Hello, Hilary here again.
I wanted to show you a wonderful labour saving and soil building way of gardening.
In the Autumn, I aerated this bed by sticking in a fork and wiggling it around. I never dig because this wrecks the precious bacterial/ fungal/ wiggly critter life going on in the top soil which is vital for its health and the quality and vigour of your plants.
After forking holes for air and drainage I cover beds with a thick layer of straw, leafmould, or woodchips, whatever I have to hand. If compost is needed for the crops you plan for the spring, you can add it before the straw.
If you havent got enough mulch to make a thick layer, you can lay cardboard down on the soil first. This will stop weeds growing. Soak the cardboard before adding what mulch you have.
So now its springtime my bed is beautifully weed free and teeming with the right sort of life under the straw.
Here I am making a hole in the straw, adding a bit more compost for luck and putting in my broad bean plants grown from seed. (I think weve all learned this year that winter is the right time to plan our gardens and order seeds!)
The plants are nestling nicely in the straw enjoying a wee bit of protection from late frost.
If you want to sow seeds in the bed, just draw away a line of straw, gently fork to a fine tilth and sow seeds as normal.
I leave the straw in place all year to keep weeds down and protect the soil. In midsummer, however hot and dry the weather, if you feel under the straw, the soil is always cool and damp.
Come autumn, once all crops have finished I will gently lift off the straw to aerate and feed the soil again then replace the straw and add more for another weed free season.
I also find that the straw is breaking down and turning into extra, rich topsoil.