Josh your clarity is so cool - it really is about... the soil! The food, the flavours, the plot health and leaf lustre, ;lack of weed pressure - all good! Plus an interesting aside about no til being 'defined by negatives'. Food for thought. It's true and suggests that what are we doing to the soil, normally, is not good. Yet it has become accepted. Go you with no till!
There is one scenario for tillage. When degraded land is first farmed it is OK to plough and harrow the crap out of it to try and open pathways for the first cover crop's roots: however a few thinking ducks have to be in a row beforehand, suitable seeds and variety, water, compost, and time. After that the farmer's contribution is to never ever for there are no valid reasons whatsoever to leave soil naked again. The joke: "You love your soil so much you never want to see it ever again." So growing market vegetables without other plants (or their remains) right next to it and in-between is a no no. The growing plants aren't necessarily competing, they are all in a fungal-supporting network that dislikes seeing you as well. A roller/crimper will do everything you need. Sell the rest, the hoe, the shovel, the rake... Your supreme and all-powerful boss is the earthworm for he is your only contact with the magic of the underworld, mwahahaha. Bit melodramatic but it covers the fundamental philosophy of Regen Ag.
Josh has it 100% correct. Once you actually get into no-till and no-dig farming (or even backyard gardening), you see that its even easier than traditional tilling and prepping for a crop. So here you have a practice that is less labor-intensive, less costly, works better, and is better for the land? That's what they call zero downsides.
Not really if you get wrong recommendations you are really fucked, why simple if don’t cut the straw in the right sizes you’ll get your crap full of fungus, if you’ll don’t do the right rotation you can get low in micronutrients and get low production and a few other things, in other words it’s like josh said you need to have contacts.
@@brad1367 IK, but there is a balance between ones and the other ones, it is not about wiping out all negative fungus, if you obliterate this ones, probably some species of negative bacterias would get overpopulated, or some insects.
@@georgelee5244 You must know that tilling destroys fungal networks especially mycorrhizae and lots of other ones. Mulching actually helps fungus, another decomposable material to feed fungus too? Mulch?
Your version of 'no till' Certainly inspired me. I have no farming experience and though a abrupt life change swapped a desk for a country homestead in a foreign country with a small plowed field. I put a stop to the tilling (inlaws thought I was crazy) and built a 'market garden' to grow all our veg in for our home pretty much replicating what you'd done using only our own resources. It was real hard work but now I look at what we've achieved and what we have for years to come it's amazing. Thank you so much for your videos and encouragement.
There is one scenario for tillage. When degraded land is first farmed it is OK to plough and harrow the crap out of it to try and open pathways for the first cover crop's roots: however a few thinking ducks have to be in a row beforehand, suitable seeds and variety, water, compost, and time. After that the farmer's contribution is to never ever for there are no valid reasons whatsoever to leave soil naked again. The joke: "You love your soil so much you never want to see it ever again." So growing market vegetables without other plants (or their remains) right next to it and in-between is a no no. The growing plants aren't necessarily competing, they are all in a fungal-supporting network that dislikes seeing you as well. A roller/crimper will do everything you need. Sell the rest, the hoe, the shovel, the rake... Your supreme and all-powerful boss is the earthworm for he is your only contact with the magic of the underworld, mwahahaha. Bit melodramatic but it covers the fundamental philosophy of Regen Ag.
"Is this no till? LOL You must have been a great teacher. You got us through the first 30 days of the shutdown, and you continue to inspire me. Blessings to you
Saying "My thoughts on NoTill have Changed" as your title to the video is click bait since your opinion had not changed. I think your videos are exceptional and valuable. Why resort to a negative ploy?
I feel like no till makes gardening and growing more accessible for folks like me who can’t physically afford the back breaking work of tilling to prep a space. I can lay down cardboard, a layer of dead leaves and a few inches of compost & soil and get after it. World of difference!
Gods me too. My garden is expanding really really slowly (chronic pain) but the beds I started with cardboard + 10 cm compost are so different from the dug beds. After a year the "lazy" beds can be forked easily to a tine length, whereas the dug beds are still backbreaking to harvest parsnips eyc.
@Nipha Ahtlantashah it's one approach to no-till. A layer of cardboard is placed on the bed, the compost of spread over the cardboard, and slits cut in it wherever seedlings are planted so their roots can extend down. Its purpose is to act as a barrier to the grass and more hardy weeds that might be capable of growing through the bed otherwise, especially in land that hasn't been cultivated in a while. The cardboard breaks down within a year in my climate.
Nipha Ahtlantashah the cardboard just means I literally do no prep to the growing area (as far as grass removal, tarping, having animals work it, etc). If you lay down cardboard then several layers of soil you can plant the same day, which makes it slightly less labor intensive than grass removal, and less time intensive than killing the grass with uv blockers like tarps. 🤷♀️
@Nipha Ahtlantashah as I said it's one approach. Also, so-called organic standards differ, and here they can be contradictory as well. But honestly, being able to spend a year preparing soil before use sounds like a luxury to me. I'm disabled and unemployed and very, very lucky to have access to land at all and I couldn't wait 12+ months to get food on the table. Doing it this way was the best approach for me in this climate and with those constraints.
WOW, thank you sooo much!! I have a small garden and have been trying to till on the slope, but it's very difficult. I came upon your video and I realize that I have been doing part of it "no till". Your experience and and conclusions have confirmed what I have seen and witnessed in regards to just observing the soil. Thank you, and please continue to encourage the rest of us.
I was talking to an old timer and he was telling me about how he wanted to put in a garden and the place he picked had no bad weeds in it so he TILLED it up and planted it. Suddenly, he said, he got thistle like crazy. I told him that when he tilled he brought up the OLD seed in the ground and gave it a chance and it took it. I explained the low till method and tarping to him and he was wide eyed at the prospect of less work and fewer weeds. I hope he tries it out.
That conversion is tough to have with people that have been doing this for a while and are set in their ways. Fortunately for me as a first generation farmer, I don't have the personal history. I can do what makes the most sense. Most often when I talk with non-farmers about this style of farming it makes a lot of sense to them.
@@JoshSattinFarming The first time i heard about no-dig gardening was from a Charles Dowding video. I saw nothing but good sense from the video and immediately changed to no-dig and have never looked back. Not getting any younger either and it is labor saving. that was about 4 years ago.
Watching this just as I go through the new Kiss the Ground documentary. I have no experience in farming, or even gardening but it's something I really want to learn and do- to grow food, and help fight for the climate. I'm only beginning to familiarize myself with a this and know I have a lot to learn but I know this is the right direction. Thanks for sharing!
