permaculture

[venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 3/28/2013 2:49 PM, Scott Pittman wrote:
> I am a great fan of the broad fork and have used a Johnnies 727 broad fork
> for years.  It allowed me to retire/sell my rototiller.  Easy to use and
> very efficient;  I use it when I put my garden to bed and when I wake it up
> in the spring.
>
> I prefer the Johnnies design to the one shown in Mother Earth News as the
> handles are aligned in plane with the tines making it much more stable when
> you need to jump up on the cross bar to get depth in hard soil.
>
> The minimal soil disturbance is a primary result of using a broad fork and
> you get the same aeration, improved soil tilth, better percolation, and
> deeper root and worm penetration as from double digging.
>
> Scott Pittman

Is this now one of your message signatures, Scott? :-) A worthy addition.

> "The real proof of intelligence is demonstrating that you understand
> how to integrate living systems together so that everybody's life is
> improved in the whole food web. The landscapes are littered with
> burned out farms and burned out rivers and burned out oceans -- that
> is not any display of intelligence. Pay your farmworkers fair wages,
> regardless of their species, and grow brains instead of chemical
> industry fortunes." -- Lion Kuntz

IMO, this is the best broadfork available mail order today:

The Gulland Broadfork
http://gullandforge.com/

About the Broadfork

The Broadfork, sometimes called a U-bar digger, is used to loosen soil 
to prepare for planting or for adding soil amendments such as compost or 
mulches. It will open and loosen soil while minimizing damage to its 
living strata of flora and fauna that provide the nutrients for the 
garden bed. The Broadfork is also a great tool to choose for harvesting 
potatoes, beets, carrots, etc.

It's easy! By stepping on the crossbar, one side then the other and 
using only body weight, the tines are set completely into the soil. 
Using the tremendous leverage of the pair of 48" long handles, the soil 
is loosened by working the handles back and forth in a kind of rowing 
motion. As is the case of most old, well designed human powered tools, 
the Broadfork requires minimal effort for the work it produces. It's the 
kind of tool that almost anyone can use effectively. It doesn't require 
brute force, rather it provides a rhythmic, almost aerobic workout when 
used properly.

The Gulland Forge Broadfork
The 48” long handles are made from select Ash from the Tennessee River 
Valley and finished with a 50/50 blend of linseed oil and turpentine. 
Ash is an incredibly strong wood, and each handle is selected for 
density and grain quality. I install each one with the grain set in the 
proper direction for maximum strength and durability. Wood is far 
superior to metal handles with it’s dynamic “feel” when worked. It’s 
also warm to the touch, and the ends are contoured to better fit the 
hand. Handle span is 20” across.

The business end of the Broadfork is made of very heavy walled 1-1/2 
square tubing, very comfortable under foot. On either end is welded a 
handle socket. The bend of the tine is a constant radius curve which 
allows for easier penetration by allowing the “tail to follow the head” 
as the hand forged tapered tips are inserted into the soil. The 
penetration depth of the tines on my Broadfork is 9 inches. The span is 
17-1/2 inches across. The broadfork head weighs in at just a little over 
11 lbs. The tines are attached in a way that makes them easily 
repairable. The metal is coated with the same linseed oil/turpentine 
blend used on the handles.

Though it is a tough, durable tool, it’s not supposed to replace a 
tiller in compacted, dense or rocky soils. Pick and spades are better 
for initial ground breaking and once the sod busting is done, the 
Broadfork makes quick work of further improving the soil, providing deep 
aeration.

A great resource for useful information on modern homesteading including 
the use of the broadfork to create and maintain a successful and 
sustainable homestead garden can be found at Harvey Ussery’s web site, 
The Modern Homestead.

What a Broadfork IS:
In mature soils and garden beds, the broadfork is used to loosen soil to 
prepare for planting or for adding soil amendments such as compost, 
fertilizer or mulches. It will open and loosen soil while minimizing 
damage to its living strata of flora and fauna that provide the 
nutrients for the garden bed. The broadfork is also a great tool to 
choose for harvesting potatoes, beets, carrots, etc.

What a broadfork ISN’T:
Though it is a tough, durable tool, it’s not supposed to replace a 
tiller in compacted, dense, or rocky soils. Picks and spades are best 
for initial ground- breaking and once the sod busting is done, the 
broadfork makes quick work of further improving the texture of the soil, 
providing deep aeration. The tool can be damaged if it is used improperly.

Our Commitment to Quality

I have been a blacksmith since 1986, and in 2008 I decided to design and 
produce a broadfork. I have always appreciated good quality, efficient 
hand tools and I wanted mine to be the best available. My blacksmith 
shop is just a few feet from our garden, so design experimentation was 
easy. Beautiful in its simplicity, there's not much room to improve a 
broadfork in concept, but I attempted to weed out all the potential 
trouble spots that I found in some others. I discovered that some 
designs are very difficult to repair, for example.

In this throw away world, I wanted my broadfork to be one that could be 
used for years, and be easily repaired if repair was ever needed.
We are a small, family owned business. Our goal, in every aspect of the 
Gulland Broadfork design and fabrication, is that it be simple, 
maintainable, repairable, and of the highest quality available with no 
compromises. Whether you are a backyard gardener or a market grower, the 
Gulland Forge Broadfork will be a helpful tool you'll enjoy using for 
many seasons to come.
~Larry Cooper, Blacksmith