Hi Joe,

There is a school of thought (and a very viable one) that suggests doing
away with double digging *or* tilling and simply amending, amending,
amending. The 'don't till' school says that tilling destroys or seriously
harms existing beneficial bacteria and in general, the tilth and aeration of
the soil. Also, tilling will disturb the tens of thousands of weed seeds
laying dormant and waiting to be brought closer to the surface to germinate.

I have to admit, I was skeptical, but after laying down an enormous amout of
organic material along two sides of my property (approximately 80 cubic
yards), I'm a firm believer. About a year later the organic material had
filtered down at least 10 inches, with abundant earthworms moving between
the organic and hardpan clay layers as well. I used a combination of wood
chips, shredded leaves, bark, whatever it was that the city in which I live
dumped in my driveway.

If the project were mine, I'd lay down clear or black plastic sheeting for a
few weeks/months, which would cook not only any existing weeds but also
their seeds... then amend the heck out of it and perhaps lay downa green
cover such as winter rye, mustard, clover, etc. In the spring you can turn
under all that great green plant material and plant in your garden, amending
regularly with good stuff such as pine needles, manure, inert straw, grass
clippings, shredded leaves, etc.

Just my $0.02,

Dave

PS the grass doesn't die beneath snow cover because there is still a
suprising about of oxygen amongst the snowpack, as well as light.


"Joe98" wrote in message
...
Putting in my first organic vegetable garden next year, so forgive me if
my
questions are a little naive. I'm trying to get everything tilled up now
and let it rest all winter. I've skimmed several books, one of which
mentioned "Double Digging" tilling. Here's a parphrasing of the process:

Dig a 1 foot trench down the long side of the garden. Keep the top soil
in
the garden, but take the rest and throw it in a wheel barrow. After
finishing the trench, go back and dig down another foot of subsoil and put
it in the wheel barrow. (Sounds like a big wheel barrow). Mix the
subsoil
with peat moss and compost before putting it back in the garden. Make the
mixture one third peat moss plus two thirds compost, plus one part
subsoil.
Rake the top soil back into the trench, then add the new subsoil mix on
top.
Dig another 1 foot trench and repeat untill garden is all tilled. Tamp
down
when finished. Expect bed to be about three inches higher when finished.
Wait at least a month before planting.

Bascially, I wanted to ask the group if this seems like a sound method.
I'm
in western PA and my soil tends to be on the clay side. I don't think
I'll
go as deep as two feet, but because the garden area is new, I do plan to
go
deeper than one would for standard tilling. In particular, does the mix
sound right? BTW, when they say peat moss, am I to assume they mean peat
hummus? And for compost, I expect to use mostly manure (bags). Is it
reasonable to assume the bed will only be rasied 3 inches?

There is still some grass on the plot I plan to use, and with winter
coming
soon, I doubt I'll have time to cover it and kill it with black plastic.
If
I just till the grass under, and then cover it and let it sit all winter,
I
should be fine, right?

Oh, this might be a dumb question, but... If putting black plastic over
grass for a couple weeks kills the grass, why doesn't the grass die when
covered by snow all winter?