hey paul:
you ever get a tractor?
dave guthrie
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 1:07
PM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] How to
Plow
Just for good measure I should put in a
plug for the book "Ploughman's Folly". "Journey to forever" has a
digitized copy that you can read for free. http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/folly/follyToC.html
Even if you don't believe that you can eliminate plowing,
this book at least asks the question of why do you need to plow?
A low mow, then a disking to open
it up a bit, then a fall cover crop like winter-rye. In the spring /
early summer go over it with a cover crop roller to crimp the rye stems.
You can find cover crop roller plans and info at newfarm's website.
http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/no-till_revolution This produces a
great thick mulch for weed suppression. The Rodale guys on the newfarm
site pull a no-till planter with a front mounted roller-crimper, so they
roller-crimp and plant in one pass. The crimping process cause the plant
to die by dehydration and prevents regrowth as could result from a mowing.
The cool part of this cover crop mulching system is that you get 100%
cover crop kill without herbicides and then the resulting mulch keeps you from
needing herbicides to handle weeds. The mulch breaks down over the
season and gives you organic matter for your soil. The mulch also allows
more water (rain) to penetrate your soil because it keeps the raindrops from
crusting over your soil surface.
Also, it turns out that mycorrhizal fungi are attracted to plants like
Winter-rye. INVAM's website has more information about how to propagate
mycorrhizal fungi through spore production. http://invam.caf.wvu.edu/ The cool
part is that a winter rye cover crop will allow any existing native
mycorrhizal populations to flourish. The death of the cover crop will
cause massive spoartion (fungi seed production), just at the time your main
crop is germinating. Mycorrhizal's will help the most in poor soils.
They develop less in soils with higher organic matter, because the host
plant depends on them less for nutrition.
The newfarm site has some emerging info about mycorrhizal fungi's
ability to increase crop growth. The fungi create a symbiotic
relationship with a host plant. They effectively extend the root surface
area a 100 fold. This lets the palnt "access" more soil nutrients.
The plant feeds the fungus simple sugars in return.
Paul Bock Stone Gully
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