How to till without a tiller better than a tiller can till
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2022
- This is my go-to human-powered tool for breaking new ground.
You can get your own Meadow Creature here: meadowcreature.com/?rfsn=7763...
GROW OR DIE: amzn.to/3ASG235
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David's gardening blog: www.thesurvivalgardener.com
Tilling without a tiller is difficult with hand tools. We used to double-dig with a fork and a spade, but now we use a broadfork to till new ground. The Meadow Creature broadfork is the only one I use, since it's indestructible.
Gardening without gas is important in hard times, and I have tested this broadfork extensively and it's never failed me. - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Here's a pro tip, anytime you have to dig in a fallow field, do so after you've had a little rain, but not the same day as the rain. You want the soil wet, so the blades will sink in, but not muddy.
Thank you for the tips, and I enjoyed that cow that was bound and determined to be heard. 😅
The "path to no where" needs to be a permanent feature of the new garden!
Over a five year period, using a broadfork and cover crops, my soil has transformed from heavy clay with a plow pan to dark loam. The Meadow Creature long fork is pretty incredible
My dads autotiller broke so its time for broadfork.
This is my go-to human-powered tool for breaking new ground.
You can get your own Meadow Creature here: meadowcreature.com/?rfsn=7763618.8366fec
GROW OR DIE: amzn.to/3ASG235
Thank you all for watching. We're finally breaking ground on our new gardens!
We are in the same season as you all. We just purchased a homestead, and so it has been really nice following along with you all! Blessings to you and yours!
My friend made me one from scrap iron. Love it.
Good friend!
I'm so glad that you found a place that has soil that doesn't require dynamite.
I have a Meadow Creature broadfork and I love it for breaking up my rocky clay soil and tenacious sod.
On a side note, Tenacious Sod would be a great name for a bluegrass band.
I have a steel broad fork and was absolutely amazed at how easily it can turn soil.
Outstanding - THANK YOU!
As a welder/handyman with a TON of scrap steel, and strapped for cash, this is a dream come true! Much appreciated!
I see them selling for 100-300 each if you wanna jump on that action.
My 4 pigs turn my ground in preparation. I don’t disturb the soil much ever once my pigs have done their job. Currently they are turning half an acre ready for my vineyard. They just spent 2 months turning my 1/2 acre for pumpkins and watermelons. Not sure where they are going next.
I just purchased compost everything! It came in yesterday can’t wait to read it!
Thank you.
OMG 😲. SO GLAD to see this. Lol I primarily use my broad fork to help keep my chicken run, and duck pens of deep bedding aerated, and sometimes I forget to use it elsewhere. 😅
A tool I like to use for removing Bermuda grass is a garden turner. Four prongs with a post and two handles that you just stab and twist.
“How do you prepare garden beds without a tiller??” Haha, we dug up a huge garden (~1,000 sqft) with a WEEDING hoe in Midwestern black dirt as kids (I know that makes me sound old but I promise I’m only in my twenties). I remember the first time we borrowed a tiller from someone and watching it just chew through ground that took us days to work. Moral of the story is- where there is a will there is a way but use something better than a weeding hoe to break sod.
I like no till gardening.
@@anbb5114 While no till does have advantages, there are many disadvantages.
Deep tilling can kill off insect eggs that overwinter (hornworm and Mormon Cricket comes to mind).
Tilling can help loosed heavy/clay/compacted soil.
50% of a plants energy goes into root growth. Harder the soil the more energy is used to grow roost, not plant and fruit.
You can till in soil amendments to add tilth to heavy soil.
Tilling also aerates the soil. Roots need oxygen.
No till can be done well after the above has been done with better results.
If you dug a hole in hard heavy soil and planted a tree, the hole walls act like a pot and you can get root circling.
@@anbb5114, no-till, is a goal. It should not be a religion, as too many youtubers have made it. It can take years to get soil ready for no-till.
Tillers can only do so much I got that red Georgia clay and it just bogs a tiller up. I have to have my father in law use his tractor from time to time and bust it up with one of those cutter implements.
@@dl8619 I have hardpan. Soil as hard as concrete. Tiller can only go a few inches deep. I then have to soak the ground, wait a day or two, then till another few inches.
NO FUN.
Digging with a shovel is really difficult.
Usually once I get the tilling done, I put something in and till it to mix and fluff everything.
Still a battle as it wants to harden back up.
There are times I have to remove that soil and bring in good soil.
Another time I built a Hugelgarden on top of the soil just to plant something.
