plowing

[k15n1]

So spring is here and it'll be time to plow soon. But is plowing the right choice? I watched a UW Extension presentation on lawn care and one of the points was that spring is a bad time to disturb the soil because of weed seeds that will then happily germinate. He suggested a slitter, which is like a no-till planter that does not expose new weed seeds. That sounds good.

But I also read about how compaction is such a problem and sometimes plowing and other deep tilling can help with that. The square-foot gardeners seem to advocate for double-digging. So that makes me think plowing wouldn't be so bad.

Then I read about how deep plowing is a problem in SANA (Southern Asia & Northern Africa) where the primary crops are a rotation of wheat, legumes, and other stuff. Apparently, most farmers are devoted to deep tilling (20 cm or more) but it can be counterproductive. I don't understand all of it but I think the main problem is that the deep tilling takes more time and that's a problem during some years, depending on where you are in a crop rotation. And it takes more fuel. And you need other equipment to break up the clods that results from plowing.

Then I read about no-till farming in the US. I read that no-till is a viable option in the midwest for large-seed crops. Great. And it requires herbicides before planting. Broccoli and carrot seeds are tiny. I don't see how no-till would work for a garden.

So I'm on the fence... to plow or not to plow? That is the question.

 

[pepper48_98]

I don't have the answer but have tilled in the past. How ever,I am considering trying no till this year. I just have to figure out how to deal with the weeds and grass. The best grass in the yard is the garden area I didn't plant last year. lol

 

[pepper48_98]

I am thinking about fencing the area and put the chickens in to clean it up but may be a little late for this year.

 

[tortoise]

I learned a method I want to try for vine and bush plants. Plow and disc the first year. Lay Tyvec house wrap down (print side down). Cut the wrap and plant through it. At the end of the season, the tyvec can be rolled up and stored for the next year. Following years, plowing isn't necessary, only disc.

We are definitely planning on plowing for our garden. We're planning on gardening 1/2 acre this year, but plowing and starting to work soil on 3 acres for the size garden we plan to have in the future.

 

[pepper48_98]

I had thought about doing something like that but was concerned about watering and the rain. I will probably plow or till too. Mine is about 20X60.

A light disking maybe. I need to make up my mind pretty quick. lol

 

[k15n1]

I learned a method I want to try for vine and bush plants. Plow and disc the first year. Lay Tyvec house wrap down (print side down). Cut the wrap and plant through it. At the end of the season, the tyvec can be rolled up and stored for the next year. Following years, plowing isn't necessary, only disc.

We are definitely planning on plowing for our garden. We're planning on gardening 1/2 acre this year, but plowing and starting to work soil on 3 acres for the size garden we plan to have in the future.

What kind of soil do you have out on the new farm? We've got silty loam here.

We did a 50x50' garden last year. It wasn't enough. I'm running out of green beans! We'll probably do at least 50x100' this year. An acre is 108' square, right? So that's about 1/2 acre.

 

[k15n1]

Read more about soil structure. Basically, a nice crumbly soil is what you want. So avoid driving around on wet soil and don't till it until it's dry and likely to stay dry for a while. Sandy soil is different.

Otherwise, it seems like the problem is mainly related to erosion. There's lots of carbon-loss studies but I think that's mainly related to erosion. Each tillage method results in more or less erosion but moving the soil with a set of discs or a plow doesn't seem to make much difference in carbon loss.

 

[tortoise]

The potential garden locations is listed on soil survey as "chetek sandy loam", "magnor silt loam", and "Menahga loamy sand". That means nothing to me!

 

[Smart Red]

So I'm on the fence... to plow or not to plow? That is the question.

Many people don't believe in plowing and insist that lasagna gardening is the only way to go -- that is preparing the garden space in the fall or early spring with layers of mulch that you plant through. That keeps the weeds down since you don't disturb the soil

I prefer not to plow or till, but agree that if this is your first year gardening in that space; plowing, tilling, or double digging are all a reasonable ways to get a garden started. Once the garden has been prepared for planting, you would want to add a lot of mulch and additives to improve the soil. After that no more plowing is done. Disturbing the soil year after year will damage the natural structure and kill beneficial micro-organims in the soil.

Here is a good article on no till gardening that explains it well.

Love, Smart Red

 

[baymule]

In my own garden, the soil was rock hard, poor and would hardly grow weeds. it is a strip between the driveway and sidewalk, cut into beds by brick walkways. I double dug, added compost and covered with paper feed sacks to keep the weeds down. I cut holes in the paper to place my plants in the soil. For soil that wouldn't grow weeds before, loosening the soil and enriching it with compost made them take off, growing leaps and bounds. I dug up the garden for several years and now I just mulch with grass clippings, compost and loosen the soil with a spading fork.

What I do in my small space wouldn't work for you in such a large space. So...do you have chickens? It is a little late for this year, but fence the garden area, turn the chickens out in it all winter and pile leaves, grass clippings and vegetable matter in it. The chickens will scratch it all up, poop and eat weed seeds. Maybe you could have two garden areas, plant one and turn the chickens in the other one. Alternate back and forth.

Where are you located and what is the climate?