Question
Due to advancing years, various health issues, including dicky heart, femur fractures and hip problems etc. i.e. the normal ailments of getting old, after sixty odd years of gardening, now only to produce domestic use vegetables, I have had to totally rethink my agricultural techniques and mechanise. What I can not find is information to assist in this because most gardeners use hand tools and smallholders use mechanical techniques too large scale for me. As a preparation technique I now spray my plots with glyphosate to kill the weeds, then use a rotary lawnmower to cut and collect those weeds after their total die back and finish by using a Mantis Rotavator/Tiller to prepare the soil for sowing and planting. I still have some problems here because the plant residue will easily clog the rotating tines as well as leave a very loose soil structure within which to sow. whereas a "turn the soil over" plough would completely bury the residue. I try as far as is practical to imitate the farmer's practice when sowing seed. i.e. drawing a shallow channel and not being too fussy about precise depth of seed and then crudely covering with soil. As near as I can I duplicate a seed drill which is not a precise instrument and  find this works in 99% of cases, but I wondered if there are different techniques that are practical for my purposes and would also help alleviate the secondary weed growth I get and the difficulty of 'in the row' weeding as against between the rows, which can be controlled with the mechanical cultivator, Any avenues of knowledge and advice you could direct me to would be appreciated. I do seem to fall between two stalls in this matter and can not locate fellow travellers to learn from.

Answer
It's hard when our bodies do not do what we want them to!  I acknowledge you for still getting out and doing your garden, it is a great way to stay in shape.  Have you tried a no dig or no till gardening method?  This is where you just keep mulching to suppress weeds.  The mulch will gradually decompose which will naturally enrich your soil.  To plant all you do is move the top layer of mulch to the side plant your seeds and lightly mulch over them.  For transplants all you have to do it clear a small spot, pop in the seedling and then put the mulch back into place.  

If you have not tried this method I think it would work well for you.  If you can get any books or google Ruth Stout she is the founder of the no dig method and there are some great dvd and utube how to's to access.

I hope this helps, and if you have tried this method and it has not worked for you or you need more info about it let me know and I will see what else I can come up with to help you out.

Happy gardening,
Catherine Abbott
www.your-vegeatable-gardening-helper.com