I was looking through all your videos 2 days ago for this very subject. My mom loaned me her tractor tiller, but when she asked me to bring it over, my tractor was waiting on a water pump and I couldn't get it to her. My Meadow Creature showed up that morning, so it would be my first attempt tilling with no power in our rocky clay. I used my grub hoe to remove sod, then the Meadow Cresture to loosen the 200 square ft plot. Worked great, her cabbage, broccoli and beets got planted this morning. Now I just have to get back to working on that tractor water pump.
YES!!! the broad fork is like magic!! we got our first one this year. We now have aerated loose garden areas for the first time!!
Chevy brand broad fork, like a rock
That soil looks lovely!
Meadow Creature is definitely worth every cent. I went through 2 other brands that didn't even last 100-200 sq ft including the free replacements. DTG's original video popped up while I was researching and sure as 💩I was able to broadfork over 5000 sq ft of rocky decomposed granite and clay. It took a few weekends due to the hardpan but the fork definitely seems indestructible.
Would you do a video on the absolute most necessary gardening hand tools?
Here in SW MO those rocks make the wall for my garden beds.
I bit the bullet last year and bought a Meadow Creature after watching you use it on several videos. I was hesitant about the price but I did it. It was a great investment. I'm able to turn over ground to a depth that would require a tractor with a disc harrow, and that's with heavy clay soil. I've got 6" of good topsoil and nothing but hard, red clay underneath. The meadow creature rips through it like it's nothing. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to break ground for any reason.
aaah yes!! this is what i need. i just can't afford to keep repairing my tiller and my husband is sick of keeping up on it. i have clay soil too... can't even take a shovel to it.
What size do you recommend?
Goodness I love this guy. He takes the snootyness out of gardening. It isn't a recreational pass time. If you're not a billionaire, it's self preservation. It's so nice to see modern day agricultural science in the hands of folks like us. Thanks man, hope you and your family stay and accelerate your prosperity
Thank you - that is kind of you.
They definitely aren't cheap at a few hundy each. But then again tractors start at ten grand. I could pay for one and have some kid do all the work for cheaper than a tractor. I've always had a leaning towards human powered tools. People think about how much labor mechanization saves but they don't factor in the cost of buying the machinery. I can get to my local grocery store almost as fast as a car on my mountain bike but I don't spend hours each week paying for a car so in the end I come out way in front on the overall time expended.
Yeah, I agree. And even if I had the tractor, I like a backup.
My husband says your sidewalk to nowhere must be a government project😁
Build Back Somewhere or Other
I found d that with this method, running a wheel hoe with 2 tines helped rip the grass out nicely while leaving the soil behind. Then rake the rest.
I'm glad I came acrossed your video this morning. I purchased a broad fork some months ago from a blacksmith in Tennessee and have yet to put it to real good use. I am also making a brand new garden out of a centipede lawn and will be going out today to broad fork it and then put a tarp back over it. My goal is to plant potatoes next weekend.
Great video... have a REQUEST: could you do a video on organic gardening ideas for people who live in homes that have HOA's? We can't just "throw things on the ground," and gardens must look "nice." Funny, the POA pushes for use of chemicals in the yards (keep that grass lush and weed-free!), but having a compost pile is forbidden ("unsightly"). I have "cheated" punching holes in an old plastic garbage can and composting in that while hiding it behind a tree LOL! Lots of folks inner-farmer being snuffed out due to deed restrictions, so would love to see a video on creative ducking the POA police.
That is a good idea. I will think on it.
Clay and rock soil here in central Portugal. I am so jealous when I watch gardening videos of digging over new beds etc. Takes me days of digging and destoning using a trommel.
Hardpan requires DYNAMITE to break loose. It is literally rock hard.
That's what settlers had to do.
If you did that tilling in the fall, then turned that sod upside down, by spring time you have great soil and little to no weeds. Worms are deep in the soil by then.
Fun fact: modern tilling nearly made the Mormon Cricket extinct. And that is a GOOD thing.
No-till is a great goal, but too many youtubers have made a cult of it. It can take years to have soil ready for no-till.
@@mosheshekelsteinspanbergbl5624 Have you seen a commercial grade no tiller?
Funky looking thing that punches holes int he soil, drops a seed, and covers in one process.
It is used in formerly tilled fields.
I have been working on my soil for years already. Gypsum is my friend lol
And still is gets hard as a rock.
But getting better though.
Bought some night crawlers to put in the garden. Had to use a drill and bulb auger just to make the hole to put them in. And still could not go in very deep.
Back to Eden is a great way to help the soil.
@@crazysquirrel9425, perlite will lighen your soil. You may have to dig and remove some clay to be able to sink topsoil, sand, and perlite deep enough. I don't only use a tiller to break soil, but to thoroughly mix it. I'm familiar with the back to Eden method, but it won't sink good soil into clay on a hill for any significant depth. It will be good for maintenance, once proper soil depth is established.
