TOFG-all

Tillage & Cultivation

Unit 1.2 | Part 1 – 61
Students’ Hands-On Exercise, Demonstration 2

Hands-On Exercise:

French-Intensive Soil Cultivation

for the student

The following tillage exercise will help

you develop the skills needed to culti-

vate and maintain traditional French-

intensive raised garden beds. In this

exercise you will be asked to evaluate

distinct soils—both unimproved and

improved—for their tillage needs and,

from start to finish, execute the neces-

sary steps to develop soils for horticul-

tural purposes. Please document the

rationale for each tool, technique, and

sequence used during this exercise. This

information will later be shared with

your instructor. During the exercise your

instructor should observe and critique

your tillage skills.

PREPARATION AND MATERIALS

• Step-by-step instruction sheet (pp. 57–59, Demonstration 2)


• Soil moisture chart


• Tools: Spade, fork, or U-bar; stakes and string, wheelbarrow,
  tape measure


• Stabilized compost

EXERCISE

Document the rationale for each tool, technique, and se-

quence used during each of the following tasks:

• Prepare 10 feet of unimproved garden soil using necessary
  soil improvement techniques


• Prepare 25 feet of an improved garden bed using necessary
  soil maintenance techniques