Project #2: Removal of Sod and How to Double Dig a Bed

Not gonna lie - this part sucked.

And again, we are picture-less. But you can use your imagination.

The sod was super-lustrous and thick and a complete pain in the butt to remove. And once removed, I discovered that we have the worst soil ever - mostly clay with some isolated chunks of builders sand. I'm not kidding - you could literally use the "soil" as modeling clay. It was like digging in Sculpey. Horrible.

Then came the double digging part. Now some people are proponents of the double digging method, others shun it. I figured I'd try it, especially since I had such poor soil to start with. So here is how to prepare a bed double digging style (PS Do not step in your bed at any time!):
       1) Dig a trench about a shovel's depth deep. Put the removed soil in a wheelbarrow (suggested way) or     just off to the side somewhere (lazy back to the land mama way).
       2) Take a pitchfork and stick it in the trench and wiggle fork back and forth to loosen the bottom of the trench. Do this along the whole length of the trench.
       3) Dig another trench alongside the first one you dug and put the soil you are digging up into the first trench.
       4) Keep on repeating these steps until you get to the last trench. This is where you dump the soil you removed from the first trench.
       5) You now should have a lovely fluffy bed with soil that is aerated and loosened to almost two feet down.

Except for that, remember, my soil was clay. After both days that the beds were dug, we had torrential downpours that compacted the soil to even below the bottom of the wood frame! Needless to say after all of my and my husband's hard work, we weren't about to do it again, so I just fluffed it some more when I added compost.

Here's a good site with pictures if you prefer pictures to words:

How to Double Dig a Raised Bed

Stay tuned for Project #3: Addition of Compost and Other Organic Materials!