Euan McIntyre

A method that left permanent scars in the ground in farms and crofts all over Scotland, is now on the brink of dying out.

"Ploughed ground smells of earthworms and empires"

- Justin Isherwood

Around this time last year, work started on the Fhior kitchen garden. The field was already occupied by our 2 saddleback pigs, and they’d done a great job clearing the site. Anything green had been uprooted and eaten, meaning I had a completely blank slate to play with. Unfortunately, although the site was lacking in weeds, years of rain and being trodden on by 300kg pigs had all but destroyed the soil structure. The topsoil had compacted into an un-oxygenated mess, that was sloppy when wet, and rock hard when dry. It was going to need a lot of work to repair. Straight away I knew I wanted to dig lazy beds.  

Known as feannagan in Gaelic, lazy beds are, or rather were, an age old method of arable cultivation. Though the name would suggest otherwise, they are anything but lazy, at least when they’re being established. Trenches around 1 foot deep are gouged into the ground, and the soil dug up is piled onto the beds inbetween these rows. It is not unlike cord rig cultivation, which is achieved in a similar manner, only lazy beds are far bigger. These shallow trenches act both as paths to avoid walking on the crops, and as drains for excess water run off. The cold, denser air on frosty nights will also spill over the beds and into these trenches, keeping the raised soil warm. Once established, beds are fairly straightforward to maintain. Organic matter (manure, compost, straw or, as lazy beds were popular mostly on islands, seaweed) is built up on top of the soil. A perfect solution to cold, shallow and stony earth. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, lazy beds are specifically for growing potatoes. While this is what they were used for initially, they didn’t remain exclusive to tatties for long. Where exactly the word ‘lazy’ came from, seems to be a point of contention between agriculturists and archaeologists alike. Some believe that the fact that soil is being inverted rather than actually broken up by the spade, makes the method lazy. Others take a more etymological approach, and suggest that ‘lazy’ comes from the Old Norse word lasenn, which means ‘dilapidated’ or ‘fragile’. The method was used to enable the crofter to work ground which was indeed poor and dilapidated, so this does have some probability. Furthermore, if this link to Old Norse is correct, does that mean that lazy bed cultivation was brought to the British isles by the vikings? The answer is a definite maybe. 

Lazy beds pair very effectively with another method of cultivation known as no-dig. A no-dig garden does exactly what it says on the tin - no spade or fork goes near the soil, it merely gets a light rake before seeds are sown. Every year, more organic matter is added, without being dug in. All of the microorganisms in the matter effectively do all of the digging, breaking up the soil and allowing water, air and plant roots to penetrate. Weeds struggle to get a foothold in undisturbed soil, so time spent weeding is hugely reduced. Carbon remains in the soil, rather than being converted to CO2 via oxidation. There really aren’t many disadvantages to no-dig, and combined with lazy beds, it makes a healthy, low effort garden. 

Mostly utilised on the west coast and islands of Scotland, lazy beds proved very effective where rocky, boggy or peaty soil proved challenging to work with. It is still used in select gardens in these areas, but has almost completely ceased in large scale farms and crofts. With tractors and ploughs now widely affordable and available, why break your back digging furrows for lazy beds? The truth is lazy beds, especially combined with no-dig, are far better for the soil in the long term. The ground under our feet is absolutely teeming with microscopic life. There is a very delicate network of beneficial fungal strands and bacteria groups feeding off of extrudants from plant roots, which in turn, excrete chemicals and nutrients which are hugely beneficial to the plant. Very much a gift economy. Not to mention the vital work done by larger organisms who eat the bacteria, like worms, mites and beetles. These soil stalwarts open up the ground, letting in air and water. This all leads to a healthy, thriving ecosystem, but regular digging and ploughing destroy it all. As the ground is broken up, so too is this microcosm of activity. 

Even in fields where lazy bed cultivation has long halted, the evidence of their past use is glaringly obvious. Although long grown over, the trenches and furrows can still clearly be seen on islands like Lewis and Harris. An age old reminder that while technology and farming knowhow have advanced greatly in some capacity, we may be forgetting about the life under the surface, which is just as, maybe even more important than what goes on above ground. Lazy beds allow these two environments to live in sweet, sweet harmony.