My 2 cents worth... I'm not sure if the no-till would work on a large scale farm, but I think smaller ones such as CGs would be good candidates.
After 4 years of fighting a poor drainage problem at our new garden location, we will be converting our CG (.4 acre) into a raised bed format. I've posted previously on this listserv concerning this subject... see at..... http://www.casagarden.com/raised_beds.htm Although we are slightly modifying the illustration, we hope it will work. See some of our work-in-process.... http://www.casagarden.com/raised_beds_05.htm The beds are being filled with shredded wood from a tree service which is delivered to the garden....free. The No-Till Method. After our beds are converted to the raised bed format, no gardeners will walk on the planting rows... only on the wood chip paths. This is important. During the off season (late fall, winter), the rows will have a cover crop such as winter rye, clover, or hairy vetch. A few weeks prior to planting the spring crop, I plan to mow the cover down crop with a weedeater and cover the rows with a weed barrier made from newspaper roll. These paper mulching rolls are actually newspaper sections (no glossy paper) taped end-to-end together into rolls. Once again...free. Shortly before planting day, we will auger holes and fill with them with a mixture of chicken manure and compost. We are ready to plant!!! Except Okra and beans, everything we plant are transplants (donated). During the growing season, the cover crops' roots will rot which will help provide nutrients to the soil and aeration. The paper mulch will suppress weeds. Now, in our case, because we will be broadcasting turnip green seeds in late summer and early fall, we will use a Mantis tiller to tear up the broken down newspaper. Because I am determined to cut down on the volunteer hours needed for weed control, we will go with a physical weed barrier rather than using chemicals. Please note, because converting to a raised bed format is so labor intensive, I plan on having the city convert 40 % of the garden using a small tractor. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in production levels. As usual, I welcome any ideas that would make our garden more productive incorporating a low-cost, efficient, no-chemical approach. Also, it helps to recycle. Jim in Alabama, www.casagarden.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 4:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [cg] no-till is a failure for some I have studied no-till farming and farmers that are outside the USA much more than in the USA because most of my teaching is abroad. Farmers on 200,000,000 acres are no-till. 50% of the land in Argentina is no-till (small farms). I had a no-till garden for three years until the garden was closed down. The whole area inside and outside the plots were covered in a perenial weed that chemicals will not kill but almost none in mine. Every weed on our plot could be pulled by hand in less than 30 minutes each week. They were so weak a 3 year old could have pulled them up. A cotton farmer here went no-till four years ago and does not use chemicals. Weeds are not a problem. Stop tilling, you stop the weeds, he tells me. True in our garden, too. I was on a farm in Malawi that has been no-till for 25 years. When I wrote my document "Profitable Crop Farming" here are no. 1 and 2 on the list: 1. Open mind. 2. Willing to make changes [first, in the mind and second, in the field & pasture] I have heard before all the arguments many times that are being made that no-till does not work. In Nigeria I had 220 register farmers and 600 7-12 grade students. One said to me, "We do not farm that way here." I told them "It works." If you do not want to garden and farm no-till, that is fine with me. Your yields are going down and the cost are going up. If you want to continue farming that way, that is fine with me. For my part, no-till has been proven over and over and it is not a matter of debate. When a farmer tells me it failed, what I want to know is how did he blow it. Dripping Springs, AR, said his soil was getting hard to plant it. No surprise! He was taking out the OM without putting any back in. It is still occurring but the spader does not care as it is powerful enough to still dig. Dr. Morrison proved over a 15 year period that a farmer can establish permanent beds on his farm that are alternating 80" and 100" to accomadate the wheels of the tractor and harvesting equipment and increase the yeild between 10% and 15%. No agrument and no debate. He closed his research on them. He told me he got tired of proving something works and few farmers using the idea. I do not blame him. Therefore, I teach organic, no-till gardening and farming in permanent beds. Cuts cost, reduces labor and increases profits while preserving the soil for generations to come. I wish that every gardener in America could see the video I have about Ruth Stout's gardening. While the cotton farmers here are going over their land with all that expensive equipment [$75,000 tractor] in the air-conditioned cab, cultivating and cultivating and cultivating and spraying and spraying and spraying and then using a moldboard or whatever, the no-till farmer plants with his $15,000 no-till planter and little tractor, goes fishing, reads in the shade of a tree, etc and then harvests his cotton, plants the winter cover crop and goes south to warm weather, visits the grandkids, wherever, etc. until time to knock down the wheat and plants the cotton again so he can fo fishing again. Have a great day while plowing or digging in the garden, Ken Hargesheimer ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.1/250 - Release Date: 2/3/2006 -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.375 / Virus Database: 267.15.1/250 - Release Date: 2/3/2006 ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