Very informative Josh! Here’s our version of “no till.” We grow some vegetables to feed our family, our livestock, our neighbors and the community food pantry. We also grow emergency foods like potatoes. Our cash crops are all things that require little or no inputs or care once planted, things like garlic, as my wife and I both have other jobs and are not full-time farmers. With regards to garlic, I plant in the Fall. My Winter and early Spring cover crop for these plants is wild red false nettle / hen bit. It’s edible, medicinal, can be fed to livestock, makes a dense ground cover that doesn’t interfere with the growth of garlic, maintains soil humidity by preventing wind evaporation and makes an excellent green manure. Most importantly, it flowers very very early, before anything else, providing nectar for pollinators. It also prevents the Spring establishment of weeds allowing the Garlics to increase in size and height. Once the dandelions and other pollinators appear, we harvest it, use it in place for a green manure or for various other things and then side dress our garlics with aged duck manure compost (from the previous Spring). Once the garlics take off, we periodically throw down some straw. We have vary little weed issues for the rest of the growing season, nothing that can’t be handled quickly under the garlics. My take away is that, with regards to weed pressure, it’s what you do EARLY in the season and EARLY in the life cycle of weeds, that determines how the rest of your season will go.
Hey Josh I think when you consider tilling it's about soil inversion and mixing subsoil into the rihizosphere. So a general raking, tilther and broadforking don't mix soil levels and are all acceptable with no till....however along those lines also comes the term no-dig in which you are now focused on little to no soil disturbance beyond a minimal hole for transplanting etc
I've been moving towards no-till the last 2 years. So far my weed pressure is definitely dropping, and my soil is certainly improving. Thanks for all your advice @Josh Sattin
Hi Josh. I asked a few of your harshest critics on no-till, what they were growing and how much of it. What I found was that most comments on no-till comes from people that have never farmed, the ones looking at the romantic idea of one day doing it. I always get comments about “Charles Dowding” or” Paul Gautschi”. Both of those guys adhere to an uncompromising and dogmatic ideology that they created, that now defines and limits them. I have a small section that I farm using a diverse number of practices, have been doing so for 20 years, in different locations. To all the commenters, START FARMING - GET EXPERIENCED - EVALUATE - THEN YOU ARE WELCOME TO COMMENT. Great to see your progress on the new farm.
I find that tilling is required if the soil is initially poor, since you really need to break up the suboptimal soil and mix in compost throughout. Once enough nutrient and water holding matter builds up, ready for no-till. Personally, it worked best when I tilled to mix in compost, manure and leaf mulch and then give the newly tilled bed at least couple of months to re-establish ecosystem. The plants did much better than the no til from the beginning. However, continous tilling also didn't work well. So tilling once, and then no-till seems to work for me! I didn't till for a patch of land I have at the back easement because it has been right underneath bamboo trees for decades with leaves falling onto it (and shaded out completely from the bamboo so nothing grew in it) and it already has a brilliant soil for me to plant on right away once we got rid of the bamboos.
On the light side Josh - you always have good video's, yet you always get some thumbs down. I believe that is because "your trellis has made them jealous."
People can 'thumb down' in error; I know I've caught myself doing it more than once - and those are just the times I've realised my error. I also notice that whilst a video can get 10 000 views only about 10-20% or less of those viewers bother to 'like'. I try and show my appreciation for someone's effort by liking their video.
That's hilarious! Yeah I always think who in the hell can thumbs down that. His content is always so clear and concise l, and always good relevant information.
Well, that was a bit of a tease, but I’m not surprised that you’ve solidified your stance on no till. We do raised beds, containers and straw bale gardening and have very few weeds. It’s less work and more benefits. Win-win! Blessings...
I have done tiny bits of it & love it. I have sandy soil, I think clay adds a little challenge as it never becomes better until U mix it with organic matter. So the purest of NO TILL method are just adding a whole new soil layer. :D Thanks for your video, and have a great day.
Amazed how things change. My Dad was a composter before it was cool and every year, he would spread compost in December and my job in April was to use a shovel and go down 7 inches and turn it under. To mix it into the soil, break up any clay clods, introduce oxygen for aerobic bacteria and lastly, bring up trace minerals in lower soil for plant availability - or so he said. It was a backbreaker, always dreamed of a tiller.
Yes! The abundance of earth worms when you don't till and when you cover the soil is off the charts! So awesome to have so many of those little dudes working for you ☺
Hi Josh. For 2020, I implemented your system from A TRELLIS TO MAKE YOU JEALOUS. It is terrific! Earlier this year, my husband and I had some projects completed on our property. All seven men doing the work ended up photographing my garden to copy your trellis system. This is my fourth year of "no till" on 5300 sq ft of garden space. By December, the plants are dead and my garden is done. Add compost and wood chips over the top, smooth it out with a rake, hose it down, then cover with tarps. By early April, an area gets uncovered for the cool-weather crops. By mid May, the rest of the garden gets uncovered to plant everything else. Using "no till", compost, and tarps, results in the weed pressure being very low.
Really good video! This was the first year we didn’t do a heavy mulch mostly due to time constraints, and the weeds were so overwhelming that we literally mowed it and gave up for the year. We’ve decided that even if it means we need to hire someone to help us get our garden mulched and ready for the year, it’s well worth the investment.
You have a very nice looking farm. I'm an American living in Thailand and I am getting ready to build a house and farm on 4 acres. For the past hundred or so years they have grown rice on it like everyone else has. They do run a tractor over it every year or so and have a disk behind it and only till up the top 0ne or two feet but with using flood Irrigation it puts enough pressure on it that it becomes as hard as a rock. I have been watching people like you that don't want to till your soil and I get it but I feel I would have to do something at least the first year just to get it so I can put some type of good soil on top of it. Back when I got my degree in Agricultural Engineering we were geared to farming thousands of acres at a time. So we had the biggest equipment we could find. I have an old classmate that farm's 14,000 acres of alfalfa and works 9 months out of the year in the fields. The next 3 months he let's the mechanics tear down all the equipment and rebuild it. He goes to Mexico and relaxes. Lol The soil on this 4 acres is pretty much depleted of nutrients and they have to fertilizer the hell out of it and they are planting GMO rice every year. I only hope I can bring this soil back to life without to much work. Your kind of farming I have never done before so I will be asking a lot of questions in the future.
I have 3 gardens, all about 500 sq ft. I didn't till them for 6 years. One day I decided, I have to have a test case or my lack of weeds isn't valid. So I tilled up one of the three gardens. HOLY COW did it turn up buried weed seed. IT was a cover crop of weeds! At that time I was also buying used tillers, fixing them and reselling them. I put them all up for sale. A lot of people say but what about a new plot? Well if we are talking less than 1000 sq ft or maybe bigger, just lay cardboard over the grass and weeds, then pull them up. Best to pull them as it disturbs the soil microbes less than hoeing them up. But you say, I've got 1/4 acre planted, which isn't rare for an rural gardener. To break it up the first time find a local with a tractor and discs. Discs don't disturb the soil like a tiller. I did that once years ago, living very rural. I disced the area once a week for about 3 weeks and then planted. Never disced again.
Whats good Josh? Nice video keep crushing it Its all in the soil...minerals are the key to flavor! Been og since 2002 , top dressing , compost teas, compost homemade Balance is key and not easy to achieve! Layers like the forest floor is where its at ! We can mimic mother nature but never replace her! The Soil web is fascinating!
