For info on small scale, no-till without chemicals check out Lee Rich's Weedless Gardening, available at www.workman.com
-----Original Message----- From: RH <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sunday, October 06, 2002 3:09 PM Subject: Re: [globalnews] Farmers Fight Global Warming with No-Till Farming >10/6/2002 10:08:55 AM, "RiverValley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >wrote in response to a "No-Till" article posted by Jane: > >>I'm wondering if members of the list >>have experience using no-till in a >>small farm, market garden setting, >>particularly in mild climates like the >>pacific northwest US. What problems, >>successes have people had? What types >>of tillage and tillage tools do people >>use and prefer? > >Daniel, modern no-till involves first killing off the >vegetation with chemicals and then planting through the >stubble. For further proof of its insidious nature, I suggest >you go down in the original article a few paragraphs until you >find this sentence: > >"There are economic and environmental drawbacks to no-till, >including the fact that more pesticide is usually needed to >fight the organisms that find homes in the residue." > >The no-till scheme Jane posted is a chemical Trojan horse and I >suggest you stay away from it. I suspect she was just trying >to warn us of the danger. No-till pushers are in the category >of those who coin "war is peace" and "slavery is freedom" >doublespeak phrases. > >The half-inch of woody waste that no-till chemical shills brag >about amounts to dip-squat when measured against the 5%-10% >soil organic matter that good farming practice can achieve with >consistent cover crop plowdown and proper soil >remineralization. > >Having said all that, I'll add that there is one Pennsylvania >farmer who has perfected a no-till system involving a huge >flattening roller that he crushes his cover crops with. He >then plants through the residue. As far as I know, he uses no >toxic chemicals. I believe Rodale made a video of his tomato >operations. > >Regards, >Rex Harrill > > >
