Rototilling

COWLOVINGIRL

I learned how to use a rototiller today! I am making a new bed for my strawberries.

Jens the Beekeeper

@COWLOVINGIRL congrats I guess it was some hard work 😉

LaurieLovesLearning

@COWLOVINGIRL Congratulations on working one!

They are not my favorite things to work. We had a couple super noisy, large, heavy ones that would run away in a helter-skelter, scary way when I was a teen, and now that I'm much older, any steady vibration (such as tiller or lawnmower) quickly makes my hands go numb.

We have our temporary garden broken by cultivator in the pasture. I think it will be gone over east-west & north-south one more time minimum, and then we will see after that if the small tiller can be put into use. If not, cultivation will happen once again!

It's not like it is warm enough to plant much here, although the farmers all around are starting to seed some of their hardier crops.

Enjoy your new strawberry bed!

RustBeltCowgirl

Awesome! One more skill on your self-sufficiency list.

Tave

@COWLOVINGIRL Did you feel shaken up afterward?

COWLOVINGIRL

@Jens Yes it was! But it always feels good to have sore muscles at the end of the day when you know you've been doing good work.

COWLOVINGIRL

@Tave Actually no. Ours is definitely big and requires a lot of muscle to run and maneuver but it doesn't vibrate too much, which is nice. Its a TROYBILT.

vickeym

We bought one several years ago. Wirked great, but not only beat you to death with the vibration. It was also one that would run away like a horse with it tail on fire. Hated the way the handle and controls were held at the same time. Hard to let go of mechanism to move it because you also let go of handle.

Monek Marie

My tiller was a troy built. I loved it and it did not shake much, The older ones are great, the newer ones have been changed and are not as good.

I either do a lasagna garden method or use a broad fork (or chickens! to prepare most new beds but once in a while the soil needs to to have the big guns rolled out.

Annie Kate

Good for you A@COWLOVINGIRL ! It's always good to learn something new. Last year I learned to week whack and I'm still proud of myself. :)

We have never had a rototiller; doing it by hand is hard work, but it's easier on the earthworms, and they are my little rototillers all season long. Even with a shovel, I hurt a lot of them. But I think we have more earthworms in the garden than most people do, and I only dig up the soil when adding compost and for root crops. We did rent one when making a garden out of lawn, though.

COWLOVINGIRL

Thank you @Annie Kate! A shovel is my prefered method too. But this soil was sooooo hard!