Garden beds made by moles?

We have talked on permies about using moles to dig your garden beds, I've always thought that's a great idea. Something I did for other reasons is bringing this to my mind again.

This area has been under a serious heat dome. I didn't realize it was coming, was just working on things at my own pace, got some edging beds cleared of weeds, replanted with alliums, and mulched with last year's leaves, then seeds for some easy grow rowdy things (zinnias, kale, parsley etc) put into the mulch. And then the heat hit. I have been watering every morning, hoping to let my replanting and seeds grow.

There's an interesting effect going on though. It's so hot and dry that where I'm watering is pretty much the only green out there and the only non-rock hard soil. Worm population explosion. Grub population explosion. And the moles are having a GRAND time! That whole area is seriously soft due to moles (ankle twisting if you are not careful) and if I wanted a garden bed right there, removing the grass would be simple, that soil is turned at least 8 inches deep. I don't want one there, the maple trees put out close to the surface feeder roots and I learned that they will just turn a garden bed into a solid rock of roots in a year, but the idea....

If I wanted to do this right, I think I'd put drip irrigation lines under leaf piles, keep it damp, let the wildlife have it's way for a couple of weeks, then run a turning fork through it all. Bet it would be as soft and easy to work as this is. You might have to be sure there are moles in the area (I don't think you can buy seed moles on the net!) (Although you might be able to get paid to set mole traps, use live traps, and put the moles on your land, make sure you have a LOT of land though, suburban neighbors WILL get MAD if you add moles to the area!)

Could make swales this way too, put drip lines and mulch where you want the swale, let the wildlife do their thing, then dig out the soft dirt and move it to where you want a planting area, leaving the swale behind. Repeat as needed.

I have dark dwelling, burrowing little rototillers running out there, and I'm wishing I had focused them better. And for what it's worth, moles are carnivores, they eat worms, grubs etc, not your plant roots.

I had never thought of using moles before. I have covered an area with leaves and given it time... but it took the little guys (worms, bugs, microbes, etc) a whole fall, winter, and spring to get it soft and "tilled". Adding moles might speed things up.

Matt McSpadden wrote:I had never thought of using moles before. I have covered an area with leaves and given it time... but it took the little guys (worms, bugs, microbes, etc) a whole fall, winter, and spring to get it soft and "tilled". Adding moles might speed things up.

Making sure it's wet might help too. And if you need to, buy a tub of red wiggler bait worms and toss them in. The moles around here move in pretty fast. I learned here that bait worms catch a lot of moles!