What's up everyone? I wanted to start a thread on double digging your garden. This is a great method to really loosen up your soil and ensure that the roots of your plants can get down deep into the ground. An added bonus is it allows you to really pull out any crap that is in your soil such as rocks, debris, etc.
The premis behind this method is that you are removing dirt from one area and replacing it with dirt from another area. In my case, I had 4 beds that I was digging, so Bed A's dirt goes to Bed D, Bed B's goes to Bed A, Bed C's goes to Bed B, and Bed D's goes to Bed C's. Here is a quick visual on the wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_digging
The tools you will need (at minimum) are a shovel, a wheelbarrow or tarp, a tape measure, a rake, and a spading fork. Some "nice to haves" are rope or kitchen twine, a knife, marking sticks, a transfer shovel, and gloves.
Step 1. Identify your area and mark your beds.
I used the kitchen twine and bamboo sticks to mark my 4 beds.
Step 2. Remove the top layer of grass.
I started to use a regular shovel, but found that the transfer shovel works much better for this.
Step 3. Dig the bed out to about a shovel head depth.
Thanks Dad for this!
Step 4. Use your spading fork and break up the soil beneath. (I didn't take a photo, sorry, but there is a part in the video where I demonstrate sticking it in the ground and wiggling.....)
Step 5. Move the dirt to the appropriate bed.
Use the above recommendation. Move the dirt from the first bed to the last and the remaining beds over one.
Step 6. Smooth out the tops of the beds and DON'T WALK ON THE BEDS! You do not want to compress the dirt that you just spent a ton of time aerating!
At this point, you should add a few (3-4) inches of compost and your nutrients. Just work it into the top few inches of the soil and you should be good to go!
As a side note, what if you just want one bed? What if you don't want to move the dirt? Don't worry you can still "turn" the soil. The method for this is very easy. Do steps 1-4 and then put the dirt back in. You will get the same aeration results. The experts only really recommend double digging every 3-5 years, or when you are starting a new plot, the subsequent years turning the soil should be sufficient.
Here is a How-To video for yall!
http://youtu.be/TA9ZJVie7Rs
The premis behind this method is that you are removing dirt from one area and replacing it with dirt from another area. In my case, I had 4 beds that I was digging, so Bed A's dirt goes to Bed D, Bed B's goes to Bed A, Bed C's goes to Bed B, and Bed D's goes to Bed C's. Here is a quick visual on the wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_digging
The tools you will need (at minimum) are a shovel, a wheelbarrow or tarp, a tape measure, a rake, and a spading fork. Some "nice to haves" are rope or kitchen twine, a knife, marking sticks, a transfer shovel, and gloves.
Step 1. Identify your area and mark your beds.
I used the kitchen twine and bamboo sticks to mark my 4 beds.
Step 2. Remove the top layer of grass.
I started to use a regular shovel, but found that the transfer shovel works much better for this.
Step 3. Dig the bed out to about a shovel head depth.
Thanks Dad for this!
Step 4. Use your spading fork and break up the soil beneath. (I didn't take a photo, sorry, but there is a part in the video where I demonstrate sticking it in the ground and wiggling.....)
Step 5. Move the dirt to the appropriate bed.
Use the above recommendation. Move the dirt from the first bed to the last and the remaining beds over one.
Step 6. Smooth out the tops of the beds and DON'T WALK ON THE BEDS! You do not want to compress the dirt that you just spent a ton of time aerating!
At this point, you should add a few (3-4) inches of compost and your nutrients. Just work it into the top few inches of the soil and you should be good to go!
As a side note, what if you just want one bed? What if you don't want to move the dirt? Don't worry you can still "turn" the soil. The method for this is very easy. Do steps 1-4 and then put the dirt back in. You will get the same aeration results. The experts only really recommend double digging every 3-5 years, or when you are starting a new plot, the subsequent years turning the soil should be sufficient.
Here is a How-To video for yall!
http://youtu.be/TA9ZJVie7Rs