Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Bobby G <bobbyg53211@yahoo.com>]

Well, it looks like we may have as much as 5 acres to
devote to veggies and other crops, land which has been
in organic pasture with cows on it.  All this no-till
discussion brings questions to my mind.

I'm wondering how you'd cover-crop this, then make the
cover crop available as nutrients in time for
late-spring planting of certain vegetables for
farmer's market purposes.

i did note one type of fava bean in the Fedco catalog
which says it will germinate in 35-45 degree soil,
which is where central Wisconsin soils are at in early
spring.

if you were to use this cover crop in a no-till
fashion, you'd have to just mow it close to the
ground, then plant  amid the stubble right?  if you
disked or roto-tilled, you'd no longer be no-tilling. 


does this take a particular kind of heavy-duty
planting drill or something?  i'm used to having a
nice fluffy well-tilled seedbed to work with, and
no-till doesn't sound like that at all.  keep in mind
this is a former pasture where plants like Reed canary
grass are used to getting their way. not a
vegetable-seedling friendly environment, that.

any suggestions will be mulled over and chewed on like
a stalk of Reed canary grass [already 6 feet tall by
the first week of June...]

bobby g.
wisc.


      
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