Turning Sod Into Garden Soil

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Breaking soil: Mow an approximately 30 square-foot area for first-planting.
Breaking soil: Mow an approximately 30 square-foot area for first-planting.
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Early cold weather is as much a time of renewal as spring.
Early cold weather is as much a time of renewal as spring.
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The ground is cleared and prepared for the next year's planning and planting.
The ground is cleared and prepared for the next year's planning and planting.
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Then the spring rows are set, soil nutrients replenished, seeds planted, and a year's worth of fresh vegetables begins to sprout.
Then the spring rows are set, soil nutrients replenished, seeds planted, and a year's worth of fresh vegetables begins to sprout.
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A bird's-eye view of one of our earliest gardens, circa 1973.
A bird's-eye view of one of our earliest gardens, circa 1973.
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Dig the area, separate the roots from the soil, and pulverize the soil with your hands to prepare a seed bed
Dig the area, separate the roots from the soil, and pulverize the soil with your hands to prepare a seed bed
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Here I plant cucumber seeds in an isolated, mulched (with grass clippings) area. The developing plants will then spread over the new bed.
Here I plant cucumber seeds in an isolated, mulched (with grass clippings) area. The developing plants will then spread over the new bed.
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There is a tremendous luxury to a good power tiller, but I still tend my acre of market garden largely by hand.
There is a tremendous luxury to a good power tiller, but I still tend my acre of market garden largely by hand.
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The Mather family, harvest fall of 1977.
The Mather family, harvest fall of 1977.

Learn helpful techniques for turning sod into garden soil for your winter garden.

Turning Sod Into Garden Soil

Early cold season is an ideal time to start a new garden or expand the old one, and getting the soil in shape is always the first step. Mort’s “lazy technique” of fertilizing new soil and preparing the seed bed makes planning your spring garden a pleasure.

When I bought the 150-plus year-old house and 100 acres in Maine in 1969, I had no thoughts of be coming a back-to-the-lander. It was an investment. Then, I fell in love that same year with Barbara, and a few years later with the land. We have been living in the now 175-plus year-old house since 1972 and we are currently planning our 24th garden.

In many ways, not much has happened to us during that time. Our phone number and address are the same, but the dead elms that surrounded the house when we bought it were used for firewood years ago and replaced with maples. They were twigs when we planted them. Now they tower over us, as do our children. And our garden this year will be in the same place the first one was.

  • Published on Dec 1, 1995
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