Hi, all, especially Ken and Steve, I've been following the discussion of tillage with interest. Wish we could all go out for good beer or good coffee and talk about this topic for a good long spell.
I agree with Steve's view that no-till is one technique among many that may or may not be the best option for community gardeners and urban farmers. No-till has ardent proponents, like many other garden techniques, from the good ol' gardener who swears by Sevin dust and 10-10-10 to the biodynamic advocate who brews herbal teas only at certain phases of the moon. Nothing wrong with this, unless 'only my way' ideology takes root that dismisses all other perspectives as 'wrong'. My experience indicates that at least adequate vegetable production is possible with a wide variety of techniques. Applied with common sense and ideally with a solid foundation in soils and agricultural ecology, many different approaches can have desirable outcomes (improved nutrition, happy and engaged gardeners, a healthier environment and - with luck - economic benefits). When most modern agronomists speak of no-till, they are a long long way from Ruth Stout's deep mulching. Instead, mechanized no-till is heavily reliant on heavy applications of herbicide and soluble N, and the equipment that goes with it (and, in the US, genetically engineered seed). Scaling this down to community and urban levels is tricky. It becomes even trickier when you try to replace the chemical controls with organic approaches such as cultural or biological controls (mulching, flaming, etc). One practical problem in urban community gardens and CSAs is what to do if you have perennial weeds (here, Bermudagrass can be awful). These are problems with or without tillage, and if you want to go certified organic, you're wise to deal with this problem first. I also agree with Steve that if you are going to go for 'traditional' mechanized tillage on an on-going basis, you are wise to purchase tractor-scale impliments - but only if you really need them. Farmers being absorbed by cities often have good equipment, and can contract to do heavy soil prep. Certainly, if you buy, a good front drive/rear tine tiller or rice tractor is about a minimum. I also suggest that you'd be wise to get equipment that can work with vegetable beds (roughly 1m wide). The 'Alan Chadwick' sequence of deeply preparing beds by hand, then leaving them relatively undisturbed for a number of years while adding topdressings of mulch and compost, can work very well as a non-mechanized option (or for hiring out a ripper out every 5 years or so) I do have two 'theoretical' queries on no-till vegetables. First, 'no-till' is rare in natural ecosystems. Large ruminants disturb grasslands with milling behavior (Savory); in forests, temperate and tropical, trees fall in storms, insects and other animals excavate the soil. Misapplication of the moldboard plow certainly did terrible damage to prairie soils; but properly managed tillage may be beneficial in agricultural ecosystems - it certainly can't be dismissed as 'unnatural'. Second, most vegetable crops are first stage succession annuals or biennials, adapted from ancestors that may well have evolved to fill disturbed places. My suspicion is that veggies coevolved with humans on our garbage middens, heavily disturbed (and fertilized) places. Whatever value no-till may have for field grown small grains, it may be singularly inappropriate, ecologically, for vegetables. I also worry that community gardens in a fixed location, particularly those without a clear rotation system, may eventually run into problems, since the natural tendency of annuals is to be replaced over time by climax vegetation. We are in effect 'stopping time', repeating first stage succession over and over without a rest period (such as 30 year rotation the First Nations people used here in the Southeast). Just piling on compost could create a very strange soil situation with over 10% organic matter. Perhaps we can learn from stable vegetable gardens in China and other places - do they periodically move on, and shift vegetable growing elsewhere? We mostly think about garden stability only in terms of 'long term leases'. Hope ecology will let us just leave it at that... Meanwhile, back in the community garden, I've observed that different gardeners who are passionate about growing and deeply engaged - Ken seems to be an excellent example - can produce very nicely, thanks, with whatever techniques they are comfortable with. Like vegetables,gardeners can adapt. Successful gardeners are engaged, observant, and mindful of basics like water and timing. Enough ranting - last thought - one piece of wisdom from no-till (I'm talking organic/ecological no-till) is that community and home gardeners do not necessarily require mechanization to succeed. Buying a rototiller seems to be almost a rite of passage for community gardening programs, but I question that use of funds in most cases. Renting, hiring a local farmer, or working with a local hort school or business may be cheaper and make more sense. On the other hand, as Steve says, if you have a large space and a limited labor pool, buy the best (and most flexible, simple and solid) machinery you can afford. My peas are up, I'm still cutting broccoli. Winter has been too warm - the Polar Express is just sitting up there over the horizon, waiting until the peaches bloom.... Don Boekelheide Urban Ministry Community Garden Charlotte, NC, USA --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Send community_garden mailing list submissions to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the web, visit > > https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden > or, via email, send a message with subject or body > 'help' to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can reach the person managing the list at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it > is more specific than > "Re: Contents of community_garden digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: tractor, etc (Steve Diver) > 2. Central Calif: Community Gardens in Morro Bay > area? (Carola Clasen) > 3. ACGA 25th anniversay issue (Bill Maynard) > 4. 