Small-Scale No-Till from Vegetable Farmers and their Sustainable Tillage Practices | Food Production and Preservation | Forums

I can't remember the last time I tilled a garden. I build my beds. I'm a pretty lazy gardener. I start with old hay. I let the bales set out for a few months to get nice and moldy. Then I break them open and lay flakes down where I want my new garden bed. I pile horse manure or compost over that, and another layer of the moldy hay, but this time I loosen it up. Instant garden! I plant directly into it and if mulched, is very little work through the whole season.

I also believe in volunteers, and perennial foods.

We have a whole bed of volunteer collards, including some that have sprouted out of the lawn, from seeds that dropped as I was collecting them.

I just planted a few more Jerusalem artichokes, and I love lambs quarters.

I would love to get some of the ground cherries that I heard you talking about on the last podcast!