Wow what am amazing tool…will certainly look into this clever hard working garden helper…STAY BLESSED
Thank you for this. Been tilling with only a shovel. I will now make one of these
I just got a meadow creature...once again, DTG, you’ve inspired me!
Had mine for a few years, I was glad to find one in New Zealand made by the Crafty Gardener, it was expensive but soon paid it way, been breaking new ground with it since. Sometimes I use a long blade hoe that is solid steel to chop away grass first. Until I broke it today. So, back to just broad forking.
That is a huge area to broadfork David, but at least you have an army of helpers in the family.
Thanks David. Sorry I missed the premiere. One day I will own a Meadow Creature. It is on my needs list. It looks so much easier than a hoe, shovel/sharpshooter and fork. Much Love
Good 🏃 exercise. Nice intro. Love the sound of the cows 🐄
Very nice! From where I come from, we use good old shovel and rakes method. You just have to use a shovel to flip each chunk of soil in the air and drop it down from high enough so that it breaks apart on impact. Most weeds end up up side down; then you use rakes to smooth out the surface and grab any remaining small rocks or bigger weeds. But still, I would prefer your method here to till some very rocky or compacted soil, because doing it with a shovel is a bit of a nightmare if anywhere you dig there's a rock and you get constant sparks. As always, thanks for great tips, David!
Maybe they can weld handles on the inside part of the posts so one can do dips while digging! 😀
Based on your recommendation in an earlier video, I bought this broad fork and it has been one of the best investments ever-easy to use and perfect for our compacted clay!
Hi, can you tell us what broad fork he/ now you recommend? he didn’t tell us on this video. TIA.
@@lilianarodriguez8056 sure--although I'm sure he mentioned it in this vid--it's the Meadow Creature broad fork. I got it from their website. They have a 12" and 14" (tines). We got the 14" and love it! There are some good instructional video references as well. I've never used a broad fork before so I wanted to make sure I didn't hurt myself, lol! It wasn't difficult at all.
I LOVE mine! I showed it to hubby several years back and told him he could make me one. He welds and we had a couple old pitch forks that didn't have handles. So he put those together and made the thing you step on and welded them to it and put handles on it. To start out when he made it the thing weighted a ton. lol so he took some of the metal off it and now it's perfect!!!
Hello southern how are you feeling today
I use the LAM broadfork. It’s solid steel and pretty cheap.
I have seen a model like that before.
Hey, thanks for your comment! I’ve never heard of this broadfork until now. I looked it up out of curiosity and it’s made in Ohio with American steel. No paint on it which I honestly prefer, and significantly cheaper than the Meadow Creature.
The MC is a trusted heavy duty tool, but it’s great to have the option to support an independent craftsman who makes quality tools at an affordable price. I’m torn between the two at the moment!
@@zaizen4359 Yeah, I like the design of the meadow creature but to be honest broadforking is a one time thing for me since I’m using a no-till approach and releasing worms into the garden. I didn’t see the need to spend the extra $150. Granted, I have very sandy soil here in florida so I didn’t need the sharp tines in order to penetrate the compacted layers. If I had clay soil I might have bought the MC.
Great tool easily pulls up large running bamboo rhizomes, in 5 years have only bent the handles a little. still works great!
I'd love to have a broadfork. I don't know about clay soil but, in glacial till, which is full of stones, a tiller is a hundred pound beast that will wear you out!
I used a tiller to beat the sod apart. After that, it's a digging fork to loosen the native soil. Soooo much more relaxing!
John Jeavons double dig I met him at one of his demonstrations in Austin, Tx and also did a 3 week class with Bill Mollison in Half Moon Bay🥰
Yes, I have done that.
I really like your soil, it looks very rich.
That’s how I do my gardens every year, by hand. I used a digging fork this year and it really made a difference in the texture of the soil for much longer than a spade. I haven’t bought a broad fork because they are ridiculously over priced. Once you get into specialty or niche products people ask crazy prices.
I really appreciate this video. I’m starting a garden for the first time, and I have a decent amount of space to play around with for my purposes. I want to use human powered tools through the whole process, for the sake of being able to maintain it without having to worry about gas prices or tending to horses/oxen (also expensive!)
I have been trying to determine the most efficient tools for the job, and the broadfork seemed to hold a lot of promise….however I have been seeing so many sources say that broadforks are not recommended to break up new ground. Perhaps this is due to the partially wood construction.
