HAVE ROTOTILLER WILL TRAVEL

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FOURTH CATEGORY: new ground or turf. This is the difficult one. Your estimate will probably miss by the proverbial country mile. At any rate, you're bound to win a few and lose a few.

You won't normally get any jobs of this kind under 600 square feet. Most people start their gardens big and end small. In my area the average new plot runs between 900 and 1,500 square feet, and I charge $15.00 to $20.00 even as high as $25.00.

These rates are on the low side for the work involved. I often have to bring my power mower and a good rake (two other very useful pieces of equipment, but not strictly essential) to clear off a plot in this category before the tiller can work efficiently. Many times three passes are needed, and that can mean coming back a week or so after the first two to make the third. This is necessary because the organic matter covering the sod keeps the soil from drying properly after the spring thaw. When this material is plowed in, a week of sunshine and air is needed to start the process of decomposition. The third tilling, however, always works like a charm, and the plot looks quite nice afterward.

The fact is, I've taken something of a beating in Category Four. Still, I feel it's worthwhile to do a good job for a fair price so that the owners will want me back next year. And the second time around, of course, such gardens are a snap to till.

Even in this age of rising prices, I can then cut the rate considerably because the plot has moved into the "established" class. Everybody wins!

A few more words at this point about customer relations. In case of rain at the time you've set for a job, call and give an alternate date. Explain that tilling wet soil causes it to clump and destroys its texture. If the owner insists that you do the work at once, tell him to find somebody else who has no qualms about ruining a garden. Remember, we're supposed to be friends of the earth!

On the other hand, don't criticize an owner's methods of gardening. Listen to his or her point of view and learn something if you can. In the right situation you might suggest, for instance, planting pole beans with corn or comment on the lack of organic material in the soil-if that's the case-and recommend that leaves be tilled under in the fall. Quote a reasonable price for this service.

In general, lend support to the customers' food-growing efforts. If you have the time and inclination, you can put together a small packet of gardening literature and offer it to those who want it. You can get this material at your county extension off ice but be selective if you're an advocate of organic methods, because such handouts are often loaded with advice on the use of pesticides, herbicides, and the like. You might write to Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania 18049 and ask for 30 or 40 copies of Organic Gardening and Farming for free distribution to your customers.

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