Re: Working Ground

Posted by Matt from CT on July 23, 2006 at 15:32:24 from (24.177.7.108):

In Reply to: Working Ground posted by Matt Kane on July 23, 2006 at 13:07:04:

First, get a soil test. When you send in the sample, include a note you're looking for what is needed this fall and next spring.

Some amendments, especially lime, are best added in the fall so they're ready in spring.

If the soil is low on organic matter (that's more a qualitative test -- seeing what it looks like rather than a chemical test) you might even want to plant a crop like winter rye or clover that will be turned over as a green manure come spring.

As to the plow v. disc v. harrow...

The plow turns over the soil, helping to incorporate air (oxygen), help even nutrients between levels, and helps to bury weed seeds where they may germinate. Of course...you'll bring up last year's crop of weed seeds to the surface :)

The Disc is most likely a Disc Harrow, and I'm assuming the "Harrow" is a tooth harrow. Both do the same job, preparing the surface by breaking up clods and roots and such.

Unfortunately for my back and antique tractor use (although it's good for my health...err, that's what I keep telling myself...) I have to raise all my stuff in raised beds.

My preference is to turn it over with a shovel in the fall (the equivelant of plowing), rough rake it to knock down anything standing up high (equivelant of discing it), and through a light layer of grass clippings over it to keep rain/wind damage down.

As long as you're not needing a winter cover crop for green manure, and your site isn't subject to erosion from water or wind...I like turning it in the fall. With luck, the weed seeds near the surface will get wet and freeze to death over the winter and the earthworms and such can work all spring without disturbance.

Come spring, maybe lightly harrow it again with the disk or tooth harrow and prep the surface -- an inch or two is fine, since that's planting depth for most things.

Having plowed & harrowed in the fall, you'll also be in a good position to plant early season stuff like peas and lettuce even if the ground is still too wet to get in with a tractor. In northern latitudes, having clean, plowed soil will warm up earlier in the year too. So maybe you have to hand rake and plant these early season ones, then harrow the rest of the garden as it dries.

Even if you can travel over wet ground, it's usually not good to work the soil when it's dripping moist. There's a fairly complex phenomena called Compaction. Part of that is machines compressing it as they drive over it; but more thoroughly it includes a variety of things that break down the soil's "fluff" factor -- from losing earthworms, to fungi that grow in the soil, to not enough organic matter.

Working the soil with equipment also contributes to soil break down -- and modern stuff sometimes spirals the cycle...plows and harrows are used more and more intensively to "fluff" the soil while at the same time contributing to the soil's natural inability to be fluffy. So while it's necessary sometimes, gotta time it right to minimize the danger. Over time, done well, you'll need less and less tillage.

As for timing, I'd start after the first killing frost to minimize any germination or new seeds in the plowed area.

Replies:

• Re: Working Ground Matt Kane 16:28:11 07/23/06 (1)
  • Re: Working Ground Matt from CT 18:48:28 07/23/06 (0)
• Re: Working Ground Matt from CT 16:16:08 07/23/06 (0)
• Pic of good and great soil Matt from CT 15:56:19 07/23/06 (0)

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