became an unplowed pasture. Then in the 1970s it grew daffodil
bulbs, occasioning more plowing. All through the '80s my soil again
rested under grass. In 1987, when I began using the land, there was
still a 2-inch-thick, very hard layer starting about 7 inches down.
Below 9 inches the open earth is soft as butter as far as I've ever
dug.

On a garden-sized plot, plowpan or compacted subsoil is easily
opened with a spading fork or a very sharp common shovel. After
normal rotary tilling, either tool can fairly easily be wiggled 12
inches into the earth and small bites of plowpan loosened. Once this
laborious chore is accomplished the first time, deep tillage will be
far easier. In fact, it becomes so easy that I've been looking for a
custom-made fork with longer tines.

Curing Clayey Soils

In humid climates like ours, sandy soils may seem very open and
friable on the surface but frequently hold some unpleasant subsoil
surprises. Over geologic time spans, mineral grains are slowly
destroyed by weak soil acids and clay is formed from the breakdown
products. Then heavy winter rainfall transports these minuscule clay
particles deeper into the earth, where they concentrate. It is not
unusual to find a sandy topsoil underlaid with a dense, cement-like,
clayey sand subsoil extending down several feet. If very impervious,
a thick, dense deposition like this may be called hardpan.

The spading fork cannot cure this condition as simply as it can
eliminate thin plowpan. Here is one situation where, if I had a
neighbor with a large tractor and subsoil plow, I'd hire him to