Three years ago, I dug over part of my (new) back garden to put in some vegetable beds. It turned out that there was a builder's tip under the soil, and I spent as much time shifting bricks/scaffolding poles/etc as digging. Never doing serious digging again I said.
Two years ago, we'd enjoyed the gardening so much, we took on a half allotment. It was semi-previously owned, but needed a total redig, so I hauled my fork out from the garage and set to work. It wasn't too bad, but it was ~7 times the area of the year before. Do it well once, and then never have to do any more serious digging again, I said to myself.
Last winter, we were working out what to grow on our allotment, and decided we wanted some more space. So the nice allotment man let us have the space next to our current plot. It hadn't been used in some time, and looked pretty scary, brambles, comfrey the size of trees, and so so much couch grass. I got to work with a sickle, and then out came the spade again. I discovered another builder's tip, and more bricks rocks and so on. Once more into the breach, i said, and then _never_ _again_. People would come and chat to me as I hacked and dug my way across. Typical comments included a woman saying 'i've had an allotment here for 17 years, and I've never seen anyone on that plot'.
Unfortunately, last year I only really got about 1/2 of the new plot done, and even there the weeds were so dense that it needs a redig. So this autumn/spring, I'll be out there again, once more, and then I'll be done with the serious digging, and then i'll only need to do the odd light turnover in the spring. Oh, but a friend of my wife owns a field, and said we might be able to move our growing onto there maybe next year...
I don't know the point of this story
, really, but one consolation of digging is that you put in an hour, and you can see the difference, in the slow creep of soil across the plot. I also find I have done a good deal of my best thinking, gloves on, fork in hand, out there on my own me and the mud. And, had I not done it, last year we wouldn't have had six month's worth of potatoes in the garage (don't ask about the potatoes this year :eek:) or this year have a mish mash of different squash drying on the windows of every room in the house.
Anyway, good luck, do it thoroughly first time, and then you never need do that much again