No Till Gardening

[Boogity]

OK you guys you have convinced me to try it again in a small area of my garden. But I'm warning you . . . if it doesn't work I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna . . . I'm gonna . . . let's see . . . I'm gonna be glad I gave it another try. Fooled ya didn't I.

 

[Wannabefree]

I'm about to try it too because I can't get my hands on a darn working tiller and I have LOTS left to plant!!!

 

[big brown horse]

I'm about to try it too because I can't get my hands on a darn working tiller and I have LOTS left to plant!!!

LOL I traded the tiller that came with the house for my first sheep 3 years ago.


(I forgot to mention that I tuck household compost under the leaves and straw mulch where ever I feel like it will fit.)

 

[Wannabefree]

Well I finally got a tiller because our soil is so dense and packed down(HEAVY clay). I am incorporating all of the mulches into the soil for the next couple years and will be doing lasagna gardening hopefully by year 3. I want to improve the soil in the garden and get it well established first. Besides I don't have 8 inches of mulch to cover my large veggie garden, so I am doing it slowly over the course of several years instead of all at one time. So far I have bedding, straw, hay crumbs that broke down to fine dust, rabbit poo, goat poo, and goat bedding thinly broadcast over my big garden spot. I also have shredded newspaper and leaves to toss on after tilling the other in, to keep weeds down. I'll call my version "pizza gardening," because it's pretty much the same concept but just a lot thinner

 

[Denim Deb]

Hope it works for you. I don't have that problem here. Our soil is pretty sandy. But, just because of all the organic matter that I've put into the garden over the years, I can see a big difference between it and the dirt next to the garden.

 

[sbrook_325]

Hello all
I saw a method for no till gardening in a mother earth book that has worked good for me. I bought bags of topsoil, punctured lots of holes in one side, flipped that side on bottom for drainage. Cut out top of bag, and planted 4 plants per bag. Used landscaper fabric and mulch everywhere else. Ran drip/micro irrigation on a timer. I have been pretty happy with the results. At the start of each growing season, I take last seasons bags and dump the soil into a raised bed, add some fresh manure and a little sand, and use the soil again. Makes lots of tomatoes and cucumbers.