I have had my eye on the Meadow Creek broadfork from the start, and I’m happy to hear its successfully broken up a lot of new dirt for you. With something that can be as labor intensive as gardening, I would think one would strive for longevity and durability of tools. Would you rather spend $150 on something that you will need to replace in a couple of years (or less, depending!) or would you rather pay $250 for something that potentially lasts a lifetime?
As much as I love the aesthetic of wood handles, I’ll have plenty of other implements that can fill that void LOL.
The sound of the roots breaking at 1:00 would make a good ASMR video. You know, for weirdos.
Yes! The broadfork! We have hard clay and rock. 🤦♀️
I knew it'd be the broadfork 😂 So cool. Who needs to pay for crossfit?!?!?!
I don't put the dry weeds in a compost pile...I burn them and put the ash from them either into the compost or on the garden bed. Broadforks are expensive for the small gardener but it seems they are worth the expenditure...and...you get exercise too! Thanks David for the video encouragement.
That works, too!
Great info, thanks. Sounds like you have very happy cows : )
I've been doing the same with my compost fork. Twice as much traveling around but quite good still. Saves me from spending on another tool for now too. A garden fork would probably be better but I use what I already have :)
We have VERY rocky soil and are by a busy road so I am afraid a rototill could be quite dangerous. It's bad enough when the lawnmower finds a rock. Also just kind of excessive for a small backyard plot.
I have Bermuda grass (I hate it!), I don't have a broad fork but I have a pitchfork. I'm gonna try this, thanks for the video!
Thanks David, that's awesome!
Oh my. Looks like a lot of work!
Till next time...
I bought one, was abut $100 on amazon, its junk, to light for anything.
So spend the extra and get a good heavy broadfork....
I used a two wheeled tractor spent this year collecting obsolete cultivators etc for it,
My favorite is powered with an 80cc $100 HF engine, it started as a tiller.
then in a lot of antique junk, I found one with the same chassis, BUT HAD wheels.
and a middle buster plow. So over the next few months I manged to find
a few more of the iron V cultivators to go behind it. My rocky soil, has basket ball
sized flat rocks and its a challenge. Love you videos David, great inspiration,
I share them to gab in the homesteading off grid group.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Looking good bro!
Good morning!
That's an awesome tool. I have not seen one before. I'm not sure if we have one out here at the settlement. Thanks David!
Thanks David I'm so gonna get 1 have a blessed day 🙏 ☺ 🇺🇸 👍
Never lose the trademark white socks 😂💖
Beautiful soil 👍👌
My first garden was in Denver. I used a garden spade and a rake. LOL
I can vouch for the Treadlite broadfork with the steel handles in compacted light clay. It's solid!
I have the treadlite all day broadfork. Im a senior. I live in georgia on a new property thats nothing but HARDpan sandy clay once youre about 4 or 5 inches down. The bf is great! Works BETTER than any tiller and even at my age,using it is manageable.🙂
The broad fork is awesome for my suburban back yard. My ground has 5-6in of soil sitting on top of a layer of rocks on top of white sand. It’s harder work, breaking it up, but it gets much easier the second and third time around.
Still have shards of fiberglass in my arm from 5 minutes of use of one bought at walmart. Somewhere a chinamen is LHAO.
I notice you mentioned the hard rocky clay. A pick works amazing for me in that type of soil. I just squat down, let the pick do the work, don't even break a sweat like you're doing here, Sensei. Cheers!
Thanks.
I have a different brand broadfork that's pretty good but the handles bolt on, are fiberglass over wood, and I'm afraid I'll break them eventually. My soil, if you can call it that, is clay with virtually no organic matter. Trying to cover crop and get some production at the same time. Plus new area, climate, and pests. Will consider their 16 inch model.
I did that but with a hatchet type tool I got in Japan. Took hours. With I had a broad fork. Maybe the Christmas Bunny will bring me one.
Or the Halloween Panda.
@@rehoboth_farm Yep! Yep!
Or the heart shaped leprechaun. ♥️
I gave thumbs up just for the name 👍
Hi David, wondering if you put a semi circle / bow shaped above the cross beam on the handles, to give greater lifting leverage and lifting height,.(Pivot point) They may need to be broad for for soft ground ? Like the sound of the calf in the background.
Loving seeing you start this all from scratch again! Everything you’ve shared has been really helpful. Future video ideas:
1. How to interpret the soil test from Logan Labs.. some categories said what the amounts should be with acceptable ranges, but others didn’t. What does it all mean and what should our next steps be?
2. A video with a list of plants that are helpful in unexpected ways.. like things that are not necessarily edible, but help the edibles because they are nitrogen fixing, great for biomass, etc. I know you have a bit of these fun facts mixed in with every video, but it would be cool to see a top favorites list.
