No-till gardening: soliciting advice

[Lorin]

Hello,
I'm new to the forum. I've been organic gardening for about 6 years. I've wanted to do the no-till method (http://eartheasy.com/blog/2009/01/no-till-gardening/) for many years, but have yet to build up the nerve. I did a search of this forum but only really saw a thread on no-till as it relates to carbon emissions. Can anyone offer their personal experiences with this method? I mulch heavily every year, so at this point my bed should have a pretty good percentage of organic matter.

Still, some of my concerns:

1. lack of sufficient aeration for tall plants and good yields. Can anyone compare and contrast the difference here between no-till and conventional methods?

2. Amount of mulch used. Exactly how much are we talking and what should I anticipate in terms of additional expense?

3. Proponents of the double-dig method (which I normally do) sell the benefits of turning the soil to make nutrients deeper in the soil more available to the plants. Will no-till require a higher than normal soil amendments to achieve the same results?

4. Other differences I'm not thinking of?
I consider this a big step. If I do it wrong, I lose a lot of veggies that go to feed my family all year long. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[eco4560]

Welcome Lorin. Being a lazy gardener who hates digging - I usually only make a hole that is big enough to fit the plant in!
Bear in mind that when you plant a fruit tree you don't dig it up and turn over the soil every few months and put it in again - and yet they do just fine. You can use deep rooted plants to do the aeration for you - like daikon radish, or lucerne, or let worms do it - plenty of organic matter will bring them in. I wouldn't even double dig the bed to start with as the article suggests. One option is to sheet mulch directly over the lawn or wherever you want the bed to go. If you do a search on sheet mulching you should find plenty of info. I doubt that you would need any more mulch than you already do, and possibly less as you won't be turning it back into the soil each time. You shouldn't see a decrease in yield and may find that you actually get a better yield with a no dig approach. If in doubt try experimenting with a half and half approach - keep half the garden as it it and try a no dig approach in the other until you are convinced.

[sun burn]

Hi Lorin, welcome

I am surprised how worried you are but perhaps if you are already feeding your family you might feel you have a bit to lose. If its that much of a concern to you, why not start with just a couple of beds in a separate place for your no-dig vegie garden. This way you will be even able to make a good comparison about results.

I wouldn't worry about aeration if you've got worms. Its the job of worms to aerate the soil adn I have read that they come up to get the vegie matter off the top. I think its true because my chickens love to scratch in mulch as if they know that this is where the worms hang out. Worms take stuff back down apparenlty.

For mulch on a garden bed they generally say its good to put 20cm on top. That's for keeping down weeds. Have you got a recipe at all. Seems like not if you are asking this question. You can put about 4cm of compost on top then cover it with straw as much as possible. But you don't have to use what they say in teh books. You can use whatever you have got to hand - leaves are good because they are already small. Grass clippings, small twigs, shredded newspaper. I advocate not buying anything at all if you can help it. If you must buy something, buy a machine to mulch your garden litter. I haven't got one yet but the consensus seems to be spend about $2000 for a petrol mulcher. Then you will never run short of mulch.

Get creative about sourcing your mulch supplies.

To get at those deep nutrients, they will come from the plants you mulch. And also if you use weed teas from weeds and plants that grow deep.

I just read the link. It seems like all the answers you need to know are there. You are just stressing because its something new. If its too bit a step in one, just start a separate garden or go half half as eco suggested. I think its always good to find ways to alleviate anxiety or stress if that's a problem.

[Grahame]

I am assuming you are using your existing bed rather than making a whole new bed? It might help if you could tell us what your normal routine is. How do you prepare the soil for planting, do you plant seeds or seedlings? What 'ammendments' are you adding regularly and why? To me no-till IS organic gardening, repeated digging in of stuff is conventional in my mind.

1. If you've been organic gardening for 6 years your soil will most likely have a good amount of organic matter. Good aeration comes from good soil structure, not from turning it over. If you are worried you could always just use a garden fork, shove it in, wiggle it slightly and pull it out, no need to turn it over and ruin the structure.

2. There should be no need for additional mulch to what you are already using. Provided you even have 10mm of mulch cover you will be protecting the soil from water loss and sunlight. Thicker mulch will suppress weeds if you have a problem.

3. I was under the impression that the double dig method was only a method for making new beds where you haven't grown vegies before. I think it would be a needlessly destructive method if you used it every year.

4. If you do the same things as you have been doing, but you just don't dig, then I can't see why it would be anything other than better. If you are planting seeds direct into the soil, you can still 'fluff up' the surface a little if need be

[Lorin]

How do you prepare the soil for planting, do you plant seeds or seedlings?

Seedlings for tomatoes, corn, broccoli peppers, eggplant and a few others. Seeds for beans, peas, etc.

. I was under the impression that the double dig method was only a method for making new beds where you haven't grown vegies before. I think it would be a needlessly destructive method if you used it every year.

I've read a couple of books that recommend double-digging every year, as a better alternative than tilling to avoid "plow pan".

Anyway, I think I've decided to go "all in" this year. It really does make more sense. Thanks for the encouragement, everyone.

A couple more questions:

1. My bed is very long and about 8 feet wide. While I do my best to avoid stepping into it, I did do this some last year to reach tomatoes, etc I guess I should assume/hope that earthworms have done some good work repairing any damage that I may have done in between the last days of my garden 2010 and now. Correct?

The site I linked above recommended stepping stones. It seems to me that a very wide, flat board that you could move around might minimize compaction by distributing the weight better and allow you to access any areas of the garden, if needed. Any thoughts/experiences on this?

2. Can anyone recommend what they consider to be the best book on the subject to use as a reference guide?

[/QUOTE]

[jaggednib]

If you want a really amazing book to read that details EXACTLY what happens in the soil and why no till really works, (and something that might help ease your mind), I would suggest reading Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway. An absolutely invaluable resource.
Good luck!

[eco4560]

Ideally - redesign your beds so that you can reach the centre from each edge so there is no need to step into the garden. Failing that the plank is a good idea.

[gardenlen]

g'day lorin,

for us our no-dig raised beds work just like a bed where lots of back work has taken place digging teh soil, so the difference is lots less toil.

so aeration will be identical drainage will be better where needed, the worms till the soil, we feed the medium with all rottable kitchen scraps as that is where our worm farm is right where it is needed. we use green type spoilt hay and sugar cane mulches, the latter easiest to get so most used. and lotsof it try to keep it at least 6" to 8' thick, so that is on going for us with 16sq/mts of garden beds and a fruit tree area that costs around 60-120 dollars a year.

as we get older and with health prob's we are planning on raising our beds from this 10" to 12" height to around 20"s or there abouts.

see our bale garden presentation also another presentation on site.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/straw_bale_garden.htm

len

[Terra]

A tip for keepin the worms where you need them is drill some holes in the bottom and sides of a bucket with a secure lid and bury this in the middle of your bed , you can feed your worms in this container they will be safe from poultry and wild birds and will do the soil work for you .
Terra

[sun burn]

I have to say that i second the motion to redesign your garden beds so that htey are narrower and you don't need to walk on them. Or you could take a look at Linda Woodrow's book Permaculture for the home garden and follow her design as many of us here have done. Its a lovely mandala garden with a pond in the middle. I love the pond. Its a great book, full of great ideas. Its a complete planting system but you don't have to do what doesn't fit in with your situation. You just modifiy the idea to suit. She gives a couple of examples that too.