I’m planting garlic in mid-September, and I’m doing it in a way that builds soil instead of beating it up. In this video I walk through why I don’t till this plot—even though a rototiller “works,” it also pulverizes the underground structure I’m trying to develop. What I want is fungi, worms, and soil life doing what they do best, year after year. So I broadfork to decompact: I get air down into the soil, improve water infiltration, and loosen the block without turning everything to dust. I also show how I prep the bed ahead of planting by watering first to get “nature’s little surprise” to germinate—there are thousands of weed seeds per square foot—so when I come through and work the soil, I upend that germination cycle and a bunch of them die off. Then I shape rows, top them off, and plan to run wood chips in the troughs between rows for weed suppression and moisture retention while feeding fungal growth as the chips break down. And here’s the big takeaway: fall garlic planting matters because warm soil lets the cloves establish roots before winter. That root system helps prevent frost heaving, and it sets the plant up to hit spring running with nutrient uptake already underway—because garlic is an 8–9 month commitment, and I want every advantage I can get.