A month ago when we got the allotment it took me 3 hours to double dig, remove every trace of weed I could see 1m2! I enjoyed the diggin, it was relaxing, and even though it was slow going I felt like I was achieving something.
I am now getting better at it!! Yesterday I did 1.5x1m in 45mins!! Although the soil was much softer after the recent rain!
When I started I could barely use a fork! I don't think I had ever used one before, getting the fork into the soil was the first difficulty, and then lifting the weight of the soil on the fork, trying not to drop it off where I didnt want it to go, or dropping the fork and soil together!!(dh used to do the digging, but now it's a joint effort!)