In Iowa: Labor of Love far more rewarding than a Fitbit

Some things are too good to be true and others, like the broadfork, only seem so.

The broadfork, a simple hand gardening tool, provides amazing soil health and fertility benefits, which would be more than enough if that's all it did.

But, though manufacturers do not tout its secondary benefit - perhaps because they do not wish to emphasize that using it is a lot of work - the broadfork is also a complete fitness unit.

I've never minded exercise in pursuit of a worthy objective - pheasants, fish or morels, to name a few - but taking steps just to see them mount up on a wristband or a smartphone app is much less satisfying than marking progress by beds of perforated soil ready for planting.

The broadfork evolved over centuries in Europe and was introduced in the United States in the late 20th century. It finally came to my attention last year when I was seeking to solve my hardpan problems.

My pepper crop failed for the first time in 2015, an exceptionally wet year. The approximately 100 sickly plants grew to about half their usual size and lingered all summer before finally dying. My post-mortem indicated that the roots had drowned in water that could not drain below a hardpan layer I had created myself through 30 years of heavy footsteps and machine tillage to the same 8-inch depth.

Knowing that farmers counter compaction and hardpan layers with a tractor-drawn implement called a chisel plow, I began to scour the internet for a hand tool that would do the same thing.

I found several manufacturers of a tool known variously as a broadfork, hardpan fork and U-fork and, given my history with bent tines and broken handles, ordered one billed as unbreakable.

The one-piece steel tool weighs 15 pounds and consists of four 12-inch tines, each resembling a 'Game of Thrones” weapon, welded to a horizontal bar with upright handles on either end. You stand on the bar to drive the bayonet-like tines into the soil, wiggling the handles as necessary to achieve maximum depth. You then push and pull the handles to maximize the cut before removing the implement and repeating the procedure.

I got it a year ago, in time to do some experimenting with last year's garden, and found that beds treated with the fork raised my best crops ever of peas, potatoes, onions and peppers, which compared with normal crops of all other vegetables raised in untreated sections of the garden. With this year's relatively dry March, I have nearly completed the perforation of my entire one-third-acre garden.

The broadfork loosens the soil deeply without flipping it upside down.

Doing so maintains soil structure without disturbing the bacteria, fungi and earthworms that enhance the soil's structure and fertility.

Tilling without turning (and without oil, gas, noise, fumes, maintenance or repairs) also keeps weed seeds underground where they cannot germinate.

Most important, broadfork tillage creates passages for air and water to circulate in the root zone and breaks up deeper hardpan layers that limit drainage and root growth.

The manufacturers, perhaps in a bid to downplay the labor involved, say using one does not constitute aerobic exercise. But I, after 300 forkings per session with little if any standing around, say it does if you do it right.