Is a Broadfork Going to Change the Way I Garden?
M
Mr Uglytool
- observa-wisdom
- Pro-Tips
- FYI
- Broadfork
TL;DR
Why We Build TWO Broadforks..
I've sometimes wondered if broadforks get tangled up with gardening philosophies more than they should.
A gardener might have spent years building permanent beds, getting mulch depths sorted out, figuring out irrigation, making compost and generally developing a system that works for them. Then along comes a broadfork and suddenly it feels like they're being asked to join a different tribe.
That's not really the intention. I've never looked at a broadfork as a gardening system. It's always just seemed like another tool in the shed. A useful one, certainly, but still a tool.
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If you've got permanent beds, keep your permanent beds.
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If you're growing under a heavy layer of mulch, keep mulching.
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If you've found a rhythm that works in your garden, I'd be the last person to suggest throwing it away.
Productive Gardens are hard won for most of us.. Most of us have arrived at our methods through years of mistakes, observations and occasional moments of luck. oh, and grit. relentless grit.
The broadfork doesn't need any of that to change. What it does do is give you another opportunity to renovate the processes that make soil alive!
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Maybe you've got an area that's become a bit tight after a wet season.
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Maybe you're opening up a new bed.
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Maybe water isn't moving through the soil quite like it used to.
One of the things gardening has taught me is that very few tools deserve to become ideologies. Even recently, even hardened no-till gardens are moving to a 'sometimes-till' when they need to.. and seeing benefits.. Youtube will provide a whole lot of desperate rationalisiations...!
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A broadfork won't replace compost.
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It won't replace mulch.
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It won't replace earthworms, patience, planning, water timing, or good judgement.
It's just a way of creating a few more pathways for air, water and roots beneath the surface.What happens after that is still up to you. In fact, if your existing system is working well, I'd argue you're exactly the sort of person who'll get the most from a broadfork.
Not because it replaces what you're already doing. Because it fits alongside it, respectfully.
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Food. Politics. Health. Disability. It all lends into what you see in us, and that's how you know we serve alongside you.
Join the list and feel free to ask questions.. always better questions!
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