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Review: the Meadow Creature “People’s Broadfork†makes off-grid gardening easier
Let’s say things have hit the fan, and you finally decide to dig up that seed vault you tucked away in the back of your pantry. Assuming your seeds are still viable, how do you go about digging a garden bed? Do you fire up a tractor or tiller? What if gas is no longer available?
The traditional method for preparing a garden bed by hand is called double digging, as taught by John Jeavons and Steve Solomon. It’s an effective technique, but it requires a good shovel, a sturdy fork, and a strong back—something not everyone has.
Here in Middle Tennessee, I deal with some of the hardest, rockiest soil you can imagine. You don’t just stick a shovel in the ground. Try it, and you’ll get a *clank* as the now-dulled blade hits one of the billions of rocks just beneath the surface. A regular digging fork doesn’t fare much better.
What about a no-till or lasagna garden, where you layer organic matter on top of the soil and plant directly into it? It's a great method, and its followers are almost cult-like in their devotion. But it takes an absurd amount of material to get started. That same amount of organic matter could make enough compost to feed my entire tilled garden—or just be enough for one no-till bed.
So I’ve had to break soil, and I've found only one hand tool that can do it effectively: the Meadow Creature People’s Broadfork. Keep reading, comrade—I’ll show you how to plant potatoes when the politburo provides no petrol.
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It’s not even Halloween yet. Why are you bugging me about gardening?
I know, I know. It’s October, and you want to hibernate on your couch watching football and Charlie Brown specials. Me too. Or maybe this year you’re on the other end of the spectrum: cleaning your guns and digging trenches around your house in anticipation of the boogaloo. Uh, also me too.
But now is the time to start thinking about your spring survival garden, for a few reasons:
- **It’s cool outside**, so the work is easier than in the summer. If you haven’t gardened before, trust me—you don’t want to be doing hard labor when it’s over 80°F.
- **Hand-digging beds is slow** and laborious. The more lead time you give yourself, the easier it becomes. You don’t want to be rushing in March and hurting yourself.
- **There are things you can plant now**, like garlic and other cool-weather crops, depending on your zone. You can also plant cover crops to improve soil structure and add nutrients.
- If you decide to get a soil test, **labs aren’t nearly as busy now** as they are in the spring.
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OK, so what’s a broadfork?
It’s exactly what the name says. It’s a garden digging fork, but much wider and more heavy-duty than a standard garden fork. There are many variations, but they all feature:
- Long, sharp tines that sink into the soil
- A bar to put your feet on
- Two long handles to pull back
You place the broadfork on the ground with the pointed end going in. Then you use your feet to push it in, rocking it around to avoid rocks. Once it’s deep enough, you stand on the bar and rock it, letting your weight do the work. When the tines are fully in, plant your feet firmly on the bar, grab the handles, and lean back to break up the ground.
If you're self-conscious about your weight, now is the time to embrace it. The heavier you are, the easier this is. The trick is to use leverage and body weight, not brute strength.
You then bring the fork back about a foot and repeat the process, working backward through the bed. If you're a no-till gardener, you can use the broadfork to gently loosen the soil without turning it over.
When you watch videos about broadforking, you often see the demonstrator pulling up loose, fluffy soil. Lies! Well, not lies, but a lot of those guys are working on already well-prepared soil. If your soil is hard and compacted like mine, you’ll pull up big chunks of dense earth. David the Good shows a more realistic demonstration.
My ground is so tough that I usually don’t stand on the broadfork. I push it in with my foot, rock it around to avoid rocks, and then pull it back about six inches before repeating. It's slow, but it works.
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Let’s talk about the Meadow Creature broadfork and why it’s the best in its class.
If you’re like me, you read a review wondering what the price is until the very end. I’ll get that out of the way now: it’s $214 direct from Meadow Creature, not counting shipping, which brought the total to about $250 for me.
I know what you’re thinking. As Chris Rock’s Cheap Pete character would say, “Good lord, that’s a lot of money!†You could buy a tiller for that price, but I think the Meadow Creature broadfork is well worth it.
The Meadow Creature broadfork is entirely welded (with nice, fat beads). Many broadforks have bolt-on handles made of wood or fiberglass. Those have advantages, such as being lighter and allowing handle swaps, but they’ll eventually break, especially in tough soil like mine. The Meadow Creature is a buy-once-cry-once affair.
Another impressive thing about the Meadow Creature is the tines. Many broadforks have thin, nail-like spikes. Not the Meadow Creature. They’re more like giant claws—think Wolverine claws, but sized for the Hulk. These tines won’t bend easily when they hit a rock. David the Good has used his to pry whole boulders from his garden without damaging the fork.
The Meadow Creature broadfork won’t break on you. As someone who’s broken several garden tools, including a tractor, that’s important. And when the proverbial stuff has hit the fan, you don’t want to be dealing with equipment repairs.
Sure, you could buy a tiller for that price, but not a very good one. Tiller maintenance is a headache, and they only work about six inches deep. The People’s Broadfork goes a full foot deep. There are longer models, but I think they’re overkill for most people.
As an alternative, you can make your own broadfork if you have a welder and tools. It can be done pretty cheaply if you can source scrap metal.
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Digging a Bed
If you're preparing a new garden bed, how do you go from breaking ground with the broadfork to a finished bed ready for planting? I spent months struggling with a mix of tools, but the trick turned out to be a pointed hoe. It easily chops through soil and roots, and helps shape the bed.
Here’s how I’ve been digging beds this fall:
1. Measure and mark a reasonably sized bed (I like 4x8).
2. Use a scythe and string trimmer to clear foliage.
3. Use the broadfork to break up the measured plot.
4. Use the pointed hoe to chop up the soil, dragging dirt from the edges to the middle. This is also when I add compost.
5. Finally, use a hard-tined bow rake to shape the bed and remove clods.
The broadfork and pointed hoe are an essential combo for hand-digging. Trying to do this with regular shovels and hoes is frustrating and back-breaking.
What’s great about the broadfork is its versatility. You can use it for proper double-digging, or gently loosen soil for lasagna gardens and compost piles. The possibilities are endless.