Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
loosen the soil, the level of the dug area will be between four
and six inches higher than the surrounding soil.
Double-digging has been a standard agricultural practice for
soil improvement in various places around the world for
untold generations, and it is what I recommend because it is
the most effective for the money required. The idea behind
double-digging is that plants send their roots deeply into the
soil, and making sure there are nutrients and aerated soil two
feet deep provides ideal growing conditions. Up where I live
in New Hampshire, any attempt at digging, no matter how
modest, can be difficult because of the large number of rocks
encountered. Did you ever wonder where all those
picturesque rock walls in New England came from?
Yep—they came from farmers getting rocks out of their
fields.
My grandfather never double-dug anything but his asparagus
beds. But, then again, he had 96 acres of land, horse teams,
plows, tractors, four sons, and three daughters, so he wasn't
trying to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of every
square foot like a modern mini-farmer either. Nevertheless,
the asparagus grown in a double-dug bed was far superior to
any other.
Although many plants, especially grasses, can send roots
several feet deep, the majority of a plant's root system exists
in the top six inches of the soil. That's why Mel
Bartholomew's Square Foot gardening system, which uses
only six inches of soil, works. But in spite of the fact that six
inches of perfectly prepared soil can be adequate, there can be
no doubt that two feet of soil will necessarily hold a greater
reservoir of nutrients and water.
