Our garden borders a tidal wetland which means we have a rather high water table in addition to our average annual rainfall of 68 inches--most of which seems to arrive just when it's time to till and plant.  For these reasons, we're usually late with our planting and thus our growing season is even shorter than it would normally be at this latitude.  This year, rather than wait until the ground was dry enough for the big tiller to plow everything under, we dug out the perennial weeds (dock and buttercup); applied a thick layer of compost; and planted in it.  This method was inspired by some research our Head Gardener had done on Charles Dowding's "No Dig" process.  We began turning the beds over 7 weeks earlier than usual for us, and worked through them as time and weather permitted, planting the cold-weather crops first.  We sowed our first bed (peas) on April 5th and finished the last bed on May 29th, (which is two weeks earlier than we planted last year.)  

The trick with the Dowding "No Dig" process is it takes a 'sh*t ton' of compost, especially when you're just getting started.  We've used two truck and trailer loads this year which is excessive by the standard set in previous years.  You can see how deep it is in the photo to the left, click on it to enlarge it.  If you're interested in more No Dig information click on the button below which will take you to Mr. Dowding's website.  Find him on You Tube as well.