Who will no-till/no-dig garden this year?

[jasonvivier]

Will you be tilling this? (Clearly I choose this picture for effect -sorry

Or setting out plants in this?

using no-till/no-dig methods?

 

[Beekissed]

Both! I'll be tilling one last time before applying a 6 in. layer of wood chips and, hopefully, I'll never have to till again.

 

[jasonvivier]

Both! I'll be tilling one last time before applying a 6 in. layer of wood chips and, hopefully, I'll never have to till again.

Make sure the wood chips don't get mixed into the soil - you don't want to end up with Nitrogen lockup.

 

[Mauldintiger]

No till since spring of 2014, and late last summer I expanded one area of the garden by 4-5 feet with cardboard first, then straw and grass clippings and did the same late this winter on another 4-5 feet. I can stick a trowel in to the hilt very easily right now. The proof will be this years harvest, but right now, things are looking very good! First pic is potatoes under straw, no hilling for me. I guess I'm lazy, it seems to me a lot less work. No tilling and no weeding, just plant and harvest.

 

[Mauldintiger]

Sorry for the double pic, I deleted it, but it didn't take

 

[Beekissed]

Make sure the wood chips don't get mixed into the soil - you don't want to end up with Nitrogen lockup.

Got it covered! Have already applied horse manure to the soil before tilling, then will again lightly before covering with chips to offset the nitrogen binding with the chips this season.

Next season I won't need that boost but will continue to side dress with composted horse and chicken manure as needed.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Neither!

My parents won't let me intentionally plant anything in the garden this year since we are supposed to be moving in early August. (I'm might scratch up the ground a little and sprinkle some old seed on the soil's surface, shhhh....) So what I'm doing this is going entirely off of volunteer plants. No till, no mulch, and minimal weeding - I'll let you know how it works! Perfect year for a little bit of experimenting.

EDIT: Wait - would weeds count as a living mulch?

 

[jasonvivier]

Neither!

My parents won't let me intentionally plant anything in the garden this year since we are supposed to be moving in early August. (I'm might scratch up the ground a little and sprinkle some old seed on the soil's surface, shhhh....) So what I'm doing this is going entirely off of volunteer plants. No till, no mulch, and minimal weeding - I'll let you know how it works! Perfect year for a little bit of experimenting.

EDIT: Wait - would weeds count as a living mulch?

Yes weeds would count as living mulch, but the more important question is why are those weeds growing there? You can learn a lot about soil based off of which weeds/native plants take up residence.

 

[Lavender2]

Other than digging up a spot for more carrots this year, it will be no till. I'm picky about the carrots and like to get as many rocks out as I can, and sometimes add some sand for better drainage.

I have used both till and no till over the years, but have tilled twice in the last ten years. Last Fall I mulched with grass clippings and leaf mold, topped with about 2 feet of leaves and 'greens'. The downside of this method here is that it takes longer for the ground to warm up in Spring... here, where we can't afford to lose too many days.

If I don't get around to soil tending in Fall and the soil seems compacted, we may till in some compost, or just fork it up a bit, plant and then mulch.

Unfortunately, the 'weed' that will move in if I don't mulch is reed canary grass, and nothing will out compete it.

 

[catjac1975]

Neither!

My parents won't let me intentionally plant anything in the garden this year since we are supposed to be moving in early August. (I'm might scratch up the ground a little and sprinkle some old seed on the soil's surface, shhhh....) So what I'm doing this is going entirely off of volunteer plants. No till, no mulch, and minimal weeding - I'll let you know how it works! Perfect year for a little bit of experimenting.

EDIT: Wait - would weeds count as a living mulch?

wow seedo. I hope you don't lose your mind with out gardening this year. I would. May be you can help out some neighbors to keep your hands in the dirt.