permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 11/4/2011 7:15 AM, Michael Snow wrote:
> Lawrance, will you describe the no till drill planting by hand you
> wrote about?
>
> On Nov 3, 2011, at 1:21 PM, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
> > No till
> > and chop and drop is what I now practice for maintenance; for
> > cropping I use minimal till with hand tools. I will experiment
> > with seedballs and no till drill planting by hand.

I would use standard methods of seeding by hand or with human powered 
tools or equipment:

Seedbeds created for broadcast planting or in grooves or trenches 
accomodating everything from celery to tubers to seedling starts.

Seedbeds planted by broadcast or on a grid or in rows or within an 
interplanting or polyculture scheme are best prepared with a "seeding 
rake"; nothing else can match this tool for this job. See this for 
sources in case you want to order one; they come in several sizes, 
widths, tine length and number.
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/gardening-hand-tools.faq
They are manufactured by companies in Holland and in Austria. I have a 
collections of them from both; here are pix:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103223907782626104592/GardenTools
A variety of hand tools ideal for garden maintenance, seedbed 
preparation, perfect for no or minimum till methods; I use a combination 
of both. The only tool I lack is something to use to
"roll" or, better put, "crimp" cover crops, weeds, spent food crops,
i.e. bend them over and break the stem preventing further growth and 
going to seed, if that is desired.

Planting stick or bar, jab planter (different types for seeds, plants or 
tubers), push-type rolling planting machine, Jang, Earthway, Planet Jr., 
microseeders (Johnny's) etc., all good.