What is the largest garden maintained with ONLY hoe and rake?

Agree .... also water if you fall behind ,weeds pull up a lot easier.Rag weed ,pig weed ,lambs quarter ,are easy to controll .Its the grassy weeds I hated .

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Simple soultion to weed control. I screened my garden. left nothing but fine material. Mulched most of it and only had a hand full of weeds. Mostly all I did was water. Of cousre I did pick a few things.

Our garden is just over 3,000 sq ft, 32 raised beds, and an area I am experimenting with. DH & I do all the maintenance by hand, no tractor, no tilling. We water via soaker hoses except for (4) 4' X 20' beds. We use valves for about half the rest, with the other half on timers. Our garden area slants to the East, so drainage isn't a problem, and the water doesn't pool under the beds. You can't mulch too much here, or that is an invitation to all the SLUGS!

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Christie Acres
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Sooner or later, one is going to need something other than a hoe or rake. Those are all that I need once the garden area has been worked over. Four common vegetables that come to mind right away are carrots, peanuts, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. They can be planted with just a hoe and rake but need something else to dig them with. There's also the law of diminishing return when it comes to getting nutrients into the soil. Fertilizing the surface would require soluble nutrients or they would take forever to break down enough to leach into the soil.

With that aside, other than the initial plowing, disking, and dragging, or a Mantis tiller where the tractor couldn't go, I planted and maintained 7,585 square feet with several very sharp hoes. And when I had nothing else to do, hoed almost an acre of garlic!

Martin

When I plant rows I use string to mark/make where they are. Take it down when the seeds sprout. It's easy to tend the weeds when you know exactly where the seeds are. Once they are up,lay down several sheets of newspaper,then cover that with grass clippings or straw.

Thats what I did 7. I used parachute cord. Id make my bean and pea rows wide and the aisles around 5ft apart. That way I could get in them with my Cub Farmall and cultivator which is a spring tooth harrow that I can pull the teeth with 2 pins ea and reset them as I want. Then, when the plants started to bush out, I would use my walking tractor and either disc or cultivator. If they got too far wide for the walking tractor, I could use myTroy Bilt , the smallest one they make called the Tuffy. By then, if the rows got that wide, that would leave me enough room to get in between them faceing them, which one would have to do in an 4ft wide row to pick. I dont have water, other than what I haul, so I cant water them. Wide rows shade alotta area, in the hot sun we have here. I plant drouth resistant varities of vegetables, and close plant them. Thats about the best I can do. I even have a garden thractor called the iron mule that only has one wheel, and as the advertiseing said, was made for strawberrys, and with it, I can cultivate a foot wide.

I took the 5 schovel impliment that goes on wheel push plows. I found that makers had made them to be put on handles. Ive got 2 of them. One, I took off the inner schovels and left the 2 outer ones. The other I left an outer, and an inner on the opposite side, takeing out the middle, and the other outer schovel. With these, I can weed IN the 4ft wide rows as there just comeing up. The wider for when they just sprout and I dont want to get to close to them. The inner as they get bigger, and what weeds I missed with the wider one. I plant 1ft apart in the rows for beans, peas, beets, 6in apart for carrots, whch I never have ANY luck here, and onions, which only get around a quarter size, as I dont water. Sweet corn go in 32in rows as planted by my field farm corn planter, and cultivated by the Cub.

My garden is about 70x90. the first year, I had it tilled then maintained with hoe. The next year, I bought a tiller.

My garden is 55x100. The first two years I hand tilled it only. It was a disaster. This year, I had it machine tilled in the spring and then maintained by hand. I also put down black woven landscaper fabric between the rows, which helped the weed control immensely. I don't anticipate machine tilling next spring. I don't own a tiller, but can rent one cheaply at the local hardware if need be. Since I stay busy, busy, busy with the livestock, I don't feel like I need to take a moral stand against tilling in the garden. I will do what needs to be done to produce food for the family.

well ok the size of the food forest garden is 50 x 50 or thereabouts, but I also have gardens over about 80% of my around the house area that is also no tilll and a combination of trees, shrubs and ornamental perennial flowers. So probabaly of our 8 acres 2 acres are in gardens

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

Sounds wonderful, in the process of doing what you described, garden in, converting orchard to Permaculture, once piglets are out, and adding more perennials of all kinds (ornamental as well as edible).

I know a local gal, raised bed gardening, using nothing but hand tools (like us), no till methods, 10 YRS of excellent results. She has it down to a science (great compost methods, too). Here, raised bed gardening guarantees results (has to be on a slight slant if there are drainage issues...best to dig down 12" if possible, under the beds). Mound bed gardening works well, too. We have to use season extenders, due to our cool wet weather.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com