Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net>]

That's also the best way for us in the Texas Hill Country.

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

----- Original Message -----

From: TradingPostPaul

To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 1:22 PM

Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] double dug beds

Comment on Easy Digging link at http://www.iirr.org/saem/page134-137.htm

Obviously double digging isn't for everyone. As I understand it, the point
is to have deep, friable soil for plant roots rather than a hardpan or
shallow soil. We can get this depth by digging down or building up. Our own
soil is too shallow so we dig up one shovel deep and build up a mix of
soil, compost, and amendments on top, and frame the resulting beds to hold
mulch in high winds. Different situations call for different methods.
Either way we can end up with no-till beds that cut the work and expense
drastically.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 2/7/2007 at 6:28 AM Greg Baka wrote:

>Re: double dug beds
>
>Although most double-digging in the US is done with a
>spade and garden fork as others have described here,
>it is not the only way to do it.
>
>In other parts of the world the azada (South America,
>Portugal, Spain), jembe (Africa) powrah (India) or
>chungkul (Malaysia) is the preferred digging tool.
>(I'm still looking for the Chinese name if anybody
>knows it...) More on this tool in below.
>
>In these parts of the world where very small scale
>agriculture is still the norm they use the azada and a
>"Fork Hoe" to double-dig by a method that requires
>less effort. That method is described in this article
>from the International Institute of Rural
>Reconstruction called the Guide to Deep Soil
>Preparation:
>http://www.iirr.org/saem/page134-137.htm
>
>I know about the azada and fork hoe because I am
>working to open a business called Easy Digging to
>offer them in the US. The business won't be open until
>late February (hopefully), but there is a whole bunch
>of information about azadas and fork hoes currently
>available at my site:
>http://www.easydigging.com
>*hopefully the moderator won't consider this a
>shameless plug for my store - I'm a long time list
>member who doesn't post often but always reads :o)
>
>If you are in Europe there is a similiar business in
>England that has been selling these tools for a few
>years now. They have large garden spaces available for
>rent from the city called 'allotments' and folks have
>really embraced these long forgotten tools and
>evidently pass them from one neighboring allotment to
>the next for the tough jobs like breaking sod, heavy
>cultivating, and making trenches. Many of the same
>things we would use a garden tiller for. The British
>site is at:
>http://www.get-digging.co.uk
>
>If you look at the site and say "Hey, that's an eye
>hoe (or a grub hoe). My grandpa used one of those",
>you are partly right. In short there have been some
>improvements since the days when such tools were used
>on American farms. On the tools I will handle the
>angle between the head and handle has been optimized
>for digging on some tools while other tools have a
>different angle for shallow cultivating and weeding.
>The old eye hoes (and some you can still but today)
>are angled between these two optimal angles so that
>they sort of work for both tasks, but not great for
>either. Also my tools have a handle that is 5' long so
>that you work from an upright ergonomic position
>instead of from the hunched over position the short
>handled tools force you into.
>
>This is what happens when I talk tools...I have a hard
>time stopping. Anyways I hope this opens some new
>possibilities for those who dig, garden or farm.
>
>Greg in MO



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