I feel ya on no till! We are on our second year of a square by square hybrid no till garden. We had to till one time and then once we had our garden formed we stopped tilling. Just completed our first video on it actually. We still till a large other area as we are expanding slowly and by far the no till beats the tilled garden in product quality and with NO synthetic chemicals. High fives for no till! :)
I've been using your ideas to plant a landscape. I was reminded how using cardboard under mulch or compost can smother weeds/grass/vines. I got inspired to buy a Treadlite broad fork and it is so much physically easier for me, a 60 yr old woman, to prepare my garden and to loosen soil for planting shrubs and flowers. I use straw to mulch longer growing veggies and it also cuts down the weed pressure. I keep straw on my garden all year long and have almost no weeds. I see people have problems with voles and other critters. My cats have lowered my critter pressure. I think the other point you make is that total elimination of weeds/pests/critters is not possible but it can be minimized. Keep learning and keep teaching.
I love no-till and everything about it. Also as you said Josh, it is all about the soil. If we have good soil we will have good plants and good healthy food, which is what is is all about !!!
I misspoke during your live session about your beans. I believe I asked how your progress bush beans did. Pretty sure I meant the provider bush beans. I had seen a video of yours where the "unnamed beans" had been encroached by other garden plants. Anyhow, I wasn't sure how they turned out and really was curious how the beans faired. Btw, your farm looks amazing! You have some really great strategies and helping hands. Cheers!
I just prepped my beds for the season……nothing beats just layering more compost on top and getting down to business. Garden is so clean and tidy and like you I was noticing how black and alive my soil was as soon as I rehydrated it. It’s just an awesome way to grow. I’m never going back.
Thank you for getting the message out that good food is possible and to not get caught up in the hype of are you doing it right if the land is fertile and the food is good and clean your doing it right heal the land thanks for your part
I have only started back into gardening for the past three years and it is no till all the way for me. I did till and amend the soil when I first started as the soil was rock hard clay but since then I just spread about 4 inches of compost at the start of my spring garden and plant directly into it. I don't find I need to rotate my crops either and I multi - crop which makes planning even easier and seems to keep most pests at bay. The bane of my existence is powdery mildew as I garden in the sub-tropics in Brisbane, Australia but apart from that everything is running smoothly. Charles Dowding is my hero and mentor.
Been gardening on clay soil in the high desert. Every year I battle with bindweed, a very invasive vine which goes dormant in winter and in spring pops up everywhere. I will study it in my "experimental" zone. I am determined to go No Till. Makes so much sense.
Been watching gardening/ farming videos for a couple yrs now and somehow just discovered ya. You have the best descriptions and videos! Thanks for the inspiration! Hoping to get a cat. tunnel for growing in frigid Wyoming!
Your farm is really looking great! I remembered seeing the video when you and friends were preparing the lot for farming, wow it's fantastic now. Great job!
This is a spot on description of the no till or no dig method of growing food. Thanks. I use it on my allotment in north east Scotland and it’s brilliant. You do need to sensible and adapt it when you need to.
Howdy! TH-cam recommended your channel and here I am. Good content man, we're transitioning to a "no-till" method ourselves. Thanks for sharing looking forward to watching more of your stuff. Subbing ya now! -Josh
100% agree on the no till practice. My weed pressure is very minimal. It took a few seasons to get our garden to its current scale which is just a 1/4 acre but I plan on expanding. We are also using well water which I prefer. City water kills soil structure unless you filter it properly. Cheers
I learned so much from you, I also follow 3 other market growers on you tube. I ask myself what are they doing and can I use the same techniques to achieve success and the answer is yes. Take care my friend.
Great content really informative keep it up. Great to see you have not been wearing the sunnies. I like the way you present you're good at getting your message across👍🏻
Good video Josh! My two cents worth follows. The Earth - Mother Gaia - is a "soil farmer" FIRST. The one lesson I've learned after 60+ years of growing is I can never have enough biologically active compost [humus] because the soil's microbiome determines soil fertility. The soil's microbiome feeds off of humus, makes humic acid, of which, about 70% is fulvic acid minerals - it's those fulvic acid minerals that plants need to grow - do the research. I agree with Josh's findings, the more biologically active the soil, the better the biomass taste - refer to previous sentence. I think there's a direct corollary between flavor profile and nutrient density. About this 'no-till movement' - it's like how the organic movement began - everyone clamoring to be the voice of authority. And frankly, given the current state of the environmental air and water quality, I don't know how anyone can claim the word 'organic' if growing in said environment - research on how pernicious glyphosate is in air and water. About weed pressure...what I observed on more then one occasion is, when pulled, I find earthworms in or near the roots...huummm. Lastly, learn how to keep the soils microbiome the happy campers and they'll do the growing for you. Stay safe - be well.
Thanks you Josh for this. I grew up with the notion that the invention of the plow was maybe as important for mankind as the invention of the wheel or leading how to use fire. Your differentiated view and pragmatic approach is refreshing in a time of sound bites and click baits. Thank you.
Great opening of dialog. In my opinion No Till is one grain method, heavy broad casting and leaving debris. I am Know Till, I know when and how to till. I always build up, applying compost and fertilizer on top, mixing it with a stihl cultivator, raking, sometimes putting a fully composted mulch on top of that as a cap. The only time I deep till is in the beginning, mix the soil, exfoliating weed seeds, broad fork, add compost, deep till the compost down deep and do 2-3 solar tarp sessions to then move into a know till, permanent bed system.
I agree. What amuses me: If a plant get sick or attacked by pests, you are not allowed to use chemicals (although the use thereof may cure the plant). If the person who planted the plant get sick, he don't hesitate to use pills (chemicals), or narcotics to dull pain.
I grow a big yard garden every year and continue to till my soil and fertilize at that time with high nitrogen for root and foliage growth and generally once again with potassium and phosphorus and maybe calcium nitrate for some plants. Our yield is always healthy. I enjoy working the garden and being out there daily to keep an eye on things. It keeps animals from visiting and I know as soon as a pest problem or what have you arises. To each his own. I tried the No till approach for about 3 years with a smaller garden many years ago and saw no real benefit except for less need to weed. The soil did improve by the 3rd year but proper fertilizing/watering and crop rotation works well also. If I wanted a weed free garden I’d simply use a weed mat.
Confirms my belief. I read about this a few years ago, and I’ve never tilled. I have a small garden, a few raised beds. I rarely have weeds, only first in the spring, they get pulled. Never any all summer long. Love it, as I’m sure the worms appreciate not being ground up!
