Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Ken Hargesheimer <minifarms2@yahoo.com>]

On Tueday, 20 June 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?

 

Tilling it under is not for the best effect.  See below. It has been shortened.

 

GARDENS/MINI-FARMS NETWORK

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Workshops in organic, no-till, permanent bed gardening, mini-farming, mini-ranching worldwide in English & Spanish

 

 

Proven Practices for Gardens

 

These are based on: the internet, international agriculture magazines, experiences teaching agriculture in many countries, experience of gardeners and in a demonstration garden.  They are ecologically sustainable, environmentally responsible, socially just and economically viable.  Applying the following, a family can produce all the food needed on a small plot.  There is unlimited, documented proof.  On mini-farms the following can double the yields and reduce the labor by half compared to traditional methods.  There are 200,000,000 no-till acres worldwide. ¡It works!

 

Fukaoka Farm, Japan, has been no-till [rice, small grains, vegetables] for 70 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.  A Honduras farmer has been no-till [vegetables & fruit] on permanent beds on the contour (73° slope] for 8 years.  Ruth Stout [USA] had a no-till garden for 30 years and 7,000 people visited her garden. 

 

 

No technique yet devised by mankind has been anywhere near as effective at halting soil erosion and making food production truly sustainable as no-till (Baker)

 

1.      Open mind

2.      Willing to change [First, the mind and, second, in the garden]

3.      Restore the soil to its natural healthy state.  [Con-tamination: inorganic pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers.]

4.      Maintain the healthy soil [produces healthy vegetables which have few diseases, pests or weeds.  Healthy soil produces healthy vegetables to have healthy people. 

5.      Feed the soil; not the plants]

6.      Maintain plant diversity [with crops and/or green manure/-cover crops]

7.      Increase the soil organic matter annually

8.      Little or no external inputs [It is not necessary to buy anything, from anybody. Certain things are recommended]

9.      Leave all crop residues on top of the soil.

10.  NO-TILL: no digging, no tilling, no cultivating, no machinery. [No hard physical labor needed so the elderly, children and lazy people can easily garden]

11.  Permanent beds [crops]

12.  Permanent paths [walking]

13.  Hand tools and power hand tools

14.     12-month production [practical and possible in most climates; no greenhouse needed]

15.  Organic fertilizers

16.  Organic disease control

17.  Organic herbicides

18.  Organic pesticides

19.  Biological pest control

20.  Protect beneficials  [bats, birds, insects, toads, spiders, lizards, garden snakes, grasshopper mice, opossums]

21.     Protect pollinators  [honey bees, native bees, wasps, yellow jackets, butterflies]

22.  Protect soil organisms  [worms, micros]

23.  Soil always covered

24.  Use mulch/green manures/cover crops

25.  Feed plants through the mulch

26.     Organic matter [Free.  Free delivery?  When feasible, take it to the garden.  Use as mulch]

29.  Drip irrigation [Purchase or DIY drip lines with  poly]

31.  Imitate Nature.  Most gardeners fight Nature.  ¡Nature always wins!

 

Ken Hargesheimer

 

 

Go to: http://bibledvd.googlepages.com/home and www.nabuur.com

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