Once our gardens are built, they are never tilled again.  Yes, we did use the tractor and tiller to build them.  We tilled down 7", laid out the blocks, then cleared the clay/soil out of the bed.  Most of the beds were filled with well aged wood chips.  This gives us a growing depth of 14", which is a good start in a garden bed.  We never put our weight on the beds, so we never till them again.

Every year, including the first year when a bed was just built, they get a really good coating of rabbit manure.  25 pounds of oyster shell are added every 5 years for calcium.  Kelp is added by the cup each year.  Then the beds are solarized by watering very well and covering with plastic for a month.

Once the plastic is removed, landscape fabric is spread on the bed.  If a trellis is needed, which is almost always, t-posts are put in.  Then the trellis is installed and the bed is covered with 3-4 inches of ground wood as mulch.  The mulch we use comes from a construction company in Conroe, TX. Rather than burning all the trees and wood scrap from clearing land for home sites, they bought large chippers to make mulch.  A nice little side-line business which is better for the environment.  The mulch is a mixture of soft and hard woods.

The beds remain in this condition until it is time to plant, which may be a while.  It is necessary to put boards out on the beds, for a few weeks before planting to trap pill/sow bugs.  Since we have so much wood mulch, these bugs get out of control and will damage our young plants.  We just brush them off into a bucket of water and reduce their numbers.

Fire ants do move in as well.  A liberal coating of cinnamon just before planting times tells them it is time to go elsewhere, as we don't like to fight them while we plant.  They do help keep the gardens nicely aerated, so we are not out to kill them.

Once a bed is finished for the season, the spent plants are removed to the compost pile.  Loppers are used to cut the plants at the soil level, for removal.  We don't dig anything out.  The mulch is moved to the side and saved.  The landscape fabric is folded up and tagged so we know what planting pattern (and therefore what types of plants) it has cuts for.  Then the bed is again manured by the rabbits and the cycle starts again.

We grow sunflowers to let us know what pests are coming for a visit.  We used insecticidal soap on bugs.  If they out of hand, we use a tobacco tea added to the soap.  We have bug catchers that trap moths in the nighttime, then the bugs are fed to the fish and the chickens.  The bug catchers have a light and a fan, so when the bugs come for the light, they get trapped by the fan sucking them into a nylon bag.  We normally freeze the bags, prior to feeding, to ensure that none escape.

Diatomeceous earth is also used to control bugs.  We use epsom salts when planting tomatoes.  Our worm compost is used for making compost tea all summer long, which feeds the plants as many of them are heavy producers.

We are strict about keeping the grass cut around the raised beds, we have found this to make a big difference in pest and blight problems.  It also helps to keep the snakes out of the garden, but care must still be used when harvesting.  Snakes like cool shaded areas in the summer heat, and a tomato bed is perfect for them.  If we see one, we just ask it to move, and go harvest a different bed and when we come back, the snake is usually gone.  We do not killl snakes unless they are aggressive to us.  Snakes  hatch young once a year, mice and rats have offspring every 3 weeks.  I can live with the snakes, they do far less damage.