Mother's Minigardens Experiment

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The other three methods, of course, require that the soil be worked each year. There did not seem to be a significant time difference between the two rototill methods, although the raised-bed garden did take a little more time, for constructing the beds and doing more hand-weeding.

The BFI method was clearly the most time-consuming . . . the extra labor resulting, of course, from the need to hand-dig the two-foot-deep beds. The exact amount of time that bed preparation takes depends largely on whether the soil is sandy or clayey. We spent about eight hours digging the 168-square-foot bed in our minigarden's heavy clay soil. Two hours of that was spent on the initial double-digging, while six hours was required for tilthing (breaking up the soil clumps with a hand fork). This time should decrease each year as the soil improves.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

A philosophy that measures success only in terms of immediate yields and benefits, though common in agriculture (and elsewhere) today, should be antithetical to a conscientious gardener's beliefs. The real test of success is sustainability-one's efforts should help grow a healthy soil as well as an abundance of vegetables.

Any of the four methods in our experiment will, if it includes adequate organic fertilization and proper care, be sustainable and lead to soil improvement. But there is little doubt in my mind that the hand-worked, biodynamic/French intensive method leads to the most rapid improvement in soil condition and the most profound changes over time. It can literally transform the nature of a soil. The depth to which the ground is worked, the fact that the beds are permanent and never compacted, and the concentration of amendments are all very beneficial to the soil. Even BFI's dense "equilateral triangle" planting system, which involves spacing plants so that their outside leaves just overlap and thus create a living mulch, helps to protect the soil surface from the damaging effects of hot summer sun, and concentrates the efforts of ground-loosening roots, as well. [EDITOR'S NOTE: For more on this system, see "Seed Starting as MOTHER's Gardeners Do It" on page 48.]

The rototilled, raised-bed method approximates these effects but never reaches down to loosen the subsoil or break up any hardpan. Nevertheless, it will bring about a far greater and more rapid soil improvement than will a conventional rototilled garden, which will usually have no permanent distinction between vegetable area and pathway. Indeed, the downward motion of a Rototiller's tines can actually lead to the creation of a hardpan in the soil just at the bottom of its reach . . . diminishing drainage and blocking root movement. The pathways—as much as two-thirds of the garden, remember—will be walked upon, pounded by rains, and baked by the sun, and thus those areas will have little chance to improve.

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