Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

Time for a word of appreciation. I want to thank those taking part here for
the quality of discussion.  If you're on other homesteading type lists etc.
as some of us are, then you generally get a low signal to noise ratio. My
cat had kittens, or too bad about the arthritis, and on and on. That's why
I saw a need for a list such as this, and started it. For all of us our
time is limited, and these posts and questions here make it very worthwhile
for me personally, and apparently quite a few others - close to 500 others.
 I'm a small market grower and got great results supplying regular
customers in the recent past, but I haven't had the breadth of experience
that some have. But that's good.  We're all learning, we're all connected.
I have an extensive library on growing but hearing personal experience and
ideas helps us all to think more about what we're doing. 

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------
Keep talking!  Keep growing!

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/17/2006 at 10:19 AM Steve Diver wrote:

>Hi Terry -
>
>You also shared that you live in NE Oklahoma and the fields
>are 5 to 20 acres in size.
>
>But you didn't state what crops and rotations you plan to grow,
>the type of equipment you have on hand, and other details
>about your farming situation.   That sure would make your
>options much clearer.
>
>I'm from NE Oklahoma so I'm familiar with agriculture in the
>region.
>
>There is a way to control Johnson grass through non-chemical
>approaches but it might take 2-3 growing seasons employing
>an integrated approach using tillage and cover cropping, etc...   
>
>Tillage is tricky.  The idea is to use shallow tillage to bring up 
>rhizomes to dry them out, then repeat during short fallow
>periods.  But these fallow periods are followed with cover 
>cropping periods.  Cover cropping is geared to smother 
>cropping and shading out the Johnson grass.  
>
>By comparison to all this soil disruption and fallow tillage,
>you can just spray the field with glyphosate a couple of
>times in one growing season and really control the Johnson 
>grass effectively, since glyphosate is a systemic herbicide.   
>There are a few perennial grasses that are extremely difficult 
>to control and Johnson grass is one of them.   It is known as 
>a "pernicious, perennial weed." 
>
>There is no way you can proceed with organic no-till on 20 
>acres of land until you've reduced Johnson grass very 
>significantly or eliminated the grass altogether. 
>
>A geotextile weed barrier will definitely suppress and smother
>out Johnson grass, but it would be limited to a market farm  
>scale operation.  I can explain how to grow watermelons and 
>cantaloupes very successfully on a half acre to one acre of land 
>with weed barrier strips that are 30' x 300'.     
>
>You can do this immediately on Johnson grass infested land and 
>produce a nice melon crop while smothering and killing Johnson 
>grass at the same time.  But the weed barrier is expensive at 
>about $250 per 15' x 300' roll.  
>
>You can also raise tomatoes, peppers, cut flowers, and squash
>on the weed barrier.  These high-value crops can be sold at
>farmers markets, stores, and roadside stands. 
>
>Feel free to call me at ATTRA if you want to talk about your
>farming situation in more detail. 
>
>Steve Diver
>Fayetteville, AR 
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Terry Boyne <tboyne@email.com>
>>Sent: Jul 14, 2006 1:36 PM
>>To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>>Subject: [Livingontheland] A No Till Question for Larger Fields
>>
>>
>>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
>
>
>
>
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