In the spring we broadcast radish seeds into areas of the yard and just scratched them in lightly. When harvesting the radishes from the sunniest spot where they grew the best, it turned out there was a brick patio under a half inch to a quarter inch of soil, I put it there many years ago and forgot how far it extended. Anyway, the radishes were just fine growing in between the bricks, although there were a few lines on them. Usually we set up new spots by making a deep narrow trench and fill it with organic matter, and the dirt from the trench makes a nice slightly raised garden bed, but we don't dig again unless it gets completely taken over by the lawn. We barely even put down the lightest mulch, as the growing plants themselves shade the soil in the garden bed, and by the time they are done growing, there is plenty of organic matter to cover it if needed.
America is the land of reductionism. I have been gardening for 50 years, and am just recently trying no dig. I've already learned that because I have such heavy clay soil, I either have to use a broadfork or a small tiller initially. After that, with organic amendments and other good soil practices, I shouldn't have to till after that first season. I think it's different for everybody, as you said, depending on the soil. Thanks for sharing your ideas and realizing there is no one perfect way.
Same here i have heavy clay soil. My pilot with growing two layers of potatoes no dig methode by adding mulch and compost on the second potato layer is a great success. It saves lots of money and work.
Hi Josh. I wonder if there is a way to kick-start no-till with deep soil from dirt and compost in one pass. Normally it takes a few years to build deep soil by adding compost as a top dress each year, often combined with broad-forking. Also the main part of the compost layer disappears within a year. 4 years ago I started my 16 inch high raised beds with a mix of 60 percent dirt and 40 percent compost. Did amend the soil with next to nothing the following years, also no forking. Whenever possible I left as much as possible of the roots in the soil and avoided pulling. Made 3 observations: the soil level did not drop, productivity of the fava beans was double the amount in year 4 compared to the first year, and the soil did not compact. My only explanation is that the roots replaced the spaces left by the decaying compost in combination with the ecology going on in the soil. Some notes: my dirt is very fine, wind deposited sand, sifted compost contains decaying wood with a size up to 0.1 inch, if rain lacks, after transplanting or germination, subsoil watering is applied in order to reduce evaporation and weed pressure. I have no clue if this approach would work on hard clay dirt, I'm curious if you have observed it somewhere. It could save a lot of work broadforking, but requires more work and compost to start. Totally off-topic: I think most commercial available compost is high speed processed for max volume, and killing weed seeds and pathogens, not for max fertility or soil building. It lacks mostly the vermi-compost stage. My once a year compost heap flip, surprises me every year with the huge amount of worms munching in there. Stay safe, best wishes, greetings from Holland.
I think the only way to "kick start" a plot on clay (specifically because of compaction, but same general rule applies to most other soils) would be to start the plot in the fall and plant a deep rooting cover crop like rye into the compost layer (possibly with some N source added) then either flail mow or crimp, then tarp or add a thick layer of compost over top to plant directly into. On more sandy soils a blend of rye with leguminous crops like vetch or clover that have a variety of rooting depths and N fixing capabilities could also be a good solution to add some fertility as well. Could also be good to consider a winter kill blend like buckwheat or oats and radish for ease of spring planting while still handling compaction and adding N. Starting from bare earth I can't imagine another way to quickly add organic matter and nutrients into the soil.
@@danielhorst4459 I think the big question is, allows the no-dig concept doing the prepping of the soil doing deep digging and incorporating a lot of compost at the same time as part of the initial landscaping? I see a lot of backyard/urban/market farmers struggling with turning their native hard compacted clay into productive black soil, just by working the surface and using the broadfork.
@@earlshine453 The less disturbance methods seem only to work best on less compacted soils with some level of organic matter and microbial life already established. Yes I think with heavily compacted clay with little organic matter, tarping and then initial tillage or double digging with compost application is an appropriate solution, often there is no other way on degraded urban soils. This is the method of urban farmers like Curtis Stone, although he doesn't claim to be no-till by any means. But this will inevitably create weed pressure especially with any perennial species, it is important to pull out as much of the rhizomes as possible. I think in most cases shallowly incorporating the compost into the first 2-4 inches after initial tilling, and then adding more compost regularly is better to reduce the initial weed pressure. If incorporating organic matter deeper into the soil profile, tarping or flame weeding, then cover cropping is an effective way to choke out the weeds that do germinate.
@@danielhorst4459 Anecdotal: it takes time to absorb new ways of gardening. It took me 3 years to convince my wife to apply chop and drop and mulching in her ornamental garden with mostly perennials on bare dusty sandy soil. She got tired of the weed pressure and the high water bills caused by overhead watering. Her only complaint: the birds are displacing her mulch. So I run the tiny woodchipper for some time and hand over a basket with more mulch. She even started testing a drip line on the driest parts in het garden.
It’s a win-win! And was great way to ♻️ cardboard! I layer newspaper, compost & dried grass clippings on top of my cardboard. This method has provided me w wonderful rich soil w a lot of worms. 🐛
Your videos continue to inspire . I will be attempting what Steve here dubbed "Low-Till", next year on my new farm. My wife and I are closing on our new place soon.. I will have an acre and a half to begin preparing once we finish the move.
I think the most important distinction of the methods you described: chickens, broad fork, tilter. Are all generally less invasive and less damaging than a tractor or roto-tiller. and while they might not be 100% no till, I would call them low-till for those who are insistent about vocabulary. Especially if just used once when creating a bed for the first time. Masanobu Fukuoka the one largely responsible for the no-till movement has used low-till methods like chickens, hand tools etc.
I live 26 miles west of San Antonio, TX. We have Houston black clay soil. We are also in semi arid climate. No till works here but if you are starting out with Virgin soil here, you have to root plow deep (2 ft), then plow again, then disc, then you dump a crap load of compost down, till the he'll out of it, till it some more, then throw more compost on top, and then a foot or two layer of triple ground native hardwood wood chips, and if it does not rain a few inches, ya better have a means to irrigate it. I did 3 acres like this and I still have until fall to wait before I start planting. I did one acre this way 4 years ago and all that I have to do is keep laying this one acre year after year and I do so with leaves now. What was once hard pan clay is not 18 inches of black, fungul compost and soil mix and I can dig down to the depth easily by hand. In hard pan clay soils, no till works AFTER working the soil really heavy the first time. In sandy country and medium to light loam, no till works just fine. The plow, the disc, and the tiller in necessary when starting out in any hard pan clay soil.
I've been doing no till and mulching with straw for 4 years, and I wouldn't do it any other way. Had My soil tested for nutrients last year, and every one of them were off the charts, and that's without adding compost/amendments last year. Going to try to get my with no compost again next year. Hoping all still goes well.
I’m just agreeing with the positive comments. The simple take away, farm soil and the plants will be healthier, taste better and be more nutrient dense. Just build soil via organic matter, compost and compost tea, plus the root exudates of living plants, let the biology do its thing. Love the no nonsense delivery, super succinct 👌👏👍🥦😎
Well said. Well rounded, productive, positive, logical and solution based perspective. Just found you on this here interwebz. Really diggin' your videos and overall attitude/thought process so far. cheers man.
Except making compost at home isn't viable at most scales, and there is no reason a buisness can't make decent compost, if they have incentive to do so correctly.
