March 16, 2010

    The front vegetable garden is at last totally free of grass and weeds, and back to the lovely dirty brown, ready-to-plant state that I love most.  The side flower bed that runs the length of the vegetables now needs the same treatment:  taking a shovel and removing the top 2 inches to get rid of turf, weeds, their roots, and any seeds sitting in the upper layers of soil.
    I’m not rototilling this year because I’ve been reading recently on the subject, and it seems that a popular consensus exists with the opinion that tilling does more harm than good:  first, it destroys everything that nature has already been doing to the soil since last year, namely earthworms’ aeration and leaving behind of  castings, but also the layers of mycorrhizal mycelia (beneficial fungi) within the soil.  The soil does not need to be broken up or tilled every year in order to add organic matter or compost; simply spread the compost with a rake, stab the ground with a pitchfork here and there, and water it in, and the nutrients and minerals will filter down into the already well drained soil (thanks to the worms).  On a side note, it also costs you money to buy or rent a tiller and put gas in it.