay and organic matter to make the soil drain better instead of having the water pool up at the top and never actually penetrate the top layer of dirt (or in this case clay) I dont want to till up my garden that I just planted in yet, but after the end of the season maybe during the winter months Ill be able to use any dead plant matter and save dup food scraps that compost and turn the soil into something other than straight clay

I just moved and this is exactly what I was thinking! Till this year to break up the soil, and then add compost annually. Thank you so much for making me feel better about my decision.

The one till method always made the most sense to me. Broadfork until you have the perfect soil composition and the just add to it every year.

I would love to see you use that great fence for vertical gardening. Hanging bags of Strawberries or cherry tomatoes. Or even just flowers for a pop of color to your fantastic green garden.

This is the best gardening channel on YT. Thank you so much for producing and sharing. Really influencing my gardens this year. Better than anything on TV or streaming apps. TY so much Epic Gardening.

Great thought process on the tilling. I love the no digg method for gardening but tilling first has been a game changer for me. You are spot on about getting a jump start on improving your soil.

I'm in a rental and I haven't tilled but I've found when I dug deep in some areas to grow potatoes, or plant bulbs into the former lawn, I found big, fist or football sized rocks in the soil!! In one raised bed area, I found a stone the size of a medium dog :O that they used to fill the bed that a flowering bush was planted right on top of (and later cut down... no wonder)! I've started noticing whereever there's been patchy grass is a good indicator of rocks in the lawn... SUCH a horrible idea just to try save money on fill! -.- My city yard would definitely be a candidate for tilling once (if the machines were strong enough for the rocks!)

I thought you where going to say “f**k it because why not” lol great information. I’ve always felt a natural calling to break the top soil even after watching so many videos that told me no. I feel the purpose of working in the garden is connecting with God. As I feel at times I’m clueless when in the garden but some random thought of knowledge always comes to me that I have never visited or practice and it always amazes me to see the results. Thanks for this video as its confirming my doubts of yesterday as I literally broke all my soil yesterday 02/01/2021. And you literally just uploaded it, STRANGE much? 🤔. Have faith in God!

I inadvertently did a "one till" with my plot because I didn't discover "no till" until after I'd dug it over in my first season, and I know I've benefitted from that one off. My plot has been leaps and bounds better than other plot holders in the area, makes me feel quite smug ...

Last year I converted to market garden techniques including in my birdies raised garden beds, I have never gotten better results. The market garden techniques are scalable down for a Home Market Garden! Good explanation on why a 1 till is appropriate.

Thank you for this, you convinced me to give one-till a try! I'm a rural gardener with a lot of space that no one has gardened in but my soil is like a brick (seriously, you need a pickaxe to get into it when it's dry) and early last winter I started some no-till lasagna beds that are doing well, but you've convinced me to try tilling in some areas and see what happens - it'll be cool to see how the one-till vs no-till beds grow and change! Also, I love your San Diego optimism about the end of winter - I'm in zone 5b and my last frost date is in May. That doesn't stop me from starting seeds indoors in March and then moving them to cold frames in my raised beds (and then panicking about the cold frames collapsing during the inevitable freak blizzard in April), but we'll be waiting a few months before we break out the rototiller! ;)

I have heavy clay soil, I have been rolling every year just to get that good organic material I'm building on the surface over the year deep in the ground to break up the clay. Soon I won't have to till anymore and will be able to just build up.

Excellent points here.... I think it's likely that your first year out you will have to till to set the soil up to heal correctly.

The only way I was able to till my bed was with my 60hp stump grinder. I tried the large walk behind tillers, broke two of them ( they refused to rent it to me anymore). Neighbor had something behind his John Deere 4wd farm tractor. It would just bounce off. Maybe 4-6” of soil with feet of hard ass clay. When it’s dry, it’s cement and wet it stick and binds to whatever you put in it. I had a 60hp Carlton stumper with tracks, it would chop it up to dust. One problem with that was, once wet the dried, it was like walking on a concrete pad. The only thing I find that works well is a foot or two of wood chips layered on top and a lot of time. I do a lot of raised bed with 2nd hand tin and yellow wood frame. Also used the cow panels squares.

This is great insight, I'm planning to start a new veggie garden after two years growing with containers only and definitely will test my soil first to decide if I need to till the soil before starting. Thank you!

The black and white video of Jacques pulling weeds in frustration is giving me serious infomercial vibes (before the miracle product is introduced).

