No-Dig: A Pig Sty Avenue Policy Statement

The whole concept of no-dig is embraced. In principle. But it probably won't be started next year, as originally planned. This is because the soil, already pebble-ridden, will be even lumpier now with spoil from the pond. And, much worse, all the bits of broken glass and fine rubble from the concrete and brick structure area.

So, I plan to dig it all over in the next couple of weeks, raking it before and after digging and getting out as much rubble and pebbles as possible. Same again at the end of the 2016 growing season. Hard work. Very. But that's nothing because either at the end of this year, or beginning of next, (I've run out of time this Spring), every bloomin' inch of the plot is going to need riddled to really get rid of the pebbles, rubble and glass fragments.

Riddling spadeful by spadeful will be 3-4 weeks work, I'm estimating, that's about 30-40 hours. So heigh bloody ho and ho nonny nonny to a whole lot of bending and stretching. But it's the only way I can see to get the fine tilth I want before going no-dig, which will now be the 2018 growing season.

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