Do you like weeding? Most northern gardeners hate to weed but how to avoid it? Try no-till cultivation. Here's why....

Many gardeners use a rototiller or plow and harrow to cultivate the garden in the Spring. The problem is that machine cultivation cuts grass and weeds into small pieces, each ready to grow a new pesky weed, so that you end up with more weeds than the year before.

Rototillers also chop the soil too fine. There is lots of air in the soil when you finish but the fine particles are soon easily compacted into hardpan from footprints and watering. Plants prefer a lumpy soil with lots of air spaces.

Let's solve two problems - weeds and compacted soil with one method - raised beds. Create a box 4' x 10' or any convenient dimensions. Build it of wood, rock, or brick and fill it with your best soil. Why box our soil? So we don't step on it. Raised beds also heat up earlier in the day and in the Spring.

Here comes the cardinal rule - NEVER NEVER step on the soil in the raised bed. Always stand on the path and reach to work. If we don't step on the soil, you will never need to plow or rototill ever again. In the Spring, the bed will look crusted over and weeds will grow but all you need do is plunge a garden fork in the soil, loosen it enough to pull each weed with all of its root.