My First Tilling Experience

[EVP MAN]

We had several warm days as well as nights above freezing so yesterday I went out and pushed a spade deep into the sod. No longer frozen or wet to the point where the soil couldn't be worked. I edged the outline of my new garden with a flat spade which went well. Now for the big decision, how to remove the sod! Well I decided that I bought the Mantis tiller to save me work so the tiller it would be. Mantis advertises their tiller can be used to break new ground for a garden and states it will till up sod. Some people who own this machine say yes it will and still others say it's not good on sod. Guess what! They are both right! It will indeed till up sod and do a rather nice job of it as well IF and this is a big IF, you remove the tines and clear tangled sod from them after tilling about every 25 sq. ft. Another big IF would be IF you don't mind being stiff and sore the next day. Don't let the twenty pound weight of this tiller fool you. It's a real digging machine that would dig it's way to China if you let it. I'm a 250 lb. man and this tiny tiller gave me an upper body work out like I never had. I tilled from 9 am until 6 pm. I reached a point where I could only till for about five minutes at a time before I had to sit down for another five minutes to give my arms a rest. Got to the point where they felt like jelly........LOL I did manage to finally crawl out of bed today all stiff and sore. The bottom line is: I'm happy with the tiller and glad I bought it. It did in one day what would have taken me three or four days to do by hand. After giving my poor body a few days to heal, I'll be back out there again using that little red mean machine to till in some soil amendments. This time around should be a cake walk compared to tilling up sod!

Rich..........Sore in PA :)

[Bill who putters]

Work the soil when you squeeze it and it comes apart. Seems way to early to me. Drive about and look at what local farmers are up to. I'd go slow on the 9 to 6 250 lb man unless you like to suffer and no one has had coronary issues in your extended family. Are you fit or of high BMI ?

Thinking about your double digging wish I'd consider renting a ditch witch. Unless you feel you have too do it harder way also.

[Billy]

And then there is no dig, no till, lasagna gardening.

or

go to

on Albums(5) at the top left. Then click on Garden 2009. I can't arrange the pictures in sequential order but most of the pictures are labeled. Just click on them and, you will see how I did lasagna gardening last year.

[Charlie]

WTF. I peruse your fotos and clikem and I have the opportunity to buy your mug on a mug???

Seriously, your mug, coming towards my mug, is *not* the second face I want to see at first light, dawg. Seriously.

Charlie

Excess on occasion is exhilirating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. ~W. Somerset Maugham

[Billy]

[Billy]

to be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing it's best, night and day, to make you like everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. -- e.e. cummings

[Charlie]

Sumthin else I didn't want to see first thing this morning was a couple inches of snow. Got up at six and thought it was too light and let the dogs out to find it was snowing gargantuan wads of snow/slush. The old snow had just gone, except for a few piles around and now it is all slushy and white again....grrrr.

I pulled the mulch back from the garlic bed for a peek yesterday and found that it was looking as it should, with little sprouts showing all over. I re-covered it. So did nature this morning.