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Old September 29, 2012   #9
Redbaron
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Oklahoma
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Originally Posted by halleone View Post

Scott, I direct seed alot of things; I'm guessing it is a bit more work to fiddle with shoving the mulch and newspaper out of the way, initially, but the end result HAS to be better for all concerned. Thanks for the fine detailed instructions.


Lynn
That was the "condensed" version! And also primarily first year. After a few years you don't need the newspaper any more. That is a "Jump Start" method that is more concentrating on growing worms than growing veggies! That's the whole point of no till. You worry about the soil first and later the veggies pretty much grow themselves.

For direct seeded row crops I plan ahead. Instead of over lapping an inch or two with news papers, I leave a few inches gap in a straight row then mulch over the whole thing. (don't forget to mark the gap with a stake so you can find it later) Later when I am ready to put in a row of sweet corn or beans..etc... I pull back the mulch and get to the bare earth. Then with a hand cultivator (or broad fork) I scuff up the soil and plant. After the plants sprout, I pull back the mulch around them.

And remember the tiny electric tiller I bought a month ago? That's for "special cases" like block planting where I direct scatter seed something with tiny seeds that need a fine soil bed. I would leave that small section without newspaper and pull away even the mulch. I block plant spinach that way. Then I thin the spinach and have whole "baby spinach" for salads several "thinnings" until my spinach is finally spaced correctly for full sized adult plants and only then do I pull back the mulch around the plants. Before getting the tiny electric tiller this year (Only goes down an inch or two), I always prepared for block plantings with just a garden rake. But at 50 I am preparing for my aging body to start giving out on me. I can feel it coming.

As far as I know the originator of the no till method was Ruth Stout. She did it at first just because her garden was getting to be too much work for her and she was tired of waiting for someone else to come plow for her. This was her solution. I recommend her book "The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book: Secrets of the year-round mulch method." She was able to keep gardening this way well into her 90's. So if you do it right, it should actually be LESS work.
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Scott

AKA The Redbaron

"Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted & thoughtful observation rather than protracted & thoughtless labour; & of looking at plants & animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single-product system."
Bill Mollison
co-founder of permaculture
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