The Double-Digging Method of garden bed preparation was developed in Europe, and has become widely adopted all over the world. It is based on the idea that the better we prepare and feed our soil, the better our plants will thrive. In the Double-Digging Method, we loosen, condition, and fertilize the soil in a bed to the depth of 2 feet. This aerates the bed, endowing it with a tilth and friability that makes it irresistible to most garden ornamentals and edibles. Particularly suited to vegetable gardening, double-digging also provides the perfect structure for supporting longterm ornamental plantings.

Although initially double-digging involves a fair amount of physical labor, double-digging's longterm benefits far outweigh the initial costs in labor. Furthermore, many gardeners report that the slow, methodical process of excavating and amending the soil in their planting bed helps create a spiritual and emotional bond with their land that quicker methods, such as rototilling, cannot provide.

If you would like to try double-digging, we suggest starting small, and working methodically over a period of days. See how the plants in your double-dug bed do for you this year. You may well agree that double-digging is a method you'll want to employ in the future.

1. Lay out the edges of the new bed with stakes and twine. Four feet is the optimum width for a bed because it allows you to work the bed from either long side without having to walk over the bed's soil, which would compact it. Making the bed wider may mean creating a need for a walkway down the middle.

2. Remove any sod or other plants covering the bed area and put the chopped pieces into the compost heap. Make sure to get as many roots out as possible.

3. Divide the undug bed into 1 foot wide strips running the entire length of the bed.

4. Starting at one end of the bed, dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep. Remove the soil from this hole and cart it over to the opposite end of the bed. (This dirt will be used to fill the last hole dug.)

5. With a spade, loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole to the depth of another foot. This is the "double-digging" referred to in the name of this procedure, and it will give plants 2 feet of aerated soil in which to plunge their delighted roots.

6. Sprinkle into the hole at the following rates any soil amendments that you may wish to add. We recommend:

• Homemade or commercial compost. What It Does: Aids moisture retention, adds some nutrients, helps aerate heavy soils, and feeds beneficial soil microbes. Application Rate: 3-6 inches of compost to each double-dug 1' square hole. Recommended Products: Payne's 100% Natural Soil Conditioner, made of composted cotton burrs; Happy Frog™ Organic Soil Conditioner with earthworm castings and bat guano; Hu-Max™ Garden Soil Builder; Black Gold Garden Compost Blend; or Forest Magic Organic Compost.

• Drainage Materials. What They Do: Improve drainage in heavy clay soils. Application Rate: 3-6 inches of drainage material to each double-dug 1' square hole. Recommended Products: Pelletized Gypsum; Black Gold™ Perlite; crusher fines; gravel; or crushed pumice rock.

• Fertilizers. What They Do: Add to the soil nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and trace minerals necessary to plant growth. In addition, some organic fertilizers now contain beneficial soil bacteria and humates, essential to encouraging the flourishing soil life your plants depend upon for health, productivity, disease- and pest-resistance, and beauty. Application Rate: Follow the directions on the fertilizer label and resist the temptation to add more than the recommended dose. Recommended Products: Bradford Organics™; Fox Farm™; Gro-Power™ line of organic-inorganic fertilizer blends; Soil Secrets™; Yum Yum Mix™.

7. Dig a second hole right next to the first one, the same size (1' x 1' x 1'). Put the soil you removed from Hole #2 into Hole #1. Loosen the soil at the bottom of the second hole as you did for Hole #1, then add soil amendments.

8. Proceed digging holes in this manner, taking out soil to the depth of a foot, transferring it to the proceeding hole,  loosening the soil at the bottom of the new hole, and adding soil amendments, until you reach the end of your row. Then turn and go back the other way.

9. At the end of the bed, dig your final hole. Loosen the soil at the bottom, add soil amendments, then backfill with the pile of soil from the very first hole dug.

10. Go over the bed one last time, mixing the amendments thoroughly into the soil of the bed. You will be left with a slightly mounded bed (don't worry; the contents will soon settle flat).

11. Rake the bed smooth.

12. Water the bed thoroughly.

13. Allow the contents of the bed to rest and settle for 3-7 days (2 weeks if possible).

14. Add any paths the bed requires.

15. Plant and enjoy for years to come!

For further information on soil-building in Santa Fé, click here.