Another great video. Thank you for providing some no-frost (or low frost) socal gardening tips. The best!

I’m glad someone has come out and said this! I also garden on heavy clay soil (but with high rainfall) and it would take years to get a productive no dig garden here. But till once, add some organic matter/nutrients and boom you’re away 👍👍👍

Like the channel, and I am a subscriber. And I don't take exception to this video but do want to add that I cant till my garden as it was full of tree roots in hard red clay soil. There was not an earthworm in sight. But, I piled up barn cleanings that I get from a sheep barn on top of that red clay, and in the shape of a 4 foot bed. It has been 11 months since I did that and I have now have black soil filled with earthworms. So what I am saying is I still don't think tilling is necessary. Just sharing what I have observed and I gave this video a thumbs up. Also, I have recently bought six Birdies beds from EPIC so going to start an additional garden using raised beds.

It's what I do. I till the soil once then set-up my permenant notill beds and paths. Then no more tilling.😊

Thanks Kevin, this makes lots of sense. I used to till each bed at the start of the growing season. I incorporate no tilling philosophy now, though may do gentle loosening it something is too compacted. When I removed my unhealthy looking front lawn of 25+ years to do drought resistant garden, the soil was very poor & compacted so I did do rotor tiller once, then add lots of compost to built the soil. After planting, I added walk on bark mulch. There should be no need for it to be tilled again.

Starts to warm up slightly...... Yeah it'll be quite a while until we aren't under a bunch of snow. The ground is frozen until like... April. I wish I could be outside working

I did survival back to eden gardening for 4 years and had great success, but the 4th year I did till before planting my onions and garlic bulbs and I'm glad I did. For those it definitely paid off.

I love that you rock a Sierra Nevada cap on the regular. I enjoy the couple hour drive to Chico to enjoy the brewery/food with friends a couple times a year. Keep it up Kevin and excited to see how the house changes this year. Cheers!!

Makes a lot of sense! I also have very hard clay soil that is lacking in nutrients.

Great discussion. I'm excited to see the Carolina Coop panels in the background. Just the other day I was wondering how that project was progressing. I built my own from scratch very much inspired by their designs. Love it.

Well put. I have lots of gardens. 3 are very compacted, so needed the till. Yet the other 2 and orchard are deep soft soil from years of fruit tree cast off fruits.

Things are always changing 😉. Thanks for updates Kevin. And your garden looks wonderful 👍. 👵🏻👩‍🌾❣️

Great video, clearly & knowledgeably explained. 👍 I've also been a long-time fan of Charles' (Sir Charles to me, lol) gardens & methods - spectacular results in a wonderful part of the UK. The science of soil life, just like that of the microbiome in the gut, is mind-blowing & humbling - an epiphany! I marvel at the wonder of it all every time I go out into my garden. 😇 These days I grow most of my veggies in giant tubs (I'm 76 now) & use thick cardboard underneath to keep the weeds down & feed the earthworms - but we have terraced beds on one side of the plot for the more leggy plants & use the no-dig method there. It took me at least 2 decades to convince my ex-farmer husband to "let me" give it a try. Three more decades later I think he's finally convinced. 😁 Kevin, may your 69 garden seasons be joyful & bountiful - & may you continue to inspire! Blessings from Canada, Barb 🙋

I ended up putting in raised beds but when I was considering the inground garden, I was definitely going to till the hard pan that is my yard first. It's also just full of rocks. So many rocks.

I gasped when I saw the video title! Your reasoning makes sense though. We've been gardening at my house off and on for about 10 years. Our first year we stripped the sod and double dug - NEVER AGAIN! The last 2 years we've been No Dig all the way but I admit, we do broadfork all the new beds before we put cardboard down because it makes pulling up the nasty weeds and roots so much easier.

The clay under my short raised beds has already shown significant improvement after only a few months. I filled the beds with a combination of commercial raised bed soil, peat, perlite, manure, compost and slow-release fertilizer. So far, so good! Can't wait until Spring to really get some experience with growing.

Keep the good work and keep growing as a gardener too. Thanks for the good advice and excellent content.

I have clay on top of clay on top of rocks, like boulders. At first site it's a rock sticking up, then dig and find a 3 ton rock! So I have determined to build up and not dig down. I am considering a permeculture system. I'm on a side of the mountain with a few plateaus. Creating a Small pond up hill gravity water garden below. Working on berms and swales in an s-shape fashion to catch every bed going down the hill. I saw an old technique they dig a skinny deep trench around each bed for the water to get to the root levels and not run off at the clay level. Still observing the land and constantly adjusting the plan. Love your videos! Always inspiring and makes me think! Love and light, peace and joy my gardening friend! 🌈❤🌏✌️

Best approach and explanation on tilling I've seen.

