Re: [gardeners] Pinetree
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Fri, 30 Jan 1998 14:44:40
At 02:43 PM 1/30/98 -0500, you wrote:
>snip>
>>I've never had much luck with no-till gardening here, I think it may be to
>>wet. We average 65 inches of rainfall per annum and some times we get 6 or
>>8 inches all at once. We experimented with no-till a number of years ago
>>and got bumper crops of snails, slugs, pill bugs, earwigs, and lots of mold
>>and mildew. Even on an average sunny day we will have 96% humidity. We do
>>mulch in the summer but not deeply. I'm solarizing the new patch along the
>>fence with polyethylene film weighted with brick bats and then will turn
>>under the dead grass and weeds. Still contemplating getting a Mantis tiller
>>as I have trouble using a shovel anymore.
>>
>>George
>
>Tilling does a better and quicker job unless you are working in a very
>small space and can't use a tiller. I bought a very small shovel from Lee
>Valley (carbon steel which I prefer) and it works pretty well, not like
>digging up lots with a big shovel. I have trouble shoveling these days
>also. Isn't it cheaper to hire someone with a *big* tiller which can go
>deeply and do a proper job than buying a feather weight mantis? A good
>deep till with lots of mulch/whatever lasts a long time.
>
>Lucinda
>
My daughter has an 8-hp Troybilt but the problem is getting a truck to get
it the 125 miles from her house to ours. I can rent tillers at the local
u-rent place, Troybilt at that, but it's still a truck problem. They charge
as much to drop it off and pick it up as the rental fee. My next door
neighbor has a tiller and doesn't even garden anymore but he and I don't
get along to well. We're cordial to each other but not what you could call
buddies. I think the Mantis or, even better, a small rear tine tiller would
do the jobs we need. We have a small lot with a big house.
George