Our family acquired their own land plot with a house back in 1999. Initially, the garden was located at a slight slope to the river. Not surprisingly, the rains gradually washed away the fertile layer of the earth, from above it became thinner and thinner. And if you dig under the fertile layer, you could stumble upon clay.
In those years, the land was cultivated in a simple way. We were waiting for the tractor driver in his transport, who plowed the site for a symbolic fee. Then we had the opportunity to plant vegetables in the beds.
Note that in the lower part of the garden the soil was not very soft, but still suitable for sowing. But in the upper part, where the black soil was washed away by the rains, the plow invariably touched the clay, mixing it with the fertile soil. As a result, half of the garden was very dense. Large pieces of such earth, after drying, turned into real stones. Imagine how difficult it was to huddle this area.
It was clear to everyone that we were making a mistake somewhere. In addition, we were dependent on the tractor driver. Then we started looking for the answer in the relevant literature. Fortunately, we managed to find it! It turned out that deep plowing is the fault of all our troubles.
The soil becomes fertile thanks to the microorganisms living in it (various larvae, worms, insects, and others). Each of them has its own layer for life, they need their own microclimate. There are small holes in the ground that leave rotten roots, insect walking. They accumulate moisture from the air, due to this gas exchange is carried out.
The plow, while plowing the land, turns over all layers. As a result, microorganisms living in the upper layer fall down and vice versa. All processes occurring in the soil are stopped. It takes some time for everything to get back on track. Having got to the bottom of the truth, we decided to give up plowing with a tractor. With the onset of spring, we began to cultivate the soil without penetrating too deeply. After that, potatoes were planted in the beds.
All family members were involved in the process. I walked evenly along the beds, pushing the walk-behind tractor in front. My younger brother followed me, throwing potatoes into the holes. The procession was completed by an aunt who buried holes.
Today many people do this, but in those days there was only one walk-behind tractor in the village. Therefore, our method was considered innovative. Finally, we were able to decide for ourselves when to plant vegetables.
Two years later, we completely forgot about the hard lumps obtained from the dried up earth. The soil became so soft that it was easy to "drown" in it to the very ankles. The main thing is not to bury a walk-behind tractor, which weighs more than a centner.
One drawback is that the beds are covered with field bindweed. After a while, we managed to completely withdraw it, but this is a completely different story, which I will tell you about in the next article!
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