There is some good sense beyond the modern push to “no-till” gardening methods.

One of the best arguments I’ve found is that no-till farming and gardening doesn’t disturb the soil ecosystem.

You may not think of a patch of ground as a huge web of living creatures, but it is. And those creatures do a lot of hard work, all day, day and night.

Check out this timelapse video showing how soil fauna break down fallen leaves:

Bioturbation with and without soil fauna from Wim van Egmond on Vimeo.

Impressive, isn’t it?

When you rototill an area, you kill off a lot of the useful creatures in the soil, both macroscopic and microscopic.

On a forest floor or a healthy patch of prairie, these creatures break down debris and turn it into the soil, bringing plants the good stuff they need to thrive.

One of the reasons I don’t use pesticides and herbicides (with the exception of the occasional nicotine spray to kill pesky cucumber beetles) is because I do not want to kill soil life.

Just because you can’t see what’s happening beneath your feet doesn’t mean you should ignore it.

Tread lightly and nature will do a lot of good work for your garden. Most bugs and worms are not our enemies.

*h/t PermieFlix for finding this video.