[lesley1322]

thank you everyone for your replies... looks like i will have to just keep at it i guess & it will eventually get there.

[compostqueen]

your soil will break up as you grow and harvest your veg. If you add manures and home made composts, leaf mould etc, spent growbags and the contents of your pots etc it will get better year on year.  Oh I forgot to mention green manures 

[chriscross1966]

Dig and rotavate I think..... don't rotavate the same bit every year..... my plan for the future is to get to the point where the big rotavator goes over the ground  in a spud year but gets to go down a long way as it trenches in, then the small one goes over it in onion and root years but nothing goes over it in squash, bean or brassica years.....

[Zippy]

I don't dig at all so no big clods to break up 

Me too! 

[Ian_P]

I got given a load of gardening vouchers for my birthday this year and bought a Wolf Soil Miller. Basically a rotovator and hoe all in one on the end of a long handle.

So far I have only used it for single rows but it certainly knocks down lumpy soil into something like a tilth. Not fine enough for fine seeds like carrots but more than enough for planting out or any of the larger seeds.

I found it best to use it just after rain, rather than when the lumps were hard.

The only downside I can see is the cost. The best I could get was about £32 from Longacres online, and then you have to buy the right length handle as well, about another £10.

[Pompey Spud]

I've one of those as well.

It works great after i've raked all the large lumps/stones to one side.

Good bit of kit.

[johnfh]

A mini tiller such as a Mantis or Honda FG110 does a great job in this respect and saves you lots of time and effort in many lightish tasks.  Treat yourself!

[green fingers]

Agree with so much that has been said.  I dont have a rotavator, nor can I afford one. So digging and then I use a "soil miller" .  The best bit of equiment I have ever bought - it has interchangeable heads too.  I dig, then, soil miller.  When I want to plant seeds, I give a really good go with the soil miller and low and behold - a fine tilth.

[Adrian]

After the initial double-dig of an area (including breaking up the lumps as much as you can), I would suggest:

(a) add plenty of compost/manure most years, to build up the organic matter (dig it in a bit, or just leave it on top and let the worms dig for you);
(b) never walk on the soil where things grow - so you don't need to dig it again;
(c) if the soil structure is too coarse for sowing seeds, use a bit of seed-raising mix or general purpose compost in the rows

Fine tilth is a bit over-rated. Your soil needs to provide structure to hold the plants, food and water. If it does that, the size of the lumps doesn't matter too much.

[woodburner]

As a couple of people have alluded to, no dig beds help a lot, but you can end up with the opposite problem and have soil too loose for brassicas! Adrian's post pretty much says it all, except I wouldn't bother with double digging unless there is a drainage problem.

After the initial double-dig of an area (including breaking up the lumps as much as you can), I would suggest:

(a) add plenty of compost/manure most years, to build up the organic matter (dig it in a bit, or just leave it on top and let the worms dig for you);
(b) never walk on the soil where things grow - so you don't need to dig it again;
(c) if the soil structure is too coarse for sowing seeds, use a bit of seed-raising mix or general purpose compost in the rows

Fine tilth is a bit over-rated. Your soil needs to provide structure to hold the plants, food and water. If it does that, the size of the lumps doesn't matter too much.

[green fingers]

I found that you do need a fine tilth for carrots

[HugglescoteGrower]

My chinese rotovator digs to about 15 inches which is deep enough for me, and produces a lovely fine tilth.

So my plan has been formed as such:

Rotovate everything that is empty in late autumn and cover for the winter.
Rotovate beds with winter crops as soon as they are all empty and cover until needed.

I have found that the beds I rotovated and covered last october were perfect for sowing into this year.