falls downward, hits the fork tines, and falls into the hole below.Now, standing in the trench or on the digging board
above the trench, dig down another 12 inches (or as
deep as possible) with a spading fork, a few inches at a
time if the soil is heavy or tight. Leave the fork as deep
as it has penetrated, and loosen the subsoil by pushing
the fork handle down and levering the tines through the
soil. If the soil is not loose enough for this process, lift
the chunk of soil out of the trench on the fork tines.
Then throw it slightly and gently upward, and allow it to
fall back on the tines so it will break apart some. If this
does not work, use the points of the fork tines to break
the soil apart. Work from one end of the trench to the
other in this manner.
Next, move back the digging board (approximately the
12-inch width of the next trench). Dig another trench
behind the +rst one, moving each spadeful of the top 12
inches of soil forward into the +rst trench. When digging,
make as few motions and use as little muscle as possible
in this process. This will conserve your energy and
involve less work. In fact, as you dig the soil, you will
discover you can use an Aikido-like economy of motion
and energy in which you are virtually just shifting your
balance and weight rather than digging. Sometimes you
will have to work over a trench a second or third time to
remove all the soil and obtain the proper trench size.
Repeat the subsoil loosening process in the second
trench.