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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Multiple digging without so much work.

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  • From: Loren Davidson <listmail@lorendavidson.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Multiple digging without so much work.
  • Date: Tue, 30 May 2006 19:26:08 -0700

At 9:50 PM -0400 5/30/06, Keith Johnson wrote:
Jeavon's book entered my gardening library 31 years ago. Ruth Stout's mulch books were my first. I did them both....a lot.... and now for the last 20 years I don't double dig, or even dig, if I can avoid it.

I'm with Keith on this.

I've done my share of double-digging in the past. Somewhere along the line, I think I figured out why the Brits call this "bastard trenching." :)

These days, unless I'm planting something like a tree or shrub, I don't dig. I try to follow the Pc principle of "letting Nature do the work.) For a quickie garden bed, I'll put down a layer of cardboard or newspaper, cover with several inches of compost, and just plant my seeds or transplants into the compost. I'll usually make a cut in the paper/cardboard below each plant. When I have time to plan ahead, I'll build a sheet mulch bed, let it rot for 3-6 months, and then plant into that. I like Toby's sheet mulch recipe from _Gaia's Garden_; it really *is* bulletproof.

If I'm planting into heavy clay, I usually fork into the soil before layering stuff on top of it, just to provide some starter holes for roots. I don't dig, I don't turn or lift the soil with the spading fork; I just wiggle it into the ground with my weight on it and pull it out again. Once I've done this, I let the plant roots and the worms and other detritivores start mixing my layers of stuff with the underlying soil.

Now if only I had a no-dig solution for my shrubs and trees...

Loren
--
Loren Davidson listmail@lorendavidson.com
Music with tropical attitude - http://www.lorendavidson.com
"There's just too much to see waiting in front of me, and I know
that I can't go wrong" - J. Buffett




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