Time to separate

Hello Daffnet friends,
We have gotten to the stage in life where it “takes us ALL day  to do what we used to do ALL DAY”
You know “Old Pappy Time is picking my pocket”

This is to ask for suggestions to ease the job of digging separating and replanting some of our daffodils.

In the years past we have tried different methods.  We have a small tractor with front end loader.
That did not seem to work too well when attempting to dig up the bulbs,  the bucket would not get deep enough to avoid cutting some bulbs.

We have dug by hand with fork and shovel and used expanded metal as a sieve to separate bulbs from dirt.

The last BIG dig was done by digging the area out approx 6 inched deep, pile the dirt to the side, then place the bulbs and shovel the soil back over the bed.
Here’s a pic of that effort.Inline image 1

Before that we attempted to screen the bulbs out as we turned the soil in this larger bed, and then replanted one by one with a trowel.   That was too much work for these old back now.
Inline image 2
You’ll notice we did have one helper on both of these and we’ll have to find another for the next
replanting.  We had 30 gal. of bulbs left over after this redo, gave many to our local botanical garden.

Well, I feel like I’ve rambled a bit but wanted to let you know what we’ve tried in the past.

Now any suggestions for tools, equipment of other methods will be greatly appreciated.

Inline image 3
I like big rocks as much as Janet likes these Quail.