Ae Norist - True. Commercial operations need to find trusted sources, which is a real challenge if you are looking for true organic compost. My garden is small vs the available compost on the property, so it’s not a problem for me.
My chickens are in their glory scratching up the finished corn field, squash and melon beds. First year on this land very rocky soil. We tilled it before I heard of no till. They I heard about Ruth Stout thick hay mulched potatoes. Read up on permanent mulched beds and I’m a total convert. My garden was fantastic. Wore me out with the harvesting and preserving. A few people were dubious about growing potatoes with digging but witnessed the harvest and were convinced. Adding two truly no till beds via thick hay mulch and compost this fall. Will convert my husband eventually. He still insists on tilling “his” part of the garden. Lol.
@@bonniek753 Good luck converting your husband. Boys and their toys. Haha. It was hard for me to sell our small tractor, but I didn't really need it. Don't regret it now.
We did no till for a year on our farm, after we started tilling again(but still adding our compost, fertilizers, and mushroom substrates, our yields more than doubled if not tripled and disease and bug control was far better. We are on Maui in Hawaii with heavy clay soil so I understand no till can work great on sandy or silty soil, but our clay soils seem to do better with lots of oxygen from till and compost and fert which makes our biological systems regroup so fast as well as our climate.
Hi Josh, Thanks for excellent videos with wealth of great knowledge. System looks great - rational and efficient, while growing quality produce.. How/where may one get enough compost, or enough waste to make one's own compost, to be able to convert a couple of acres to this system? I'm looking at converting to growing like this, but not sure how to get enough compost to be able to do so successfully. TIA for your help.
If you have rocky, gravel and rock like clay you need to amend , I don't have a broad fork but believe I will build one because I have black Smith skills now and don't want to spend $200 for a experiment as I've never had a chance to use. No tilt cost a big investment in compose. I'm working towards a no tilt but to many rocks today. Thanks good teaching Sir
Just finding you and glad I have. Maybe this question is answered in a video I ha emt found yet, But... I have been raised bed gardening for several years. It is time to make new beds as mine are deteriorating. We have gone back and forth on what type of beds to build Or materials to make them from. Super interested in your method but don't have the chicken population or time to work the ground. Any help or advice would be SUPER appreciated.
"No til" is wonderful where you don't have voles. Voles see mulch as a vole hotel with food all around them. I have voles and when they hear the tiller rev up they run for the hills. The closest I can get to "no til" is tarping. I like it and use it whenever I can.
Voles and mulch The destruction is never ending: mature fruit trees, large blueberry plants, raspberry beds ...things t bgg at need the mulch to do well become
'Is THIS no-till?" - well I don't think anybody would argue that landscape cloth is no-till - they don't turn any dirt. I'm POSITIVE you can find people that'll say that Jang seeder or pulling a plant is tilling. That chicken ... Omg, how many takes did you have to shoot to get that right! I LOVE that! I also use my chickens to prep ground. Well I did before a fox killed the vast majority of them :/
Here in Western Pennsylvania we have acidic soils which require liming. Calcium really needs to be mixed into the soil... applying on top is not so effective because will not disolve and soak into soil like processed fertilizers do .... So I till to mix in lime every 5-6 years.
Put it on the surface and then cover it with compost. Plant into the compost. The worms will incorporate it throughout the soil in no time. No weeds, no work.
Josh your clarity is so cool - it really is about... the soil! The food, the flavours, the plot health and leaf lustre, ;lack of weed pressure - all good!
Plus an interesting aside about no til being 'defined by negatives'. Food for thought.
It's true and suggests that what are we doing to the soil, normally, is not good. Yet it has become accepted.
Go you with no till!
Charles is in the house
Thanks Charles! Good to see you in here too!
There is one scenario for tillage. When degraded land is first farmed it is OK to plough and harrow the crap out of it to try and open pathways for the first cover crop's roots: however a few thinking ducks have to be in a row beforehand, suitable seeds and variety, water, compost, and time. After that the farmer's contribution is to never ever for there are no valid reasons whatsoever to leave soil naked again. The joke: "You love your soil so much you never want to see it ever again." So growing market vegetables without other plants (or their remains) right next to it and in-between is a no no. The growing plants aren't necessarily competing, they are all in a fungal-supporting network that dislikes seeing you as well. A roller/crimper will do everything you need. Sell the rest, the hoe, the shovel, the rake... Your supreme and all-powerful boss is the earthworm for he is your only contact with the magic of the underworld, mwahahaha.
Bit melodramatic but it covers the fundamental philosophy of Regen Ag.
Josh has it 100% correct. Once you actually get into no-till and no-dig farming (or even backyard gardening), you see that its even easier than traditional tilling and prepping for a crop. So here you have a practice that is less labor-intensive, less costly, works better, and is better for the land? That's what they call zero downsides.
Not really if you get wrong recommendations you are really fucked, why simple if don’t cut the straw in the right sizes you’ll get your crap full of fungus, if you’ll don’t do the right rotation you can get low in micronutrients and get low production and a few other things, in other words it’s like josh said you need to have contacts.
@@Bortismah Straw filled with funguses? Do you know the meaning of micorrizae?.
@@brad1367 IK, but there is a balance between ones and the other ones, it is not about wiping out all negative fungus, if you obliterate this ones, probably some species of negative bacterias would get overpopulated, or some insects.
Yes I found it to be so much less work it make it enjoyable to go out to the garden
@@georgelee5244 You must know that tilling destroys fungal networks especially mycorrhizae and lots of other ones. Mulching actually helps fungus, another decomposable material to feed fungus too? Mulch?
Your version of 'no till' Certainly inspired me. I have no farming experience and though a abrupt life change swapped a desk for a country homestead in a foreign country with a small plowed field. I put a stop to the tilling (inlaws thought I was crazy) and built a 'market garden' to grow all our veg in for our home pretty much replicating what you'd done using only our own resources. It was real hard work but now I look at what we've achieved and what we have for years to come it's amazing. Thank you so much for your videos and encouragement.
You're welcome. That's awesome you tried out some of this stuff and are seeing the results. Thanks for watching!
There is one scenario for tillage. When degraded land is first farmed it is OK to plough and harrow the crap out of it to try and open pathways for the first cover crop's roots: however a few thinking ducks have to be in a row beforehand, suitable seeds and variety, water, compost, and time. After that the farmer's contribution is to never ever for there are no valid reasons whatsoever to leave soil naked again. The joke: "You love your soil so much you never want to see it ever again." So growing market vegetables without other plants (or their remains) right next to it and in-between is a no no. The growing plants aren't necessarily competing, they are all in a fungal-supporting network that dislikes seeing you as well. A roller/crimper will do everything you need. Sell the rest, the hoe, the shovel, the rake... Your supreme and all-powerful boss is the earthworm for he is your only contact with the magic of the underworld, mwahahaha.
Bit melodramatic but it covers the fundamental philosophy of Regen Ag.
