Should be that using a tiller would be obvious, but it has been my experience that this is not really the case. Having grown up in cities and not understood the value of gardens or gardening until later in my life, the thought of using a tiller never really occurred to me and when it did, I found that I had no clue what it did or how to operate one. So I am going to take a few minutes of your time and explain how to properly operate a rototiller.

The first thing we need to address is the fact that there is a difference between a rototiller and a cultivator. Though this may seem self evident, it was not to me, so we are going to examine that. A cultivator is a smaller piece of equipment designed to work around a small area. It generally will chop up small weeds. It is a good tool to use once your garden is established to weed and aerate the soil in places where there is enough space so that you do not have to do this chore by hand.

When I decided to make my first "big" garden, I tried to use a cultivator to do the job a rototiller was designed to do and disappointed with the results not too mention the neighbors laughing at me. It was an effort to save money admittedly, one that cost me more in the long run as I them had to purchase the proper tool anyway. The moral is to spend the money you need for a quality piece of equipment that will last you many years in the garden rather than being cheap and ending up spending more over all.

A rototiller on the other hand is designed to break up soil that is compacted. It is much heavier and has more sturdy tines than a cultivator. It also makes a bigger swath through your garden area and dig deeper, six to eight inches is pretty standard. Tillers have varying size widths,some are 14 inches across some are larger upwards of 17-18 inches. They also come in a couple of flavors, front tines and rear tines. Rear tine rototillers are my favorite as I find them easier to maneuver and feel I have more control over the depth they till at.

Before you operate the rototiller you need to dress for success. Long pants, closed toe shoes (preferably boots), long sleeved shirt, hat and either safety or sunglasses, if you are prone to sunburn use sunscreen, if you are prone to allergies, use a dust mask are the dress of the day. And before you even put gas in READ THE MANUEL that came with your tiller.

The basic steps are to using a tiller are:

• Make sure you have gas
• Make sure you have the tiller power switch in the on position
• Press the primer bulb three or eight times (I like pushing the little bulb-though I suppose you could flood the tiller)
• Adjust the choke so that it is midway between the open and closed position
• Pull the starter rope 1/3 to 1/2 of the length so that the engine catches
• Once the engine catches, open the throttle and close the choke

Put it in forward without the tines engaged and move it to your garden area. Once you are where you want to till, engage the tines and start plowing.

May you have many wonderful springs in your garden tilling to your hearts content.