To answer #1 buy Steve Soloman's book The Intelligent Gardener, in it he explains how to read a Logan Labs soil test and what to do about it and so, so, much more.
@@makettlekettle7148 thanks, it’s on my list! I had a feeling that would be the answer..haha
By far, the broad fork is my favorite gardening/digging tool.
My tiller broke, just in time for spring planting! I've broken digging forks in my clay soil before; we'll see how my broadfork fares. 😅
Now that’s a forking Good apparatus 🔱✨✅
I recognized that sound at 5:50 as the sound of a hot humid day beginning. No fun.
That tool costs nearly $300. A 50cc gas tiller costs $200. You can make your own fuel with a still (and have a drink for after your tilling work).
Much more complexity = less antifragile
Can’t wait to buy one. Need to save up. Awesome tool 👍
“Moo” 🐮.
I like that sound
So my dog has been digging almost in a straight line, sniffs hard moves about 6 inches down and starts digging. It was where I wanted to to build my garden so we worked on it together, me with a hoe and him digging. We found field tile in my back yard, im not sure how far apart field tile is, but about 20-25 feet away my yard floods around my house. Which leads me to believe they broke tile when constructing this home.
I really wish I had one of these when I was digging my beds over the past months. A shovel in the spading fork are not exactly efficient tools for this.
But damn these things are expensive.
Just bought the 14 inch tine one from meadow creature really looking forward to getting in my plots and making the neighbors think im losing my mind lol
How do you like the 14 inch? Is it super heavy to use? Can't decide 12 or 14
Would this be an effective tool to use on recently cleared land still populated with roots and small shrubbery? The goal is to seed a simple lawn area on the side of the house. Thx.
That title is reminiscent of: "How would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck wood if a woodchuck could chuck wood!".....LMAO
I use blue tarps to kill weeds and kill the seeds in ground. A week or two and everything is dead under a blue tarp. We have a thin layer 2" of top soil with white sand under it in northern MI. Tilling don't work for us, because we loose our top soil into the sand. Found it better to leave all nutrients where they are at.
What do you do with the soil after broadforking, if you have many clumps still left?
Ok, I’m convinced. I found out a new garden area was a riding ring for horses in the past. Oops. It definitely has a hard pan layer. This should work, I hope
Sure hope you can find a close neighbor with a tractor to begin this huge garden space quickly and for more easily then by hand.
Not in my clay. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I top dress with wheel barrows of fresh manure straight from the stalls. I pile it in the rows I want to plant later, water the rows regularly, keep them from spreading out by raking into mounds. I keep adding as they compost. As they compost the worms work in and out, the clay softens and absorbs the nutrients from the manure. In a little while I have rows to plant in. 🤣
I will say, the first year, I planted directly into the fresh manure and had great success. Be advised it was all horse manure that was pure alfalfa based, so no weed seeds. Horse manure isn't weedy if you don't feed them weeds 😉
I tried following my donkeys around all day to scold them about their diet. I finally quit because I couldn't ever train them to poop in a bucket.
@@rehoboth_farm I heard that in Tibet in the old days, they hung cloth bags under the tails of the yak/horse so that all the dung was brought home!
@@dechencho3966 so they never figured out how to train them either. I feel better. Thanks.
Hahahaha
@@dechencho3966 they still do that today in parades to catch the poop.
Best content: the cow trolling us in the background 😆
Mary on Richard's phone from your home state of Florida if I was to use that tool all I would get is any greenery that's there no dirt the sand would fall right through
Your music is awesome-I love fall into you. When are you coming out with a full Album? I don’t know how you have the time to do everything you are doing. God bless you & your family.
It's on the "eventually" list.
I priced the broad fork I need. 289$ I'm gonna plant some plants to sell.
Where are you planning on
buying your tool from that
it's that expensive?
If you plant prairie grasses, their deep roots will break up soil.
The following year or two, you should have decent soil.
If it's indestructible sounds like it's worth the money. Rather that then keep replacing the cheaply designed ones. Would probably save money in the long run.
Yeah, that's why I bought a Meadow Creature for my sister. She had a cheapie and it broke on her. I know this one won't.
I only have a shovel but it seemed to work OK. But pulling the weeds seems to be what takes the most time. Trying to till 2000 square feet of my yard that's full of oxalis and creeping charlie to grow new Grass but it took me over an hour just to do 20 feet. Any suggestions? 😢
OK Tim.
have you tried using a pressure washer to till with
Do you have a link for that broadfork
Used a broad fork in my clay and loam soil, it worked but it was absolutely exhausting to do in my hard soil.
i love my broadfork