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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I’ve been reading about no till gardening.

What do you know about it and what are the advantages?

How is it done?


23 posted on 05/15/2020 10:35:54 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom
In farming no till is accomplished by using a different type of planter to place seed into unprepared or rather untilled ground. It comes with some advantages but also some problems tend to arise from it as well.

The statement in the article about using less chemical control and less fertilizer is blatant falsehood. Typically no till is a chem fallow operation meaning we would burn the vegetation down with glyphosate before planting. As for fertilizer its a given requirement dependent upon available soil nutrients and crop selection.

No till was pushed hard in the late 80s and became very popular. It works great in very dry regions to help control soil moisture. Its a good tool in my area to help control erosion in slope fields. However it is not a replacement for tillage and the downsides have become apparent over the years. Most farmers including myself have gone back to tillage or a mix of till and no till.

Tillage has benefits that include organic material incorporation and no chemical weed control. If done correctly it can also mitigate panning which is something that no till is supposed to do as well but doesn't always work that way. Crop selection and soil profiles have the most to do with tillage type needed.

All that being said, I have no experience in no till gardening as I have always tilled mine, but I would assume most of the premise would be the same.

29 posted on 05/15/2020 11:08:56 AM PDT by JohnDeereGreen (I think I have the bailout flu :-()
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