I hear a lot of gardeners say that tilling is bad for the soil because:
- tillage disrupts the life in your soil
- tillage increases the oxygen levels in your soil (at least temporarily)
- tillage produces a quick flush of plant-available nutrients
- repetitive tillage without replacing your humus and nutrients, will eventually result in significant microbiology reduction, soil compaction, less water holding capacity, less humus, and nutrient leaching
A few recommendations about tilling:
- do as few passes as possible with the tiller
- as soon as you're done tilling, apply a compost tea, and repeat each week for a least a month
- if you're not a tea brewing kind of guy, make sure you apply some form of simple sugar (white sugar works) in water along with a source of nitrogen (e.g. fish hydrolysate) to your soils once a week for at least the next month - this will help to meet the demands of the flourishing microbe populations
- you may want to also add some Effective Microorganisms (EMTM) to your soil surface
- spread a thin layer (1/2"-1") of compost on top of your soil after tilling
- cover your soils with a mulch (e.g. leaves, straw, hay, etc.) as you "grow" forward