I live in tropics with 300++ rainy day with clay soil. I tell you even the soil hardly absorb the water if you are not till it first. I tried with no dig in the first year with 20cm compost and vegetables roots can't go into the native soil. So yes, I need to till it first. And now the veggies are much much better

Great video Kevin

I always get my soil tested. The test will let you know what ur garden needs and you don't have to worry about it later(only cost about 12 dollars for me). I'll till once a year. Then add a year aged compost on-top of whatever else it needs(from the result of the test). after I plant I'll add in some bone-meal and blood-mean for fast growth then pull back afterword. I've never tried no-till before in my in ground beds but I do respect everyone way of doing things. I love to see what everyone else comes up with. so much fun

I just recently came across your video. Very informative. As we continue to develop our backyard garden, it's something to think about for sure. Thanks man!

I tilled my new garden because i saw it when it was still a building site. There was so much trash left all over the place by the builders! Old wiring, nails, glass, pieces of rebar. I’m glad I did, because I don’t need to be hurting myself while gardening. I didn’t manage to get rid of everything, but so far I’ve only encountered glass going through my gardening glove once, in the past year.

Charles D. can go no-till in the places he’s set up gardens. Those are areas with substantial year-round precipitation and organic matter filled soil. Here in SoCal, the soil, no, can’t even call it that … the DIRT is dry and devoid of life most of the year. Your one-till method is the only hope for getting any life into it in a reasonable amount of time!

Wow learn something new grew up on a farm and we always till after every harvest

I used to grow in containers, I decided a few year ago to grow in ground and tilled up a 30x30 area. I till twice a year. Once in the fall, I put all my leaves and compost from the yard and chicken coop and the left over garden waste from that year, I till all that in. Then again in the spring a few weeks before planting. I go as deep as possible. About a 12 to 14 inches deep. I always have great crops and the soil life is amazing. Also, in the spring, wait as long as you can before tilling, because alot of bees and other insects sleep in the tilled ground for winter. I typically wait until April 1st to till and then plant in mid April. Last frost permitting.

I did the "one-till" method many years ago to start my garden because of the hard red clay under the sod layer, and it gave me a jump-start that a traditional no-till wouldn't have. I never tilled after the first year.

It just depends on where you are and what your climate atmosphere is doing. I till if there is a substantial rainy season. The rain compacts our clay/sand soil here and it actually blocks water from absorbing into the ground. So we till to help airiate the soil so the roots can breathe. If we have a drought, we will not till to help keep the moisture into the soil.

I plan to till once after removing a portion of my back lawn for a bed. Excited for spring here in zone 7a

About to start an area for growing. I’ve had to use bobcat to pull up much from the very top but I’m planning on filling the rows and so tips like this are important to me. I’ve gardened most of my life and done several types of gardens but I’m always interested in learning ideas and from the pros. Thank you for your video

love this topic ... thanks for shedding light ! Not everything needs to be dichotomized ...sometimes theres a 3rd option ... this is one of those 3rd options ;)

Absolutely correct!!! Check your soil first. It tends to be even worse the closer to you get to the foundation. If you have acres of land, like some do ...uh um, then you might get undisturbed, uncompacted soil. I don't till, but I will fork down about 8-12" and if its clay, rocks etc, I amend and after that it becomes no-till, no-dig from that point on.

I just came here to say, I see that coop in the background… I am so freaking excited for that video when it drops!

I've never understood the anti-till ethos. We tilled every year or two when I was growing up, and we always tilled in lots of compost and organic material. It just donned on me watching this that I grew up in west Texas and the anti-till ethos probably comes from places where there is real soil, not just red sand/clay. Tilling always worked great for us. Now that I live in a more hospitable climate with better soil, I'm reconsidering the need to till every year. Thanks for the info!

After tilling for over 25 years, we switched to raised beds. I used the mantis tiller to mix soil, compost, peat moss and manure. The mix was heavier than expected, and as I top it off each year I'm adding bio char and Perlite. May never need the Mantis again, but it was almost worn out.

I stopped tilling several years ago, my garden has improved vastly, every fall I pile on the old hay, leaves or woodchips along with the chicken manure/litter thru the winter. I have built up beautiful soil and have a beautiful garden with few weeds. Ruth Stout all the way.

