Tilling is usually frowned upon around here, though I'm not sure of a better method...

When you grind the stumps, you must remove the chips and fill in the resulting holes with topsoil. For the brush you chopped down, if you didn't get things up by the root, they are likely still alive and will regrow. So you can kill them chemically when they regrow or dig them up (weeds can be killed by Roundup when actively growing, bushes will likely need to be dug up).

Tilling is more frowned upon if you are planning a lawn. I would not till a garden either, but that's me.

Thanks everyone! The plan is to turn this area into a deer food plot and perhaps add a persimmon or crabapple tree or two.

@dchall_san_antonio

I'm curious on why you would not till a garden?

Re garden tilling. Some believe tilling disturbs the life in soil.

I'm curious on why you would not till a garden?

This sort of applies here, so...it takes about 3 years for the soil to establish the various zones as well as develop the capillary system that we call structure. It is all interactive with both mechanical air pockets, physical organics (roots and dead roots), and biological (fungi that transport moisture and nutrients throughout the soil). The fungi will swell with moisture and shrink when they dry out. When they shrink they open up more air pockets which allow the soil to breathe and absorb moisture the next time rain falls. So both air and moisture are transported up and down in the soil by the capillary openings. When you rototill you destroy the soil structure for the next 3 years. If you rototill every year, two years, or three years, you'll never have a soil structure again.

@dchall

I was just out digging up my garden today, and while I was shoveling dirt I was thinking of your no till philosophy. I'd love to stop digging, it's a lot of work. I've also seen my grandparents turn the soil yearly their whole life and they always had great crops, organically I might add. I agree that soil structure is important, but in the context of a garden where you're typically watering and amending on a regular basis, do you think soil structure outweighs all the other benefits of tilling? Fluffing up the soil can make a big difference if you're growing root vegetables like carrots and parsnips. You can also till amendments right into the soil rather than waiting for years for stuff to make its way to the root zone. The soil that was not turned last year is a PITA to dig through (I extended the bed a little), while the area that was turned was as fluffy as a cloud. I have to believe that roots would have at least as much trouble penetrating un-tilled soil as my steel shovel. Seems like pros outweigh the cons when it comes to tilling a garden.