Fall tilling, spring tilling...

PaulF · October 13, 2014

Or both or neither? Yesterday the entire garden space got completely cleaned up, all the dead and dying plant material was either put on the compost pile or disposed of. Then the entire space got tilled.

The question is, should I fall till, spring till, both or neither. My reason for fall till is to incorporate the newspaper/straw mulch into the soil to add to the organics of the soil. In the spring, my non-tomato portions of the garden get another light tilling to smooth things off for row crops.

Too much tilling tends to compact the soil and remove oxygen. For some reason I have a need to turn the dirt over and make it look nice. What do you think and what do you do?

October 13, 2014	#1
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,284	Fall tilling, spring tilling... Or both or neither? Yesterday the entire garden space got completely cleaned up, all the dead and dying plant material was either put on the compost pile or disposed of. Then the entire space got tilled. The question is, should I fall till, spring till, both or neither. My reason for fall till is to incorporate the newspaper/straw mulch into the soil to add to the organics of the soil. In the spring, my non-tomato portions of the garden get another light tilling to smooth things off for row crops. Too much tilling tends to compact the soil and remove oxygen. For some reason I have a need to turn the dirt over and make it look nice. What do you think and what do you do? __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.