Just thinking about something. As everyone knows, I am a bit of a lazy git and also very very busy (can't wait till retirement! sadly about 25 years to go... ;) ) so I tend to manage the plot this way: dig over a first bed late winter (generally the onion bed) - fertilize with compost or manure - cover it well - in a couple of weeks, uncover, tidy a bit if necessary (most weeds have died or are well damaged), plant crops. Then dig over another area (usually then the early spud area), cover it and so on and so on.
I leave the rest until I am ready to do something with it. I usually casually weed it to get rid of things like dandelion, plantain etc that can overrun you fast. But no more. I like this because it means that on the same day you plant THEN you dig, so there is less pressure and when you go to plant, you can just weed the new weeds that have come up.
Bear with me...
I noticed a neighbour who this week went to his plot and dug over the WHOLE 100 m2, by hand, from morning to night. It is now standing bare, as obviously too early to plant or sow much.
Now obviously that looks extremely tough and diligent, but I am wondering if it's really such a good idea? Does that not expose all your nice topsoil to the wind, rain etc, possibly eroding it?
Obviously by the time I am at my last beds, I do have to weed more, as it is already May. But the covering method seems so sensible. Yet, I am the ONLY person on my plot to do this.
Does anyone here do what that bloke did, and what are the advantages to doing it that way?