Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

Not sure I understand the original post, Cordalie. What was the problem
with community gardeners wanting to rototill their plots? I accept no-till
for myself and advocate it since following Ken Hargesheimer's explanations.


I'd certainly be concerned if I had a plot and others around were spraying
poisons all over the place.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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

On 5/6/2007 at 3:45 PM Dieter Brand wrote:

>Catherine,
>
>  Converting to no-till is not just a matter of giving up tilling or
>digging.
>  It requires a degree of knowledge and experience regarding what you do
>  instead of tilling. You need to understand how you can manage weeds
>  by cover crops under your local conditions. On the garden level you can,
>  to an extend, use mulch (if you have plenty of mulching material on
hand)
>  to suppress weeds. On the farm level there is no way around cover crops.
>  You need to understand the live-cycle of the different cover crops that
>will
>  grow in your area: when to sow, degree of weed-suppression, when to
>  cut so that it won’t grow again so as to be able to plan the planting
of
>your
>  cash crop. You need to understand the properties of the different types
>  of cover crops: legumes will fix nitrogen in the soil, deep-rooted crops
>  will loosen the soil, etc.
>
>Not tilling obviously saves fuel and reduces pollution. Tilling also
>causes soil
>  compaction because the organic structure of the soil is disturbed. Soil
>fertility
>  is destroyed by tilling because the soil layers are turned upside down:
>organic
>  material of the anaerobic lower soil oxidizes when it comes into contact
>  with the air while organic material in the aerobic upper soil which is
>not yet
>  completely broken down by aerobic microorganismes will be enclosed under
>  anaerobic conditions where it can develop into substances toxic to plant
>roots.
>  Tilling also exposes the soil to erosion.
>
>  There is plenty more one could say, but you would have to be a little
>more
>  specific in your request.
>
>  Regards, Dieter
>
>Catherine Fenner <c1fenner@comcast.net> wrote:
>  Is it a rule set by community garden administrators to not rototill
>because
>of energy use or pollution? Or, are you trying to keep the substrata from
>compacting? Perhaps if you could define why we can be more specific about
>some tools.
>
>Catherine
>
>-----Original Message-----
>I need some simple materials to discourage (or encourage to no till)
>community gardeners in New Haven, CT from wanting to rototill their plots.

>Thanks, Cordalie
>