Time in the Garden

cultivating your soil.

Pounding rain,

gravity and other forces can cause soil to become compacted over time,

so loosening it before planting should be a priority.

If you plan to plant in a young bed

that you need to cultivate in order to remove rocks or roots,

use a shovel or digging fork to turn the soil

when it’s dry and crumbly (never when it’s wet and clumpy

, or you’ll be stuck with big, brick-like clods).

In established beds,

you can use a broadfork to break up the soil.

This will prime your garden soil

for planting by helping it dry out and warm up,

and permit roots to penetrate the soil more easily.