no till garden

Hi I’m planning on planting a organic no till garden my question is what are the steps to start off to prepare the soil till or not to till to get the soil ready and how long will it be before I can plant thank you

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1 Comment To "no till garden"

#1 Comment By MichiganDot On 02/16/2018 @ 1:10 pm

If the soil currently has grass, that is your first issue. Killing the grass via solarization takes close to one growing season. Some use layers of cardboard to prevent photosynthesis and kill the grass this way. Most cover the cardboard with piles of shredded leaves and compost. Do not use fabric cloth, sold everywhere but which doesn’t work. I’ve been there, done that and never will do it again! If there are tough perennial weeds, tilling won’t kill these, nor will a few months of cardboard. The trouble with cardboard is that is cuts down on moisture and air transfer into the soil and limits worms, etc from accessing the shredded leaves and compost. No till is proving to be better for soil structure than tilling – a complete 180 over what was taught even 10 years ago. But you need the soil critters to access the leaves and compost and drag them into your soil to improve nutrient value and tilth. You might be interested in Hugelkulture technics.

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