by kpeavey » Thu 08 Jan 2009, 21:06:31
Where to start...
My method uses aspects of several other gardening methods. DDRBs (Double Dug Raised Beds), SFG (Square Foot Gardening), Lasagna Gardening to a limited extent, and a combination of pitcher and drip irrigation. I have been unable to incorporate, or even find sense in, any of Fukuoka's methods. I till the soil deeply when the bed is established, incorporate large amounts of organic materials, mulch heavily, companion plants are employed, as well as compost tea. I've been studying vermiculture, will be including it in the future, and intend to look into biochar.
Any single aspect may give my crops a boost, but the more features I employ, the better the results. Each feature offers a benefit, with the combination being an example of the whole exceeding the sum of the parts. Ecosystems thrive on complexity, and your garden is no exception.
After going to all the trouble of making compost and tea, amending the soil with heavy amounts of it, starting the plants in the greenhouse, transplanting them in just the right spot, neglecting the soil by leaving it exposed to the elements is a waste of all your time and effort. Mulching protects the soil ecosystem you have developed. My hoe handle broke 4 years ago, has not been repaired or replaced, and until someone shows me the practical benefits of breaking my back on the thing, It never will be.
Conventional farming with rows, plows and hoes has been practiced for so long that the idea of doing it any other way has almost been bred out of the population. There is a better way, it takes time for it to be effective, results in yields improving and effort decreasing.
Plowing or tilling the soil initially breaks up the compacted sod layer, exposes the soil for planting, kills off existing plants by placing them in position to serve as green manure, aerates the soil, and brings nutrients to the surface from below.
A hoe is used to kill weeds after the plants have started to grow back. Rain compacts the soil, the hoe serves to decompact it, but this is an ancillary benefit: how often you hoe is determined by weed growth. If there were no weeds, the hoe would be left in the shed.
Soil left unmulched is exposed to the elements. Rain will compact it. The sun will dry it out. UV rays can kill off the microbes on the surface. Once compacted and the microbe population restructured, the water absorbing ability of the soil is lost, resulting in erosion and runoff. A hoe used to chop and uproot weeds exposes more of your soil to the sun and rain, and destroys the tilth on the surface layer. When the sun dries it out and the wind comes, the dust on your plates and shelves is your topsoil and fertility blowing away. The solution is to irrigate regularly. This compacts the soil further, promotes weeds, and uses large amounts of water and energy to pump it. Shut of the irrigation for a few days, the sun evaporates the water, leaving mineral salts behind in ever increasing concentrations until the soil is so heavily salinized that your crops fail.
And all this makes sense to people?
This is the best soil you have available, nourishes the crops that you need to survive. Why would you not give it the attention it deserves?
Till your beds deeply when you establish them. Give your plants loose soil which allows their roots to grow. More roots means more water can be extracted from drier soil, more nutrients can be absorbed from less fertile soil. Less water and fertilizer/inputs are needed.
Add copious amounts of compost, turning it in the top few inches. Along with the compost comes the microbe population which will live symbiotically with your plants, steadily breaking down the compost to provide nutrients in a form your plants can use. The microbes enhance the tilth of the soil by binding it together. The compost itself is able to absorb water in greater quantity when the rains come, and hold it longer when the sun shines. Less irrigation water is needed. It takes a while for the compost to be completely digested by the soil microbes, resulting in increased fertility over time with less compost added over time. Increasing fertility with decreasing work.
Left exposed, your soil will darken, giving you an earlier start in the spring as the soil absorbs more sunlight, but you will find that you will want to cover it with mulch. All the work you put in to create a loose fluffy soil can be protected with a simple layer of organic materials. Leaves, hay, straw, grass clippings, even compost can be used if you like. Rain smashes into your mulch rather than the soil directly. It will still percolate into the soil, but without damaging it. If rain is more than the soil can absorb, runoff is slowed down by interference with the mulch. Erosion is greatly reduced. Mulch shades the soil and adds an insulating layer. When the air is cool, the soil and plant roots are warmer, stay warmer longer. When the sun shines, the mulch protects the soil and its microbe population from drying and damaging effects. Soil tilth is allowed to continue to improve rather than be destroyed. In the shade of the mulch, water evaporates at a considerably slower rate.
Mulch serves the plants as well as the soil, by removing competition in the form of weeds. Without sunlight, germinating weed seeds have a greatly decreased ability to survive long enough to interfere with your plants. Those that do are considerably easier to hand weed out of a bed of loose soil. Fewer weeds means less work and more water/nutrients available for your plants. Follow the growing season, fewer weeds means fewer weed seeds for next years crop to contend with.
Its all interconnected, so add another factor. Tilling regularly disrupts the soil life, including earthworms. If it does not kill them outright, it can reduce the population by driving them out to less turbulent pastures. Its the worms that will do the tilling for you. Surface feeders will consume some of the mulch material as it breaks down. Burrowers add tunnels through which water and plant roots travel. They bring materials from deep in the soil to the surface and from the surface to the depths. They consume soil, in the process destroying harmful nematodes, adjusting the pH, and producing castings rich in beneficial microbes, amino acids, proteins, and other substances which promote microbe activity in the soil. A particular material they produce is humic acid, a powerful plant growth stimulant. As they move, they coat their burrows with mucous, offers excellent feed for microbes and plants alike. The burrows themselves help move water in great quantity into the soil, spreading it out to be absorbed by the soil and compostables in great quantity. Runoff is reduced, water retaining ability is greatly enhanced, and at the same time, too much water is readily drained away. Worms add balance. They do the work for you. No Till refers to your work. A worm population of 20-25/sqft will add up to a pound or so in 100 sqft. Over an acre, this would amount to a ton and a half of worms. They can consume hundred of times their body weight in a year, converting what the eat into the worlds finest soil amendment and spreading it out across and into your fields.
With each crop, rake the mulch to the side, add more compost and mix it into your soil lightly, just the top 3-4 inches is all you need. Set in your plants, return the mulch and add more as needed. You disturb the ground as little as possible. The ecosystem of the soil is left intact. Your soil will improve each year. Weeds decline. Water demands decrease. Crop yields improve with healthier plants growing in healthier soil.
Less work, better results. Does this make better sense?
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--for ever."
-George Orwell, 1984
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twenty centuries of stony sleep were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, and what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
-George Yeats
