Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Pat Meadows <pat@meadows.pair.com>]

On Tue, 20 Jun 2006 15:01:38 +1000 (EST), you wrote:

>
>If I want to avoid tilling my soil because of various structures and 
>organisms I'd be killing, what do I do with my green manure crops (eg. 
>alfalfa, vetch) which are usually tilled under for best effect?
>

Make compost out of them.  Or you could sheet compost them;
just cut them and let them lay.

John Jeavons and the folks at Ecology Action have done a
great deal of research on compost crops (green manure
crops), in the interests of growing one's food sustainably.

They sell some very interesting and informative booklets
about this - I have a couple of the booklets and I think
they are well worth the price.

You can read about them (or buy them) here:

http://www.bountifulgardens.org/shop/gb-research-papers.html

Pat
-- 
Gardening in northern Pennsylvania.  

Eat local food, change the world for the better!