Six Italians digging my paddock

Six mechanical Italians that is!

We are fortunate enough to own one of the best pieces of cultivating equipment ever invented . It was made in Italy and is called a vangatrice there. In English that loosely translates to digging machine.

The machine consists of a row of six spades which are mounted on double articulated arms. This system of mounting makes it possible for the machine to mimic the same movement that a person makes when they put a spade into the ground, tip it backwards to loosen the soil, then flip the soil out of the ground and in the process invert the sod dug up. The picture below shows you the six spades.

When used properly this machine turns grassland paddock straight into a seed bed in a single pass. This obviously saves a lot of time and fuel.

But more important is that the digging action loosens the soil properly without creating a hard pan as you would if you used a plough or a rotary hoe. That is a big advantage, particularly if you are growing organically.


In organic agriculture one of our priorities is to look after our soil and make sure that it rich in naturally occurring nutrients. In doing so we also make it possible for us to grow the best quality produce we can.

I have just finished planting all the potatoes. Now it is just a case of keeping the weeds away and making sure that I cover the emerging potato plants.

Here is a picture of one part of the potato field. Doesn't look like much now but in a few months time it will look much more impressive.