A garden is only as good as the ground that it's planted in. Discussion forum for the many ways to improve the soil where we plant our gardens.
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#1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Walla Walla, Washington
Posts: 360
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I have been reading about no till gardening and am giving it some thought. Having been a turn-it-under gardener all my life, I have a hard time getting past not putting soil conditioners in the soil, but on top of it.
Doea anyone have experience with this method they can share with me? |
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#2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: 2 miles south of Yoknapatawpha Zone 7b
Posts: 662
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I think it's great. I'm trying to develop a method of no till using a base of 95% clay. Results are not good so far. Claud
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#3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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Keep trying. I also had a tough time in this red clay here in Oklahoma too. But now the soil is so loose I can normally dig a hole with my bare hands it has gotten so loose.
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Walla Walla, Washington
Posts: 360
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Thank you all for your replys; the more I read, the more convinced I am that this is the way to go.
I had decided next year to use half of my garden space to grow green manure crops for their bio-mass, to be cut for mulching the rest of the garden, and to then let those spaces over-winter, mulched, for the following years growing space. I'm not sure that sentence made any sense, but one area will be for growing food for me, the other area will be for growing food for the soil, and it will rotate on a yearly basis. Jerry and Ken, I think a broadfork definitely is in my future - pricey, yes, but a lot easier on both my back and the soil. Ami, the plants you grow always look so healthy, it is a good advertisement for no-till, for sure. Claud, we'll just have to keep at it; my soil is ugly, heavy, gray clay, so my beds are earth berms. I've got earth worms in the berms, but there ain't NO worms out in those pathways, believe me - I've been out there putting down concrete pavers for the pathways and not a worm or anything alive has been turned up yet when setting them! Scott, I direct seed alot of things; I'm guessing it is a bit more work to fiddle with shoving the mulch and newspaper out of the way, initially, but the end result HAS to be better for all concerned. Thanks for the fine detailed instructions. If I forgot anyone, my oops...I am very excited to do this and look forward to learning from all of you. Lynn |
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#5 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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![]() ![]() For direct seeded row crops I plan ahead. Instead of over lapping an inch or two with news papers, I leave a few inches gap in a straight row then mulch over the whole thing. (don't forget to mark the gap with a stake so you can find it later) Later when I am ready to put in a row of sweet corn or beans..etc... I pull back the mulch and get to the bare earth. Then with a hand cultivator (or broad fork) I scuff up the soil and plant. After the plants sprout, I pull back the mulch around them. And remember the tiny electric tiller I bought a month ago? That's for "special cases" like block planting where I direct scatter seed something with tiny seeds that need a fine soil bed. I would leave that small section without newspaper and pull away even the mulch. I block plant spinach that way. Then I thin the spinach and have whole "baby spinach" for salads several "thinnings" until my spinach is finally spaced correctly for full sized adult plants and only then do I pull back the mulch around the plants. Before getting the tiny electric tiller this year (Only goes down an inch or two), I always prepared for block plantings with just a garden rake. But at 50 I am preparing for my aging body to start giving out on me. I can feel it coming. ![]() As far as I know the originator of the no till method was Ruth Stout. She did it at first just because her garden was getting to be too much work for her and she was tired of waiting for someone else to come plow for her. This was her solution. I recommend her book "The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book: Secrets of the year-round mulch method." She was able to keep gardening this way well into her 90's. So if you do it right, it should actually be LESS work.
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Snellville, GA
Posts: 346
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I tried it last year to this year. Instead of breaking out the rototiller and churning the earth to dust I just took a spade fork and wiggled it back and for a few times and covered the area with chopped up leaves. The next Spring when it came time to plant my tomatoes I just dug a 12" square area and set them in in. I noticed that I had alot of earthworms and that the soil remain moist longer than the other areas of my garden. The plants seem to do better as well but have to admit this was a terrible year to evaluate anything with the heat and lack of rain. After I ripped out the plants this fall I just took a hoe and loosened the soil again. If nothing else it reduces the amount of work one has to do. There is no doubt that rototilling in my mind reduces the tilth and soil organisms that we are finding contributes more than we thought in creating healthy soil.
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Ken |
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#7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 377
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I'm trying no till and I use a broadfork to work the soil. I too have read about the benefits of no till gardening and what proponents say sounds good to me. I like what I read about the use of a broadfork too. I expect it will be a couple of years if not more before the benefits kick in; however, I sure like the looks of my soil now compared to what it looked like a year ago when I stopped using a roto tiller.
