Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Dianne Palmer-Quay <R_DQuay@compuserve.com>]

I currently have gardens in two locations.  One has about 3 ft of fine
sandy soil over red clay.  The other is directly on the red clay (the sandy
soil having been removed when they leveled the land for house building.)  I
feel there are advantages to double digging in the first year for the clay
beds.  It IS slow going and I only try to do about 3 ft at a time.  But the
immediate improvement in production is worth it, in my opinion.  I didn't
double dig the first year I planted a garden and I saw a distinct
difference.  I also do not have easy access to a lot of free material to
build raised beds.  It is hard enough to find material for mulch.

I did not see the need to double dig the sandy beds - both because of the
natural looseness of the sandy and the desire to preserve any bit of
organic material that was present (rather than burn it up with the
increased oxygen).  Keeping organic matter present is a challenge in this
hot, humid environment.

The biggest negative to no-till in SC (that I can see) is that it does not
disturb (or discourage) the fire ants and they slowly expand take over more
of the beds.  This not only kills any seedlings in the area but can also be
painful for the gardener!

Dianne in SC