"Is this no till? LOL You must have been a great teacher. You got us through the first 30 days of the shutdown, and you continue to inspire me. Blessings to you
Saying "My thoughts on NoTill have Changed" as your title to the video is click bait since your opinion had not changed. I think your videos are exceptional and valuable. Why resort to a negative ploy?
At one point he might have tilled or thought he needed to before he started his farm?
I feel like no till makes gardening and growing more accessible for folks like me who can’t physically afford the back breaking work of tilling to prep a space. I can lay down cardboard, a layer of dead leaves and a few inches of compost & soil and get after it. World of difference!
Gods me too. My garden is expanding really really slowly (chronic pain) but the beds I started with cardboard + 10 cm compost are so different from the dug beds. After a year the "lazy" beds can be forked easily to a tine length, whereas the dug beds are still backbreaking to harvest parsnips eyc.
@Nipha Ahtlantashah it's one approach to no-till. A layer of cardboard is placed on the bed, the compost of spread over the cardboard, and slits cut in it wherever seedlings are planted so their roots can extend down. Its purpose is to act as a barrier to the grass and more hardy weeds that might be capable of growing through the bed otherwise, especially in land that hasn't been cultivated in a while. The cardboard breaks down within a year in my climate.
Nipha Ahtlantashah mulch
Nipha Ahtlantashah the cardboard just means I literally do no prep to the growing area (as far as grass removal, tarping, having animals work it, etc).
If you lay down cardboard then several layers of soil you can plant the same day, which makes it slightly less labor intensive than grass removal, and less time intensive than killing the grass with uv blockers like tarps. 🤷♀️
@Nipha Ahtlantashah as I said it's one approach. Also, so-called organic standards differ, and here they can be contradictory as well. But honestly, being able to spend a year preparing soil before use sounds like a luxury to me. I'm disabled and unemployed and very, very lucky to have access to land at all and I couldn't wait 12+ months to get food on the table. Doing it this way was the best approach for me in this climate and with those constraints.
Josh, the garden in the city really looks great. You should be proud of what you were able to accomplish with it. Nice work.
It's all good thinking outside of the box, but I'm still unwrapping this box.
Enjoying y'alls.
Love and respect from Africa 🇿🇦
I caught that!😉
@@jm1178 ditto
WOW, thank you sooo much!! I have a small garden and have been trying to till on the slope, but it's very difficult. I came upon your video and I realize that I have been doing part of it "no till". Your experience and and conclusions have confirmed what I have seen and witnessed in regards to just observing the soil. Thank you, and please continue to encourage the rest of us.
This video was full of GREAT questions. "Is this no-till?" Soil health is where it all comes from!
I was talking to an old timer and he was telling me about how he wanted to put in a garden and the place he picked had no bad weeds in it so he TILLED it up and planted it. Suddenly, he said, he got thistle like crazy. I told him that when he tilled he brought up the OLD seed in the ground and gave it a chance and it took it. I explained the low till method and tarping to him and he was wide eyed at the prospect of less work and fewer weeds. I hope he tries it out.
That conversion is tough to have with people that have been doing this for a while and are set in their ways. Fortunately for me as a first generation farmer, I don't have the personal history. I can do what makes the most sense. Most often when I talk with non-farmers about this style of farming it makes a lot of sense to them.
@@JoshSattinFarming The first time i heard about no-dig gardening was from a Charles Dowding video. I saw nothing but good sense from the video and immediately changed to no-dig and have never looked back. Not getting any younger either and it is labor saving. that was about 4 years ago.
I wish everyone would say low-till cause that is what they are doing. It makes perfect sense!
Do not disturb the sponge of roots, they are the structure, the jungle of life.
Watching this just as I go through the new Kiss the Ground documentary. I have no experience in farming, or even gardening but it's something I really want to learn and do- to grow food, and help fight for the climate. I'm only beginning to familiarize myself with a this and know I have a lot to learn but I know this is the right direction. Thanks for sharing!
Very informative Josh! Here’s our version of “no till.” We grow some vegetables to feed our family, our livestock, our neighbors and the community food pantry. We also grow emergency foods like potatoes. Our cash crops are all things that require little or no inputs or care once planted, things like garlic, as my wife and I both have other jobs and are not full-time farmers. With regards to garlic, I plant in the Fall. My Winter and early Spring cover crop for these plants is wild red false nettle / hen bit. It’s edible, medicinal, can be fed to livestock, makes a dense ground cover that doesn’t interfere with the growth of garlic, maintains soil humidity by preventing wind evaporation and makes an excellent green manure. Most importantly, it flowers very very early, before anything else, providing nectar for pollinators. It also prevents the Spring establishment of weeds allowing the Garlics to increase in size and height. Once the dandelions and other pollinators appear, we harvest it, use it in place for a green manure or for various other things and then side dress our garlics with aged duck manure compost (from the previous Spring). Once the garlics take off, we periodically throw down some straw. We have vary little weed issues for the rest of the growing season, nothing that can’t be handled quickly under the garlics. My take away is that, with regards to weed pressure, it’s what you do EARLY in the season and EARLY in the life cycle of weeds, that determines how the rest of your season will go.
Wow! The Intro, the music, and the end of the video is awesome. Really love how you showcase the Raleigh city farm.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video.
Hey Josh I think when you consider tilling it's about soil inversion and mixing subsoil into the rihizosphere. So a general raking, tilther and broadforking don't mix soil levels and are all acceptable with no till....however along those lines also comes the term no-dig in which you are now focused on little to no soil disturbance beyond a minimal hole for transplanting etc
What you have achieved there in 1 year is brilliant 🤙
Thank you!
I've been moving towards no-till the last 2 years. So far my weed pressure is definitely dropping, and my soil is certainly improving. Thanks for all your advice @Josh Sattin
You're welcome. Thanks for watching and good luck with the farming!
Thankyou for leading the change 🙏🏼
I’m so glad to hear your feedback, it confirm what I always believed!
Hi Josh. I asked a few of your harshest critics on no-till, what they were growing and how much of it. What I found was that most comments on no-till comes from people that have never farmed, the ones looking at the romantic idea of one day doing it.
I always get comments about “Charles Dowding” or” Paul Gautschi”. Both of those guys adhere to an uncompromising and dogmatic ideology that they created, that now defines and limits them.
I have a small section that I farm using a diverse number of practices, have been doing so for 20 years, in different locations.
To all the commenters, START FARMING - GET EXPERIENCED - EVALUATE - THEN YOU ARE WELCOME TO COMMENT.
Great to see your progress on the new farm.
Pieter Van Der Westhuizen really, everyone just needs to do the first one!
I find that tilling is required if the soil is initially poor, since you really need to break up the suboptimal soil and mix in compost throughout. Once enough nutrient and water holding matter builds up, ready for no-till.
Personally, it worked best when I tilled to mix in compost, manure and leaf mulch and then give the newly tilled bed at least couple of months to re-establish ecosystem. The plants did much better than the no til from the beginning. However, continous tilling also didn't work well. So tilling once, and then no-till seems to work for me!
