Slip on gardening gloves to protect your hands. Extend the cultivator as far out as you can reach, and use the weight of your body to press the prongs or blades into the soil.
Pull the cultivator toward you. The soil will loosen as the prongs rake or roll through the earth. You may have to use shorter strokes in hard soil, or even strike at the earth with the prongs to loosen the soil.
Remove rocks and weeds as they are exposed. Cover the area with a layer of compost, and run the cultivator over it to work the compost into the soil. Use your body as leverage to dig the prongs deeply into the ground to thoroughly mix the soil with the compost.
Lightly run the cultivator over the soil to level the planting site.