How to Dig a Vegetable Garden
- 1). Set an oscillating sprinkler in the middle of the garden. Attach a garden hose to it and turn on the water. Move the sprinkler around the garden area until the ground is soaked 3 to 4 inches down. Test the depth of the moisture by digging into the soil with a shovel in several places. Allow the area to dry for 24 hours.
- 2). Walk to the bottom-left corner of the garden with a shovel. Place the shovel blade into the dirt and push it down into the soil with your foot. Jump on the shovel blade until it sinks all the way into the ground. Pull the handle of the shovel back toward your body until the shovel blade pops up a clump of dirt. Lift the shovel full of dirt up and then turn it over to dump the dirt back into the hole top-side down. Back up about 6 inches and repeat. Continue this process until the entire garden has been turned upside-down.
- 3). Position a rototiller in the top-left corner of the garden. Set the depth gauge on the tiller at 8 inches. Rototill along the side of the garden down to the bottom-left corner. Turn the tiller and till toward the bottom-right corner. Turn the tiller and till toward the top-right corner and then back to the top-left corner. Move the tiller inward one width and till another round. Repeat this process until the entire garden has been tilled and the soil is soft and manageable.
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