I didn't till for a patch of land I have at the back easement because it has been right underneath bamboo trees for decades with leaves falling onto it (and shaded out completely from the bamboo so nothing grew in it) and it already has a brilliant soil for me to plant on right away once we got rid of the bamboos.
On the light side Josh - you always have good video's, yet you always get some thumbs down. I believe that is because "your trellis has made them jealous."
Hahaha!
😂😂😂
People can 'thumb down' in error; I know I've caught myself doing it more than once - and those are just the times I've realised my error. I also notice that whilst a video can get 10 000 views only about 10-20% or less of those viewers bother to 'like'. I try and show my appreciation for someone's effort by liking their video.
@@VanderlyndenJengold When you thumbs down in error all you have to do is then hit the thumbs up button and it erases the thumbs down.
That's hilarious! Yeah I always think who in the hell can thumbs down that. His content is always so clear and concise l, and always good relevant information.
I had never heard about no-till gardening. I am SO excited to do this!!
Well, that was a bit of a tease, but I’m not surprised that you’ve solidified your stance on no till. We do raised beds, containers and straw bale gardening and have very few weeds. It’s less work and more benefits. Win-win!
Blessings...
interested to see the cost of hay when petrol/gas/diesel goes up 300% or so...
I have done tiny bits of it & love it. I have sandy soil, I think clay adds a little challenge as it never becomes better until U mix it with organic matter. So the purest of NO TILL method are just adding a whole new soil layer. :D Thanks for your video, and have a great day.
Thanks for the video...I feel the same way, I started no till this past year and look forward to even greater results next year! All the best from NY!
VERY GOOD!!! I moved from MN. to AR. HUGE gardening differences. Very good, introspective, information.
Amazed how things change. My Dad was a composter before it was cool and every year, he would spread compost in December and my job in April was to use a shovel and go down 7 inches and turn it under.
To mix it into the soil, break up any clay clods, introduce oxygen for aerobic bacteria and lastly, bring up trace minerals in lower soil for plant availability - or so he said.
It was a backbreaker, always dreamed of a tiller.
I do no till for the worms.... They are my buddies...the thought of blending them up makes me sad...
That is awesome. I do it for my frogs (and worms too!)
Yes! The abundance of earth worms when you don't till and when you cover the soil is off the charts! So awesome to have so many of those little dudes working for you ☺
Great video! I love what Gardener Scott says about weeds - "Weeds Happen".
Great video as usual. Keep them coming brother.
Hi Josh. For 2020, I implemented your system from A TRELLIS TO MAKE YOU JEALOUS. It is terrific!
Earlier this year, my husband and I had some projects completed on our property. All seven men doing the work ended up photographing my garden to copy your trellis system.
This is my fourth year of "no till" on 5300 sq ft of garden space. By December, the plants are dead and my garden is done. Add compost and wood chips over the top, smooth it out with a rake, hose it down, then cover with tarps. By early April, an area gets uncovered for the cool-weather crops. By mid May, the rest of the garden gets uncovered to plant everything else. Using "no till", compost, and tarps, results in the weed pressure being very low.
Sounds like you have your system dialed in. Sounds great!
Your trellis system was a game-changer! Thanks!
Thank you for making videos. I plan to get into farming.
Really good video! This was the first year we didn’t do a heavy mulch mostly due to time constraints, and the weeds were so overwhelming that we literally mowed it and gave up for the year. We’ve decided that even if it means we need to hire someone to help us get our garden mulched and ready for the year, it’s well worth the investment.
Being "super dogmatic" about anything kills flexibility and the ability to improvise which usually bites one in the butt sooner or later. Thanks Josh!
nice garden, the overhead views are great
You have a very nice looking farm. I'm an American living in Thailand and I am getting ready to build a house and farm on 4 acres. For the past hundred or so years they have grown rice on it like everyone else has. They do run a tractor over it every year or so and have a disk behind it and only till up the top 0ne or two feet but with using flood Irrigation it puts enough pressure on it that it becomes as hard as a rock.
I have been watching people like you that don't want to till your soil and I get it but I feel I would have to do something at least the first year just to get it so I can put some type of good soil on top of it.
Back when I got my degree in Agricultural Engineering we were geared to farming thousands of acres at a time. So we had the biggest equipment we could find. I have an old classmate that farm's 14,000 acres of alfalfa and works 9 months out of the year in the fields. The next 3 months he let's the mechanics tear down all the equipment and rebuild it. He goes to Mexico and relaxes. Lol
The soil on this 4 acres is pretty much depleted of nutrients and they have to fertilizer the hell out of it and they are planting GMO rice every year. I only hope I can bring this soil back to life without to much work.
Your kind of farming I have never done before so I will be asking a lot of questions in the future.
Great video! I no-till my garden and it’s awesome!
I have 3 gardens, all about 500 sq ft. I didn't till them for 6 years. One day I decided, I have to have a test case or my lack of weeds isn't valid. So I tilled up one of the three gardens. HOLY COW did it turn up buried weed seed. IT was a cover crop of weeds! At that time I was also buying used tillers, fixing them and reselling them. I put them all up for sale.
A lot of people say but what about a new plot? Well if we are talking less than 1000 sq ft or maybe bigger, just lay cardboard over the grass and weeds, then pull them up. Best to pull them as it disturbs the soil microbes less than hoeing them up.
But you say, I've got 1/4 acre planted, which isn't rare for an rural gardener. To break it up the first time find a local with a tractor and discs. Discs don't disturb the soil like a tiller. I did that once years ago, living very rural. I disced the area once a week for about 3 weeks and then planted. Never disced again.
Great video Josh, love the intro and the exit!
Thank you!
It almost sounded like you were rapping when asking 'is this no-till?' with the background music 😆
I like your approach. No dogmatisms.
Keep on, keeping on.
Whats good Josh?
Nice video keep crushing it
Its all in the soil...minerals are the key to flavor!
Been og since 2002 , top dressing , compost teas, compost homemade
Balance is key and not easy to achieve!
Layers like the forest floor is where its at ! We can mimic mother nature but never replace her! The Soil web is fascinating!
Thanks a lot brosky. You have cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had about "No till" farming
I feel ya on no till! We are on our second year of a square by square hybrid no till garden. We had to till one time and then once we had our garden formed we stopped tilling. Just completed our first video on it actually. We still till a large other area as we are expanding slowly and by far the no till beats the tilled garden in product quality and with NO synthetic chemicals. High fives for no till! :)
I've been using your ideas to plant a landscape. I was reminded how using cardboard under mulch or compost can smother weeds/grass/vines. I got inspired to buy a Treadlite broad fork and it is so much physically easier for me, a 60 yr old woman, to prepare my garden and to loosen soil for planting shrubs and flowers. I use straw to mulch longer growing veggies and it also cuts down the weed pressure. I keep straw on my garden all year long and have almost no weeds. I see people have problems with voles and other critters. My cats have lowered my critter pressure. I think the other point you make is that total elimination of weeds/pests/critters is not possible but it can be minimized. Keep learning and keep teaching.