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Jerry - You only get old if you're lucky. |
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#8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Germany 49°26"N 07°36"E
Posts: 5,041
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It has been shown that soil disturbance through tilling can dramatically affect the functioning of mycorrhizzae and other beneficial soil organisms. I stopped turning the soil in my raised bed three years ago and my crops get better every year.
A picture of my raised bed at work with a coworker standing in front of. Ami
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Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘...Holy Crap .....What a ride!' |
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#9 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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The first year is the hardest. It is VERY important the first year to cover the whole garden with newspaper then cover that with mulch. Old moldy hay and/or grass clippings work best for me. For first year. Step 1 Get the mower out and mow the old trash and new weeds that sprout in the spring, or any winter cover crops you grew. Step 2 Feed your worms. I find cracked corn is best. Just sprinkle it all over like you are sowing wheat. I cant emphasize how important this step is. Worms will be your new tiller and cultivating system. If you have not fed your worms it is like pushing your car to work because you are too cheep to buy gas. If you don't have many worms, then buy some and throw them on the soil too. Step 3 Lightly wet the ground with a sprinkler or hose nozzle. Not too much. Step 4 Cover the ground with 6 or less layers of unfolded news paper. (I have used cardboard or other types of paper too) Step 5 Cover the paper with a thick layer of mulch or combination of mulch and compost. If I have enough good compost, I like to layer it. Compost then old moldy hay or straw and grass clippings. Step 6 Lightly wet the mulch to "settle" it down on the paper and settle the paper down on the soil. Not too much. Step 7 You are done for today. Next day your garden is ready to plant. Just dig a hole for each seedling. I like to use a bulb planter, but you can use a garden hand trowel too. Step 1 Get these supplies. A large sheet of cardboard, a bucket of water or transplant solution, some "special soil" (there are a million recipes to make your own or you can buy a soil mix at your gardening store), a bulb planter, your seedlings, something to measure with, so your rows and plants are spaced correctly. Step 2 pull back the mulch from the news paper where you want to plant a seedling. Use the bulb planter or trowel to dig a hole a little more than the depth you want to plant. Step 3 Shake the soil onto the sheet of cardboard and separate out any roots or weeds from the soil. Step 4 Fill the hole with water to the top. Step 5 Put your seedling in the hole and use the dirt to fill in around it. Often if there was a weed or a lot of roots you will run short. Use the "special" soil to make up any difference. Step 6 Pull the mulch back around to the base of the plant. Repeat until all your plants are in the ground. Let nature do the rest of the work. PS I am working on a commercial version of this method and will try a prototype next year. I will post next spring my attempt. If anyone wants to try it with me, let me know and I'll share my ideas. PS I have been no till gardening since the mid 1970's. Never once, in all the places around the country I have tried it, has it failed me yet. Although that first year in Oklahoma was tough. In fact I bought my first tiller of my life a month ago. Just a tiny electric one for special cases.
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture Last edited by Redbaron; September 28, 2012 at 05:35 PM. |
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#10 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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Tilling comes from plowing to bring nutrients to the top in vergin soil like in the great plains.
The only reason you would want to till is to get rid of weeds and such and to break up hard soil. Once the garden is in place and the weeds gone I see no reason to till. Heavy mulch for weeds and no tilling is the best way to go. Worth |
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#11 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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![]() Quote:
![]() The only reason I am telling you guys this is because after reading this forum thoroughly I realised pretty much anyone here is good people willing to show off both their successes and failures. So even if my experiment is a complete flop, I still may turn it into a model of what NOT ![]() ![]() If I can get my whole system to work it would actually revolutionise the way agriculture is done here in USA. But that is later. First year I have to prove this part can work. Next I'll need to find a real farm to prove other parts of the system can work. But lets see if this works first.
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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You need a new name for the method. The widely accepted commercial meaning of "no-till farming" means the use of Round-up Ready crops. The newest planters are "one-pass," meaning they spray and plant at the same time.
Those tomato plants in the raised bed look great. Are you growing tomatoes in the same bed every year or rotating crops? |
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#13 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 4,488
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![]() ![]() Both "mulch" and "no till" were around long before the corrupted modern commercial meanings of the terms. I am not against commercial, I am against poison in the food chain or the environment. Think about it. Why would I need a GMO plant resistant to herbicides if I found a way to grow without weed problems? Do that and there is no need for either the GMO or the poison spray. Then just maybe in the ideal world we could focus on commercial breeding of a nutritious tomato (or whatever) that actually tastes good! ![]()
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Scott AKA The Redbaron "Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system." Bill Mollison co-founder of permaculture |
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#14 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: California Central Valley
Posts: 2,543
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http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organ...Gardening.aspx |
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#15 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: in the gutter, with my mouth
Posts: 123
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AKA sheet composting. |
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