Your on point man. I really appreciate your perspective.

Iowa Zone 5a. Gardening in what was one of the richest soils in the world until the scrappers removed it to build suburban housing. The black hard clay underneath the sod seems to be rich in minerals. 'Seems', because we've gotten good results laying garden waste, kitchen scraps, grass clippings & shredded leaves on top of the grass, covering this over with a light layer of manure and top soil, and letting it sit over the winter. Altogether, the lasagna layer over grass sod is about 6 to 8 inches thick, so no need for cardboard to block weeds. Once the bed gets going, I still do a light till in the fall to work in soil amendments, and lay 2 to 3 inches of shredded leaves over the bed in the fall. IMO, a light till aerates the soil so the microbes and fungi can do their work, and the layer of shredded leaves keeps the bed from becoming compacted over the winter. By mid June, the shredded leaves have turned to leaf mold, and I'm left scrounging around trying to find mulch to cover up the soil. You have to do what works in your area. Following good advice that doesn't work isn't the way to go...

Spot on Kevin

Nice video. Your thinking makes total sense.

I think this is a good explantation, I actually turned my allotment over once before I understood about no dig, but tbh the soil desperately needed to be levelled it was terribly uneven and just a hazard to walk on. I have the horrendous London sticky clay, I built low raised beds filled those with compost and now I do no dig, I have a few in ground beds and I have gone with no dig for those, and they are gradually improving! Some of my neighbours till and till and till the clay every year and it just ends up being a lot of work for them! the way the London clay is here if you till it all then it forms these use clumps and then it dries and then becomes like boulders, so id say London clay is best not dug especially in our climate that can go from very wet to extremely dry in the space of a few days! However your soil was so dry your climate is dry and that soil looked pretty dead, I think you made the right call!

Our backyard where we do a lot of our gardening wasn't just heavy clay. What wasn't clay was literal rock. Our soil was incredibly stony. If we didn't dig out the beds to begin with, it would have been genuinely impossible to grow on top of it. I'm a big fan of the one-till approach as well.

I till my beds once a year to incorporate compost and make soil with wonderful tilth. I have been in this garden for 25 years now and my soil just gets better and better! I guess my beds are bacterially dominated but since my vegetables are grown as annuals I reckon their symbiotic fungi are probably annuals too eh? Where I grow perennials, I expect to have more fungal dominated soils.

When I till, which is rarely, but needed because I do have a bit of clay compacted soil, I do cross tilling. I have a 233 CC Craftsman rear tine tiller with extra width tillers. Takes me only a few minutes in 5 garden plots. I make one pass vertically and then one pass horizontally, and then I hit it with a garden fork after to break up any compaction and prevent future compaction. I also add a few different types of mixed compost, then organic fertilizers if needed, usually at the beginning and end of the growing season. Tilling does considerably help with the adding nutrients back in. Also consider getting casings, add ladybugs, encourage assassin bugs, and add earthworms.

Totally agree with you!

1/2 way would be: water it, then broad fork it, add amendments and go. Fewer weeds, less disturbance. You might consider planting the rain. I am building a garden on a gentle slope. My beds will be 2.5 feet wide by 8 ft long on contour. I am digging a little trench on the high side to catch the rain, putting the extra soil in the bed to have a bit of a raised bed. I am filling the trench with shredded leaves I picked up from neighborhood trash last fall. This whole garden plot has been covered with a bill board tarp since last July to kill the bermuda and nut sedge. I am building the garden one bed at a time. I will end up with 10 beds plus my 2 Birdies raised beds I got from you several years ago that brought with me from my old house. Just another way to do it.

This is very helpful. Thank you for the one till confirmation. I live in Florida and do edible landscaping here in the super sandy soil. We typically practice no-till growing using topical application and chop-and-drop. But, I began to notice, like you said, there wasn't any soil life in our sandy soil to begin with and the top lay wasn't fully penetrating, and in some cases would wash away. So this year I'm trying to till the dead sandy soil to initially mix in living organic material, compost, etc. I don't see the harm of an initial tilling when you're not actually harming anything, but tilling healthy living soil seems silly and counterproductive. Doing a one-till, and then moving to a no-till using living mulch, companions, and chop-and-drop makes sense to me, so thanks for making a video about it.

