Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

While we're on the subject I'll add to that again. 

While the strategy of no-till and mulch work together, they're also
essential to permanent bed (or wide row) growing. Permanent beds don't need
tilling if they're not walked on or compacted with tractors, and kept
covered with mulch. And tilling would be a problem if you wanted to keep
beds mulched, but you don't need to till or cultivate this way. No
problemo. 

There have been reports of farmers using tractors or animals for permanent
beds on larger areas, tho it does use fossil fuels. If you already have the
animals or equipment, it may be feasible. I haven't done this, but tractor
wheels would need to be set to straddle the beds so as to avoid running
over them now or later on. Initial tilling to break up hard soil and work
in amendments can be done with walk behind tillers that let you walk in the
permanent aisles. Manure spreaders would need to straddle beds. Cover crops
can be planted and then mowed the same way for mulch. There are now
planting implements that will plant properly through killed cover crops.
Hand operated planters might require pulling aside narrow strips of mulch
to get seed into the ground.  Harvesting methods would depend on the crops,
but diversifying can avoid the dangers of pests in monocropping larger
areas. 

Since our own growing area is too small to justify animals or tractors, I'm
experimenting to see how much production can be gained with permanent
no-till and mulched beds and imported manure and amendments, with double
cropping and season extension methods. Double cropping means twice the
production from the same prepared beds, saving cost and labor, but timing
and choice of crops is critical. Greenhouse, row covers, and/or cold frames
allow earlier seedling transplants. There are unknowns of course. Will red
onions planted 1st of March with floating row covers get enough long days
in May to bulb in time to harvest them and put in a second wave of carrots
in June? We'll see ... 

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

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On 12/15/2007 at 7:14 AM TradingPostPaul wrote:

>Ok, that's the question then. It's the common belief that no-till means
>using herbicides. Good for Beck. If farmers can't move from industrial
>farming to sustainable farming and stay solvent at the same time, we're
>sunk. Period. Of course the strategy of no-till, cover crops, and mulch
>work together, and this is a necessary element in cutting costs and labor.

>
>paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
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>
>On 12/15/2007 at 7:38 AM E. E. Mitchamore Jr wrote:
>