It's insanely difficult to start, but maintaining when you get in a habit isn't TOO bad.
I just moved to a new place a few months back and had to dig out a garden. The existing soil was CRAP, I literally spent 4 solid days of digging and amassed what I estimate to be nearly 1000 pounds of rocks in my driveway, merely from digging out a 30x8x1.5 foot section along my driveway. The soil is so poor that even bringing in 2.5 yards (two very full pickup truck loads) of premium organic soil and mixing it in has yielded horrible soil. It will take a year and some more serious cash to make that soil any decent.
However, once that is done, it's merely daily watering/weeding and thinning and eating. Of course, there are no chickens (yet, still have to make a run and coop) to complicate things, but it's all about making a habit and sticking to it.
I just moved to a new place a few months back and had to dig out a garden. The existing soil was CRAP, I literally spent 4 solid days of digging and amassed what I estimate to be nearly 1000 pounds of rocks in my driveway, merely from digging out a 30x8x1.5 foot section along my driveway. The soil is so poor that even bringing in 2.5 yards (two very full pickup truck loads) of premium organic soil and mixing it in has yielded horrible soil. It will take a year and some more serious cash to make that soil any decent.
However, once that is done, it's merely daily watering/weeding and thinning and eating. Of course, there are no chickens (yet, still have to make a run and coop) to complicate things, but it's all about making a habit and sticking to it.