How to Grow More Vegetables : And Fruits, Nuts ... - Shroomery

12.
13.
1.
2.
3.
4.
indicates. U-barring is quicker and easier than using a spade
and a spading fork, though some knowledge of how your soil is
improving, or not improving, is lost with the decreased personal
contact with the soil. (For detailed plans on how to build a
U-bar, see Ecology Action’s Backyard Homestead, Mini-Farm and
Garden Log Book.) At Ecology Action, we prefer to double-dig,
as we learn more from it and stay more in touch with the soil.
12. Continue the complete texturizing
double-digging process
(repeat steps 8 through 11)
for the remaining trenches.
Rake after each 3–4 trenches
to ensure even bed height.
13. Shape the bed by raking it.
Then evenly spread any needed
fertilizers over the entire area,
and sift them in 2 to 4 inches
deep with a spading fork. The
complete texturizing double-dug
bed is completed.
U-Bar Dig
1. After harvest, if necessary, weed
the entire slightly raised bed.
2. When the soil is lightly moist,
begin U-barring the soil along
the length of the bed. No digging
board is used. The soil will
be loosened 3 ⁄ 4 as deep as in the
double-dig.
3. Continue U-barring until the
bed is done. Two or three U-bar
passes along the length of the
bed may be necessary epending
on the bed’s width. The U-bar is
about 2 feet wide and loosens
the soil 2 to 2 1 ⁄ 2 feet wide. See
the drawing on page 13.
4. Break up any remaining large
clumps with a spading fork.
Shape the bed by raking it. Then
evenly spread compost and any
needed fertilizers over the entire
area, and sift them in 2 to 4
inches deep with a spading fork.
Note
See Backyard Homestead, Mini-Farm
and Garden Log Book on the proper
techniques for using a U-bar.
BED PREPARATION 17