Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Lynn Montgomery" <sunfarm@toast.net>]

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:02:16 -0800 (PST)
From: Ken Hargesheimer <minifarms2@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Livingontheland] no-till
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: jbyrd@centex.net, minifarms@gmail.com, rhf@airmail.net,
susanich@earthlink.net, brad@homesweetfarm.com
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I watched a USDA video several years ago and on it the agent made this statement, "There is nothing more destructive of soil than a roto-tiller."
  
  I wish I knew what to do to get gardeners and farmers to go no-till. I just keep preach'in.
  
  The earth worms appreciate their home not being destroyed.  Soil appreciates not being ripped apart.  The rain appreciates going into the soil rather than running off carrying top soil with it.  The soil appreciates not being cooked by the sun. The farmer's body appreciates it for less work. The bank account appreciates it due to more profit.  

 The weeds' seeds hate it for not being brought to the surface to sprout.  Equipment dealers hate it due to no sales. 

 

Dear Ken,

    Although roto-tilling might not be good for things in many places, I believe that my farm would not produce and gain fertility without it. Each place and garden is unique and the owner must find the best practices, varieties, and equipment for his or her particular plot. These can vary even on neighboring farms. Breeding one's own varieties is essential for sustainable production on small scale farms and gardens. Here on Sandia Mt., we have a unique soil. It is a silty adobe that is high Ph. It soaks up the rain, but has a strong wicking action that dries it out very quickly. It eats organic matter to the point that raw organic matter is added, bypassing the usual composting, and one can never get enough of it into the soil to help retain moisture and keep friability up. In this high desert, there aren't any earthworms, even with lots of precipitation. Only by tilling in organic matter endlessly do earthworms show up. Tilling does upset earthworms, but they recover very fast, as the soil is full of their dormant eggs. Comparing soil that has been tilled with that which hasn't reveals the benefits. Irrigation is necessary, so it is necessary to contour and make rows or terraces to make it possible to provide moisture and control erosion. My tiller is the ideal tool to accomplish this, period. Troybilts have a depth bar that works great, giving accurate tilling depths, so I only till a couple inches to turn in organic matter once things are well established. This is necessary so the precious organic matter does not wash away during irrigation. My farm is very old-pre-Columbian, and is still here producing away. I don't have a whole Pueblo of workers at my disposal, so I have to substitute a machine to achieve the same results. Observing a Pueblo farmer hoeing his field, it is the same process as the tiller with the same results. A good and successful farmer does not listen to USDA agents before his or her own observations. Observe, observe, observe, and keep your nose out of books or videos that make blanket statements. We all create little unique universes in our gardens and get to play God a bit.

Regards, Lynn Montgomery