General Double-Digging Procedure—Each year
before the main crop until good soil structure is
established
Spread a layer of compost over the entire area to be dug.
After marking the bed, place the digging board on the
bed, leaving approximately 24 inches from the end of
the bed for the +rst trench. Remove 7 +ve-gallon buckets
of soil from the upper level of the +rst trench (assuming
a 5-foot-wide growing bed; see illustration on this page).
Be sure to dig trenches across the width of the bed. This
will give you 3 buckets of soil to make compost (these
will eventually be returned to the growing beds in the
form of cured compost), 1 bucket of soil to make flat soil
to grow seedlings, and the remaining 3 buckets are
returned to the bed after it is dug.
The Initial Double-Dig Process: Step-by-Step