Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

My own approach is just to try to network, share, and encourage those who
already get it, organics and all. That's all I have time for. Your work
with no-till has pointed me in the most useful direction. It's ideal for
drip irrigation - who wants to pull out and put in all the drip lines every
season, just to cultivate? It helps weed control because seeds aren't
brought to the surface repeatedly by cultivation. It's ideal for permanent
beds, with compost or mulch constantly decomposing on the soil surface.
That works well with cover crops to improve soil or make mulch in place.
Most of all it avoids excessive oxidation of humus and keeps the natural
soil profile best for earthworms to work the soil beneath the mulch. Like
so many others I'd heard of no-till long ago but never noticed how it's
ideal - rather necessary - to permanent bed organic growing. No-till,
organic permanent beds is a whole system where everything works together,
and maybe it has to be sold as a complete system. Each single part of the
system helps, but the benefits of the whole system working together are far
reaching, for home or market growers. 

 paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 9/21/2006 at 6:10 PM Ken Hargesheimer wrote:

>Paul,
>   
>  The most difficult thing I have ever tried to do is convince farmers to
>go organic.  In many instances, it is totally impossible. 
>   
>  Ken