Should I use a cultivator/rototiller for my new garden?

I want to get one, but my other half says, "Oh, my mother just used a shovel and her garden was excellent! You don't need one of those." Okay, but I'm a weakling, and do not want to do that. Our soil is kind of clay, and therefore would require more labor, I'm just not into that! Those of you who had successful gardens without using one, let me know. I realize I'm late in the game, but I'm just starting out and really need help. Also, my yard is overrun with squirrels. I'm an animal lover and won't do anything about it, could they do damage to my garden? The OH (other half) says they won't bother crops, but I don't know. They are smart little buggers! I left ears of corn out for our deer, and the squirrels actually took and hid them under our wood pile! Wish I had their ingenuity!

Squirrels are very smart animals. If you don't want them eating your garden, feed them something else. We throw left-over food over the fence into the woods behind the house -- stale bread, cookies, taco chips, wilted veggies, overripe fruit, stuff like that. I'm not sure what eats it, but it is always gone the next morning. I know there are possums and raccoons in the woods as well. I put a 20-pound bag of cat food out there about once a month as I know there are some stray cats around, too. The cat food is quickly eaten, so I assume that it is being consumed by the wild critters as well as the cats.

I wish I could help you with the rototiller question. The soil here is red clay and as hard as set concrete. No way a rototiller can get through it. I tried one and it broke the tines in about 15 minutes. I returned the rototiller to HD, got my money back, and built raised beds and lasagna beds.

Karen

My father used to turn his garden over with a shovel too but NO WAY will I do that when other easier and better options are available! This would probably get you in trouble but ask your OH if she's willing to get out there and help you with her own shovel. We really cheat--hubby disks my garden with the tractor and then for things like green beans, I plant two close rows (double) with enough space between each of the double rows that hubby can run the tiller through to keep weeds down. I also mulch heavily with wheat straw to help keep the weeds down. A tiller will also do a much better job of working compost (leaves, wheat straw, etc.) into your ground to improve your soil.
As for the squirrels--YES they will eat from your garden! Even though I have a fence around mine to keep the deer out, it's no problem for the squirrels. I bought one of those plastic owls with a rotating head from Wal Mart and put it up on a tall wooden stake out in the garden. Squirrels equal lunch for owls so it does a real good job of keeping them at bay--I have one in the middle of my fig bushes too. Move the owl around about once a week so the squirrels don't get wise to the fact that he never moves.

I vote for the tiller. I bought a rear-tine tiller that is a joy to use and helps keep everything in great shape.

I agree with the tiller. I prepared my beds a couple years by hand, don't want to do that again. By the time I was done prepping the soil, I was too worn out to plant anything. For most people time is money. If you spend a week prepping by hand and could've had it done in two hours, the tiller ends up paying for itself in a year or two. I got lucky. My OH found a really nice Craftsmen tiller for $50. Works great! Maybe try to work out a deal with your OH.
I am also an animal lover and had a problem with squirrels. (I do use pesticide on bugs, I know-not animal/environment friendly) I give the dry corn to the squirrels and they usually stay away. I actually put the corn in their trees. They don't have to go far to find food, so they usually don't wander to the garden. They will dig up your seeds. Especially cilantro and sunflowers. I've heard of hot pepper spray. Supposedly safe and distracts animals from your plants. Anybody tried it?

Pepper spray will deter just about any animal but have no effect on birds or insects since they don't have the same receptors as mammals and therefore do not experience any burn at all. (Some hot peppers actually count on being eaten and digested by birds to distribute their seeds in their native habitat) Keep in mind you don't want to apply pepper spray directly to your veggies near harvest (unless you like spicy cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.) Also keep in mind it won't always be 100% effective but it does work and is safe. (I have a 15 year old cat that will eat bits of green chili and Jalapeno...go figure)

You can make your own by taking the hottest fresh peppers you can find (I used habanero) and boiling them in pot of water until they soften and/or change color (15 minutes is probably plenty). Pour the water and peppers into a blender and liquify, then strain the mixture through a cheesecloth (or old towel...whatever). Toss it in a spray bottle and fire away!

I have the Mantis Electric tiller and love it. It does well for my purposes (don't know if it would be the best choice for a huge garden). It is light enough that I can move it myself and handle it with no problems and it works well to get grass up to put down a new bed and then to till in the amendments that I wanted. Also, I like that it only tills 12". Sounds weird, but we have utility easement in our backyard that I know for a fact is further down than 12 inches (we have had quite a bit of soil added due to a flooding problem). I can till things in without any fear of hitting anything.

I hate squirrels! They ate all my apricots last year, and took a bite out of every apple! So far they haven't invaded the veggie patch - possibly because my fence is very floppy net and they are afraid of getting tangled.Or it could be because they were so stuffed from the apricots and apples.
The tiller gets my vote. I've prepped a garden both ways, and will always vote for horsepower over my own. The Mantis electric sounds interesting. We have a Solo multimot gas powered that I loved because I could handle it myself and didn't have to wait for hubby to till anything. However it needs parts and I don't think they are made anymore.

I've got my garden set up in the square foot method. the growing beds are deep and loose. I use my hands or hand tools in all my gardens.

I had a rather unpleasant experience early one spring of spading in half a large toad in one flower bed. Swore I would never harm another toad...

My mom has a Mantis, and she loves it, but she doesn't have toads.....

I've gardened in Tenn. where the soil was dark, rich and deep. I've gardened in South Florida where the soil was grey and sandy. Now I'm gardening in NC. The first day I tried to put a spade in the soil here, it bounced right back! I pulled away the grass and found terra cotta colored clay! I started collecting newspapers and cardboard. Purchased lumber and potting soil and set up raised beds. That was three summers ago. During the Fall, we collect all the leaves our neighbors throw out, and thanks to the earthworms, I get all the free-soil I need. I purchased a Mantis tiller - used it for a couple of minutes, but it could not break through the hard clay - haven't used it since. My soil is now so soft and porous I can garden with a trowel. I had given some thought to buying a large tiller, but decided is wasn't worth the investment. I called a couple of rental places, and they said the soil here couldn't be worked until mid-May - not much use to a gardener! As for the squirrels - our little Maltese/Poodle loves to chase them up the trees. I wonder what she'll do if she ever catches one?!

My toy poodle thinks he can chase the squirrels. I think if he ever actually caught up to one, he'd get scared and run the other way lol!

I broke down and bought one (ended up broke as well, but...) It's 65 one day and 30 the next right now, so I haven't got to try out my new "toy" yet. I did get my composter together yesterday (with much help from my son--ok, he did it!) and put some iky stuff in that. Some woman told me when I was at the store to just get humus, it's better and all I'd need for fertilizer.