Here's a couple of things I learned while working for my neighbor,plowing, many years ago. When you make the first pass down the center and then return throwing the furrow together, it is called a back furrow. When you start on the outside and work in, the valley created by the last passes is called a dead furrow. Each year when you plow alternate your dead furrows and back furrows. In other words, where you created a dead forrow, next year start there with a back furrow. This is to keep your field from getting hills and valleys over the years. Another trick he did was, when the field was all plowed he would go back to each dead furrow and make back furrow to throw the soil back into the valley. After the field was disked and worked up his fields always remained flat. In a garden sized plot it is even more important. If you plow the same way every year you will wind up with a hill or a valley in the center of the garden. Probably no one cares about this stuff anymore, but those old timers knew.