I am in soil sciences, and I fight between the traditional fields and ideologies and the organic/no-till ideologies... this is precisely what I have been thinking. The initial till, and then from there, start sustaining what you have through cover crops. Forcing aggregates and porosity, though short-term, allows you to make money (the goal for some) to maintain future systems.

As someone who lives in an area with heavy red clay, the whole “no till” concept has always cracked me up.

The till or no-till debate always makes me laugh. Do what's best for you. I don't till the food forest because it's nearly all perennials (and would destroy their roots) and most prefer a fungal dominated soil. I till by raised garden beds because I want the organic material mixed through and veggies prefer a bacteria dominated soil, so slowing down the fungal development helps that. I find no-till people to be the most rabid tho, just hope they don't find my 100% non-organic hydroponics lol

Lively discussion you started, Kevin I garden in 8b Austin, TX, a home gardener who discover caliche when I started to plant. I've tried a bunch of things, including digging trenches, moving the dirt to the backyard for berms to prevent runoff from rain, and then filling the trenches with rose mix. Since we.bought the house in 2005, I've been collecting the leaves my neighbors foolishly throw away and using them for mulch. Now in my 70s, I've adopted no dig. With replaced knees and severe arthritis, I've had to adapt without giving up. I'm lucky to be able to hire someone to help haul bags of compost and other tasks. Ideology doesn't help me garden I just do what I can, and the garden flourishes. There's something in bloom most of the time.

When I moved into my house (Zone 10a, so California) 2 years ago the front yard garden was covered in weed cloth and the "soil" underneath was quite literally like concrete. There were a few shallow holes that had some sad looking succulents placed in them--perhaps the realtor's attempt at curbside appeal? I layered cardboard, compost and mulch and immediately planted some ornamental shrubbery--which thrived! I've since added another layer of compost and mulch, and added daikon, fava beans, peppers, and calendula there as well. No till seems to work well for me!

This is so interesting, as I've gone through a bit of an evolution with this too. I've been very No Dig, but found that on compacted soil, (my place was farmland, and I'm between 2 very large farms, so while we have great soil here it has been compacted by livestock and nutrients locked up with use of superphosphate etc), I was finding that actually putting compost and mulch on to the surface was only creating a thin top layer. It really wasn't being brought down at least not much, by micro organisms. I was introduced to the idea of broadforking, and over the course of a few years that evolved to opening up new areas by a kind of in place forking / tilling. I do it with a pitchfork, by hand, and mostly manage to break the soil up finely in place in the ground, without turning or upending it or upsetting the layers, and causing the minimal possible harm to soil fauna. I can then incorporate compost, manures, rock dust etc, just by laying it over the top and forking again to sort of sift it down through the loosened soil. Doing it that way avoids the negatives of tilling as much as possible I feel, while still getting useable soil quickly for maximum food production straight away. It's HORRIBLY hard work but my plan is just this, one till, then my chooks compost the plants in, I add mulch etc, and off it goes. I have been growing food most of my life - I am 51 - but never owned a place until less than 5 years ago. I grow most of the fresh food that I and my kids eat, so I simply don't have the years to gradually build up soil, as you point out, and I am serious about pulling quantity of food out of the soil, feeding myself and 3 kids. So interesting parallels with things that I have moved to and for similar reasons. Nice to seen thanks for sharing your journey!

I've always been surprised that you do as well as you do with the soil there... I'm bless with nearly perfect black gold. I'm a 1 till person to clear and shape the space and remove rocks and sod. Cover with wood chips and leaves for the winter. All prepped and ready for spring planting.

I plan on doubling my growing space this year and wish I could do that one first till, but I have snow on the ground and the forecast is for around 16" of snow over the next few days.

I test my soil by poking a small stick into various areas of a bed, I do this when the moisture levels are about average. If there are any areas that feel heavier then I stick a fork in and lightly crack the surface to help loosen the compaction.

I did no till for several years. However I soon had problems with soil born pests such as squash vine borers. I till now, but I also sheet mulch with newsprint and 4 inches of shredded leaves and straw (no weeds). Always had plenty of earthworms.

A very interesting video, I dont tell, have done on the past but, now have raised beds & what a difference. Thanks fir sharing & take care 🙂

yes!!! This makes sense!!

I always give new ground a good tilling to kick start making good soil from crappy dirt, especially if it is hard rock/ clay like our new house yard is (recently bought 2.5 acres). Sometimes i will do another till after a few years to mix in composted manure to freshen the soil up

Not digging down 2 feet lol under snow but sure wish I could. Its beautiful there!