Before each planting season, I remove the old vegetable plants and manually till the soil with a shovel and muscles. I maintain two compost bins and usually have fresh compost to freshen up the soil, and if necessary, I add a bag of garden soil and little peat moss. Garden #1 was my first garden, and I used some existing soil to build my base. This means that I have clay mixed in, but over the years, I continue to remove the clay clods from the bed. Not a big deal, but clay is not ideal for vegetable plant growth. After the soil is tilled, I rake the garden bed until it is smooth and even. It is now ready for seed or starter pod planting.
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