Turning the garden over

Plants grow best in loose, airy soil. Packed soil makes it harder for oxygen to get to the roots, harder for the roots to spread out, and makes for poorer drainage. Plants don't grow well in packed soil.

The best way to assure loose, airy soil is to rototill or to turn the soil over with a shovel. Another reason to turn the soil over is that if you put compost or other enriched soil on top of your garden, it needs to be worked into the soil so it's available to the plant at root level. Since I have raised beds, it's not practical to rototill so I turn my soil over with a shovel.

That's what I'll be doing today... turning soil over. Fun, fun, fun!