Clearing the land
In an effort to regain control of my backyard veggie garden, I went out and bought an electric rear tine tiller from Home Depot. My thinking was since I only use the tiller a few times a year, having an electric motor might make more sense, since there was no concern about bad gasoline, adding oil, etc.
The problem is that the unit is quite heavy for someone my age. Along with weight, the angle of the push bar is a bit high, making it more difficult to keep control of the unit as it bounces along the garden ground.
After my initial use, I was exhausted after only about 20 minutes of tilling, having to rest. Two of the four 40 volt batteries also needed a rest, as they already ran out of juice. Ryobi advertises that one can till 1000 square feet on the four batteries, as you can switch over to the second set after the first two run out. Well, I find that hard to believe, as I have about 500 sq feet of garden and the batteries ran out after less than 1/4 of the field being tilled.
So, I am torn. I have my Mantis tiller that works fine (after I changed out the air filter), but is only about 8 inches wide, thus taking more than twice the time to till the same area as the Ryobi unit.
I am going to think about it a bit more and see what options would work best for me.
In any case, both tillers collect lots of vines from the Bermuda grass and weeds, resulting in my having to take off the tines frequently to clean out all the brush picked up by the tines. It seems the older I get the more things don’t want to go my way. I am supposed to enjoy gardening, as it should provide a nice outlet for my mental well being, but I can’t seem to find that room yet.
October 7, 2025 -Transplanting strawberries
I found out I could not return the Ryobi tiller, unless it was unused. No decisions, just use it to the best of my ability, which is what I did today. I figured out that I could move the strawberries before taking out the weeds, making the process of clearing that area a lot easier. I used the new tiller to clear the former tomato patch area, put down some fertilizer and black plastic sheeting used to keep weeds away and planted my first 28 strawberry plants. I hope to plant about 90 total before then cutting down the weeds in the old patch. There is still about a month of growing season left, so I am hopeful the strawberries will take hold before frost sets in.
The tiller is quite heavy and has tines that run in reverse, causing the wheels to slip on occasion. However, it is cleaning up the area being tilled and making my weeding job a lot easier. I will take my time and do a few rows at a time, hoping to transplant as many of the good strawberries as possible.
I used rocks for holding down the plastic for now, as I ran out of landscaping staples. I purchased 200 new ones, so those put every 12 inches or so, should hold down the plastic over the winter.
In an effort to regain control of my backyard veggie garden, I went out and bought an electric rear tine tiller from Home Depot. My thinking was since I only use the tiller a few times a year, having an electric motor might make more sense, since there was no concern about bad gasoline, adding oil, etc.
The problem is that the unit is quite heavy for someone my age. Along with weight, the angle of the push bar is a bit high, making it more difficult to keep control of the unit as it bounces along the garden ground.
After my initial use, I was exhausted after only about 20 minutes of tilling, having to rest. Two of the four 40 volt batteries also needed a rest, as they already ran out of juice. Ryobi advertises that one can till 1000 square feet on the four batteries, as you can switch over to the second set after the first two run out. Well, I find that hard to believe, as I have about 500 sq feet of garden and the batteries ran out after less than 1/4 of the field being tilled.
So, I am torn. I have my Mantis tiller that works fine (after I changed out the air filter), but is only about 8 inches wide, thus taking more than twice the time to till the same area as the Ryobi unit.
I am going to think about it a bit more and see what options would work best for me.
In any case, both tillers collect lots of vines from the Bermuda grass and weeds, resulting in my having to take off the tines frequently to clean out all the brush picked up by the tines. It seems the older I get the more things don’t want to go my way. I am supposed to enjoy gardening, as it should provide a nice outlet for my mental well being, but I can’t seem to find that room yet.
October 7, 2025 -Transplanting strawberries
I found out I could not return the Ryobi tiller, unless it was unused. No decisions, just use it to the best of my ability, which is what I did today. I figured out that I could move the strawberries before taking out the weeds, making the process of clearing that area a lot easier. I used the new tiller to clear the former tomato patch area, put down some fertilizer and black plastic sheeting used to keep weeds away and planted my first 28 strawberry plants. I hope to plant about 90 total before then cutting down the weeds in the old patch. There is still about a month of growing season left, so I am hopeful the strawberries will take hold before frost sets in.
The tiller is quite heavy and has tines that run in reverse, causing the wheels to slip on occasion. However, it is cleaning up the area being tilled and making my weeding job a lot easier. I will take my time and do a few rows at a time, hoping to transplant as many of the good strawberries as possible.
I used rocks for holding down the plastic for now, as I ran out of landscaping staples. I purchased 200 new ones, so those put every 12 inches or so, should hold down the plastic over the winter.
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Nevada lettuce is still producing -
Second season bloom for Azalea -
Formerly tomato rows, now clear -
Transplanting strawberries in collard and broccoli area
Click to read about my October adventures