Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

I'd say congratulations, Terry!  Johnson grass is a mycorrhizae-forming
grass so after 20 years of grass, without tillage destroying the humus, you
should have some of the best humus levels and fairly good soil. This site
confirms mycorrhizae-forming
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=10
0779

Now TX A&M (my old stomping ground) has a controversial piece by Malcom
Beck. He had Johnson grass and once tried to cultivate it to death. He
learned not to do that. He does allow Glyphosate herbicide as the lesser of
the evils, and contends it's the only practical way to go no-till at first,
and says certain mycorrhizae eat the herbicide. Though Garrett disagrees
(as do I) Beck makes a logical argument.  And you may agree Beck is well
worth reading, http://www.plantanswers.com/roundup.htm . 

Now if that were my 20 acres I'd think about mowing and maybe baling all
that good Johnson grass. I'd start hoeing it up in small sections where
it's not so thick, and then apply that mowed grass to it as a mulch. I'd
keep enlarging the hoed area, and start planting produce or cash crops
through the mulch. What do you think?

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about
it. 
   - Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/14/2006 at 12:36 PM Terry Boyne wrote:

>I have been following the no till discussion with interest but the
>question comes to my mind of how would I manage no till on my family farm
>that has been uncultivated now for over 20 years? The fields are full of
>johnson grass and I'm trying to figure out how I'd create a no till farm
>in this environment. Johnson grass is very aggressive.
>
>Any suggestions?
>
>Thanks,
>Terry