I have a great respect for Joel Salitan’s method of farming... it is actually a method of animal husbandry that does not disrupt the land.
I have a friend who farms and others who garden using permaculture techniques that are chemical free.
I know people struggling to keep garden plants weed free for decades. I hadn’t gardened in 20 years due to where I lived, but as I moved to a place I could plant things, I read about mulching with just using last years leaves, so I went to back of property where they all got piled up and just took a few wheel barrows and as was ( no chopping up or anything) just put them around plants and in walk ways.
Hugely reduced weeds, less watering needed and plants seemed to do a lot better than other area I didnt do it to. So now every garden season I leaf everything. No more bare dirt to expose weed seeds to sun, I don’t mind less watering either.
people make things harden than has to be when they try to figure new solutions to things God’s design of nature already resolved.