Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

I think you'll agree that no method works for everyone whether it's
building adobe or hog calling. Ken's point is no-till works, period.
There's a right and a wrong way to do anything. If I do no-till and don't
get good results, it certainly doesn't mean no-till didn't work. It means I
didn't *make* it work. There's a great deal more to it than just not
plowing and cultivating. Good growing has  a learning curve. It takes time
and practice, and certainly good information. And I think that's true of
all agricultural practices. 

As they say, the Devil is in the details.


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
--Henry David Thoreau 
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/5/2006 at 11:28 AM Greg and April wrote:

>A couple of small disagreements.
>
>First.    Nature does till, just not the way we do.    Moles, gofers,
>shrews, rats, mice, earthworms, rabbits and a host of other animals and
>insects bring dirt ( including subsoil ) to the surface and take organic
>matter below the surface.    I could show you some big rocks in my sisters
>yard that had almost been buried by the action of gofers in the last 3-4
>years.
>
>Second.    Not everyone will have the same success with the same method,
>and saying that someone failed and the system didn't, is disrespectful.   
>Some methods work for some people, other methods work better for other
>people.    So just because No-Till didn't work for someone, is by no means
>any reason to say someone failed.    Even the son of the Japanese farmer (
>I couldn't even begin to spell his name ) that made a No Till method
>popular  couldn't get the same results that his father could.
>
>Greg H.  
>
>  ----- Original Message ----- 
>  From: Ken Hargesheimer 
>  To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org 
>  Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 17:36
>  Subject: [Livingontheland] composting, no-till, etc
>
>
>  Dear oganicites,
>
>  As far as I am concerned, there is no debate concerning, organic,
>no-till, mulching, etc.  I have seen this in 7 states and 18 countries and
>there is no place on earth that organic, no-till is not the way to do it.

>
>  All the technical talk is worth little; what happens in the garden/field
>is what is important.  Nature does not plow or dig, add amendments, etc. 
>I am a "neighbor" to 20 villages on www.nabuur.com and one guy today said
>that since there are different climates and conditions they need to see
>what works.  No, organic, no-till works everywhere. I know a farmer in AR
>who did it for five or so years and stopped.  The system did not fail; he
>failed.  It works!!
>
>
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