The broadfork is without a doubt the best tool for a serious backyard gardener or even larger scale market gardener.  The broadfork is a manual tool that is used to aerate and deeply cultivate soil. Nowadays, they are typically used in place of rototillers as rototillers can often do more damage than good to the soil. 

Here are a few other good reasons to go pick one up:

Easy to Use – The repetitive nature of using a broadfork is actually kind of soothing. Drop the tines into the ground, step on the foot bar, and rock back and forth. You work backwards so you are aerating where you have stepped. The tines go deep into the soil allowing for air and moisture to penetrate deep into the soil. The rocking motion then creates even larger areas deep within the soil for air and moisture.

Less Disruptive – Rototillers pull up dormant weed seed from deep in the soil and leave you with more trouble. Tillers also destroy or disrupt the healthy soil microorganisms. The soil is alive and tillers don’t help out.  By not inverting the deep soil layers you can allow these beneficial soil microorganisms to flourish.

Deeper – Most broadforks have tines that are about 10 inches long. This gets you 50 percent deeper soil aeration than most typical walk behind rototillers.

Quiet – No more loud gas engines running! Prep your beds in the early morning without worry of waking up neighbors.

Easy to maintain - Most of the broadfork brands should last you a lifetime. No more gas engine to maintain!