2/27 bilingual English/Cantonese workshop - > 'Composting in the > City' ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > 5. no-till ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > --__--__-- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 12:22:18 -0600 > From: Steve Diver <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED], > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [cg] tractor, etc > > Hi Ken - > > Fyi, Dripping Springs in Huntsville, AR, tried > no-till beds > for about five years, but found that soil compaction > was > increasing and making it difficult to transplant and > so forth. > > They purchased a tractor and spading machine, and > after they'd seen the results they said they would > have gotten started with full-scale market farming > equipment at the outset, twenty years ago. It makes > land preparation so much faster and efficient during > short windows of time in the wet springtime, it is > suitable to soil incorporation of cover crops, and > you can improve soil organic matter through > proper tillage and humus management. > > So they no longer employ no-till beds as Mark Cain > had written about several years ago. But they still > employ > a full-scale organic mulching strategy, using over > 1,600 > bales of straw mulch (or sometimes wheat hay) on > three acres of beds, raising flowers and veggies. > > Interestingly, the farm neighbor who sold his > tractor > and spader combination with Dripping Springs went > the other direction. Patrice Gros moved into town > at Eureka Springs, AR, and started an intensive > market > garden using no-till beds. > > So Dripping Springs went from tillage with walking > roto-tillage and hand tools, to no-till, then back > to > tillage with tractor-equipment. > > Patou's Garden went from tillage to no-till, > especially > integrated with top mulch. > > It probably says that farmers and gardens use > appropriate methods for appropriate situations. > And secondly that methods change and morph > thru emerging growing seasons as tools and > techniques > and concepts unfold. > > No-till has worked well for warm-season transplant > crops (nightshades and curcurbits) and for > large-seeded > direct drilled crops (corn and beans), but many of > the > small-seeded direct drilled crops and delicate > transplants > (carrots, parsnips, beets, cole crops, specialty > greens) are > better suited to a clean seedbed, or more quickly > transplanted into loose soil. > > One market farmer that you may wish to know > about is Doug Walton in Muskogee, OK. For > several years he employed no-till beds, integrated > with cool-season and warm-season cover crops > that were chopped down by a string trimmer > (weed eater) with a plastic flair head attachment. > This procedure was followed by hand raking the > green mulch onto beds, followed by hand > transplanting. > Doug is now working full-time on behalf of farmers > markets and sustainable agriculture, so his market > garden is on hold. > > Since many gardeners coming into community > gardens are beginners, regular soil preparation > is common. Fortunately, I'm confident that modern > organic gardening techniques can maintain and build > soil health in its many aspects using proper tillage > and humus management. No-till might be offered as > a class to cg gardeners, so people can explore this > method and add it to their toolbox, as a mulch-based > option. > > Last week I shared slides and notes at the > TOFGA conference in Texas on the mechanical > roller-crimper method of no-till production, > emphasizing the weed suppressive cover crop > mulch that results, and I expect that several > organic > vegetable farmers will be looking into this no-till > method quite seriously in your home state. > > Steve Diver > Fayetteville, AR > > P.S. cross-posted to market-farming, fyi > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >Fred, > > > >You do not need to till, plow, etc. I have seen a > video in which the > >Agriculture Extension service agent said, "the > worst thing that can happen to > >soil > >is the use of a roto-tiller." > > > >200,000,000 acres worldwide is in no-till. Over > 50% of the small farms in > >Argentina are no-till. It works. > > > > > >Mechanized: 1985-2000, Dr. Morrison, TX research > station, proved that > >permanent beds, with permanent tracks, increase > yields 15%. In 2002, A D > >Hughes > >[806-866-5667] decided to go no-till and purchased > a no-till planter. He > >planted the cotton, harvested the cotton, planted > wheat, knocked down the > >wheat > >and he was ready to plant again. His cost went to > the basement. Buster > >Adair [806-755-2532] has been no-till [cotton] for > twenty years. Steve > >Groff > >[cedarmeadowfarm.com] has been no-till > [vegetables, corn] for 30 years [I > >have seen this operation]. A farmer can not be > no-till without a no-till > >planter and/or no-till drill. !It works! > >Mini-farms: Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been no-till > [rice, small grains, > >vegetables] for 70 years. Dripping Springs > Gardens, AR, has been no-till > >[vegetables, flowers] for 8 years. An Indian > farmer has been no-till > >[vegetables] > >for 5 years. A Malawi farmer has been no-till > [vegetables] on permanent > >beds for 25 years [I visited his farm]. A Honduras > farmer has been no-till > >[vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the > contour (730 slope] for 11 > >years [I visited this farm]. Ruth Stout [USA] had > a no-till garden for 30 > >years and 7,000 people visited her garden. !It > works! > >Ken Hargesheimer > > > --__--__-- > > Message: 2 > b=YQraVFzECSmweOA5Z3bcWRe/m9HsLsAg3zxFOT2+Z9++PA2l53K33t3kVFybvZUOU9x8+4GrV0A9N/w9tXLrv8k6ryyHvPCMXzq/Db92oo0kAud0WriapCdkzKcUldIr1ccUj2/YMvmCDI0Njyrhngw2F14kAVEkGikGNTzyUMs= > === message truncated === ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. 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