[lesley1322]

ok so this might sound like a really daft question but how do i dig to get a fine tilth...??

I'm new to allotmenteering and all of my neighbours seem to have really fine perfect soil & everytime i dig mine it just ends up being in massive hard clumps which then dry & are impossible to break down. (maybe i am just not strong enough?!)

my allotment hasnt been dug for a few years & i am just using a fork to double dig. am i doing something wrong or is it just because its not been dug properly for a while?

Any tips on how to get fine soil would be greatly appreciated...

Thank you in advance

[TeaPots]

lots of digging, bashing clumps down with a rake, or even running through a large hole riddle.  Lots of hard work involved im afraid

[Rampant_Weasel]

lots of well rotted manure on it (after its been dug), leave for a few weeks then dig it all in and it will be loose underneath

[jimmytheshed]

Lots of hard work iam afraid, dig it over and bash those clumps with the fork, then dig it again and bash, then rake it off   if its like my soil when you get a good tilth  and it rains after, it makes a hard cap, which is sorted by a quick hoe around!

[prakash_mib]

read my mind lesley. I was about to ask the same question. I prepared a bed for sweetcorn and dug in well rotted manure but it looks awful. waiting for the nature to do miracle in a couple of weeks time to make it perfect tilth. 

[Runwell-Steve]

You only really need a small amount of your plot as a fine tilth, and that is where you are sewing seeds, even there you can get away with a seed drill filled with multi purpose compost.

If you sow the seeds at home and are planting them outside later then you don't really need a fine tilth.

Don't panic, the soil will gradually get better over time as you work it, don't expect miracles all at once.  Keep adding organic matter, as much as you can and in no time you will notice the difference.

[Swing Swang]

Give it three years of hard work/cultivation/digging/organics/frosts etc and it will begin to look like your neighbours' plots. Give it another five and it will look even better.

In the meantime you'll be producing some great stuff even if the soil looks like the somme.

First earlies in a well dug/composted patch followed by leeks will really cause you to 'work' the soil and might accelerate the process a little.

[johnhar]

the only way i know of getting a tilth on hard dug ground is to catch just as it dries on the top after some rain, then i rake it over., i use a wooden hay rake so i can cover a large area quickly
johnhar

[peterjf]

we dig in october 1st and leave big lumps

then rotavate twice, january and  march,

[compostqueen]

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

[STIG1963]

Dig over and let the frosts do some of the work for you.

[savbo]

I haven't got one myself but quite a few people on our site use azada-type tools and they seem to work well at breaking up clods, better than bashing them with a rake or cultivator cos they're heavier and sharper?

[Digger Tom]

 Rotovate     

[compostqueen]

It's not everyone who likes rotovators. I hate them actually - the racket drives me mad this time of year    You don't need graded grains for growing veg, unless of course you intend to show your carrots and beetroots with roots a mile long 

[mumofstig]

My new lottie is a pain to dig....it's been rotovated for so many years there is a dead stop hard pan at one spade depth 
All I can do at the moment is to get the fork into it and wiggle a bit...I hope eventually to loosen it. The OB next door digs rather than rotovates and showed me how deep the top soil is once through the hard pan. So I know the extra work will be worth it in the long run