Another New Garden Toy

I have been wrestling with the fact that our vegetable patch will be expanded this year. Which is good news, of course, as I will be able to grow much more. But part of that soil has been under wraps for too long.

From the third fence post from the right at the back, will be the expanded vegetable plot. That's 12+ feet. About 5 ft down to the lawn.

The situation was, it was under a tarp. Not good for soil. Sure, it kept the weeds down, to a certain extent, but it is hard as a rock when it's dry. Very, very difficult to dig over.

Do any of you remember it looking like this?

I realised that the dryness of the soil was a problem, because it dries like cement. So last weekend, I put the sprinkler on it for an hour or so.

In an hour I managed to dig a couple of feet of it with a fork. Seriously hard work.

I was considering renting a smaller version of "the beast" which we used to dig over the entire garden when we first moved in. But then I thought, hey, why don't I just buy one? Surely we'll use it again and again, to dig over the ground for the vegetable patch every year?

I found it - I almost bought something off e-bay, but this tickled my fancy more and I was outbid anyway. Here is a link, and do look at the video if you get a chance; I would be interested to know if any of you have tried this?

http://www.clifford-james.co.uk/ProductDetailInfoWithoutOptions.cfm?ID=GF741&ShopRef=68&Prime=Yes&shopListRec=33257

I am so, so excited to get this baby and do some tilling. Ready for all the vegetable plants I have ordered from Sutton's! A job lot of 160 plug plants, 12 different varieties from beetroot to broccoli. Bring it on!