I love no-till and everything about it. Also as you said Josh, it is all about the soil. If we have good soil we will have good plants and good healthy food, which is what is is all about !!!
I misspoke during your live session about your beans. I believe I asked how your progress bush beans did. Pretty sure I meant the provider bush beans. I had seen a video of yours where the "unnamed beans" had been encroached by other garden plants. Anyhow, I wasn't sure how they turned out and really was curious how the beans faired. Btw, your farm looks amazing! You have some really great strategies and helping hands. Cheers!
Appreciate your orientation to gardening
To till or not to till your attitude is positive and your crop is good enjoy your input and videos thanks!
I just prepped my beds for the season……nothing beats just layering more compost on top and getting down to business. Garden is so clean and tidy and like you I was noticing how black and alive my soil was as soon as I rehydrated it. It’s just an awesome way to grow. I’m never going back.
Thank you for getting the message out that good food is possible and to not get caught up in the hype of are you doing it right if the land is fertile and the food is good and clean your doing it right heal the land thanks for your part
I have only started back into gardening for the past three years and it is no till all the way for me. I did till and amend the soil when I first started as the soil was rock hard clay but since then I just spread about 4 inches of compost at the start of my spring garden and plant directly into it. I don't find I need to rotate my crops either and I multi - crop which makes planning even easier and seems to keep most pests at bay. The bane of my existence is powdery mildew as I garden in the sub-tropics in Brisbane, Australia but apart from that everything is running smoothly. Charles Dowding is my hero and mentor.
This is the type of farm/garden I plan to establish. Thank you for sharing!
Im glad ive come accross this method it saved my Back
Been gardening on clay soil in the high desert. Every year I battle with bindweed, a very invasive vine which goes dormant in winter and in spring pops up everywhere. I will study it in my "experimental" zone. I am determined to go No Till. Makes so much sense.
I would recommend no till with some initial broadforking or light tilling at the beginning to break up that clay
Thanks so much for sharing your farm and your experiences.
Been watching gardening/ farming videos for a couple yrs now and somehow just discovered ya. You have the best descriptions and videos! Thanks for the inspiration! Hoping to get a cat. tunnel for growing in frigid Wyoming!
Taking your hands though the upper layer is till but it's good for 'no dig' gardens😃
Your farm is really looking great! I remembered seeing the video when you and friends were preparing the lot for farming, wow it's fantastic now. Great job!
Great episode
Thank you!
Thanks again for another educational video.
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
This is a spot on description of the no till or no dig method of growing food. Thanks.
I use it on my allotment in north east Scotland and it’s brilliant. You do need to sensible and adapt it when you need to.
Weeds don't stress me, because we have been lied to. They are food and medicine.
Howdy! TH-cam recommended your channel and here I am. Good content man, we're transitioning to a "no-till" method ourselves. Thanks for sharing looking forward to watching more of your stuff. Subbing ya now! -Josh
I think your right stick to the 3 main concepts and you can’t go wrong
100% agree on the no till practice. My weed pressure is very minimal. It took a few seasons to get our garden to its current scale which is just a 1/4 acre but I plan on expanding. We are also using well water which I prefer. City water kills soil structure unless you filter it properly. Cheers
I learned so much from you, I also follow 3 other market growers on you tube. I ask myself what are they doing and can I use the same techniques to achieve success and the answer is yes. Take care my friend.
I think if you avoid plowing and only disturb the soil as much as needed to grow your crops it is no till.
great video thanks
Great content really informative keep it up. Great to see you have not been wearing the sunnies. I like the way you present you're good at getting your message across👍🏻
Good video Josh! My two cents worth follows. The Earth - Mother Gaia - is a "soil farmer" FIRST. The one lesson I've learned after 60+ years of growing is I can never have enough biologically active compost [humus] because the soil's microbiome determines soil fertility. The soil's microbiome feeds off of humus, makes humic acid, of which, about 70% is fulvic acid minerals - it's those fulvic acid minerals that plants need to grow - do the research. I agree with Josh's findings, the more biologically active the soil, the better the biomass taste - refer to previous sentence. I think there's a direct corollary between flavor profile and nutrient density. About this 'no-till movement' - it's like how the organic movement began - everyone clamoring to be the voice of authority. And frankly, given the current state of the environmental air and water quality, I don't know how anyone can claim the word 'organic' if growing in said environment - research on how pernicious glyphosate is in air and water. About weed pressure...what I observed on more then one occasion is, when pulled, I find earthworms in or near the roots...huummm. Lastly, learn how to keep the soils microbiome the happy campers and they'll do the growing for you. Stay safe - be well.
I can watch your videos for hours
Thanks you Josh for this.
I grew up with the notion that the invention of the plow was maybe as important for mankind as the invention of the wheel or leading how to use fire.
Your differentiated view and pragmatic approach is refreshing in a time of sound bites and click baits. Thank you.
Wow. Haven't been here since the first few videos. You've done an amazing job!
Great opening of dialog. In my opinion No Till is one grain method, heavy broad casting and leaving debris. I am Know Till, I know when and how to till. I always build up, applying compost and fertilizer on top, mixing it with a stihl cultivator, raking, sometimes putting a fully composted mulch on top of that as a cap.
The only time I deep till is in the beginning, mix the soil, exfoliating weed seeds, broad fork, add compost, deep till the compost down deep and do 2-3 solar tarp sessions to then move into a know till, permanent bed system.
The argument for/against no-till is similar to that of 'what does organic mean'
Do what works for you
I agree. What amuses me:
If a plant get sick or attacked by pests, you are not allowed to use chemicals (although the use thereof may cure the plant).
If the person who planted the plant get sick, he don't hesitate to use pills (chemicals), or narcotics to dull pain.
@@jors800 Lmao. You're painting with a broad brush and getting most of it on yourself. Strong generalization.
I grow a big yard garden every year and continue to till my soil and fertilize at that time with high nitrogen for root and foliage growth and generally once again with potassium and phosphorus and maybe calcium nitrate for some plants. Our yield is always healthy. I enjoy working the garden and being out there daily to keep an eye on things. It keeps animals from visiting and I know as soon as a pest problem or what have you arises. To each his own. I tried the No till approach for about 3 years with a smaller garden many years ago and saw no real benefit except for less need to weed. The soil did improve by the 3rd year but proper fertilizing/watering and crop rotation works well also. If I wanted a weed free garden I’d simply use a weed mat.
No till for 5 years now. Welcome to the new farm world. NewSouth Farms.👍🍍
Confirms my belief. I read about this a few years ago, and I’ve never tilled. I have a small garden, a few raised beds. I rarely have weeds, only first in the spring, they get pulled. Never any all summer long. Love it, as I’m sure the worms appreciate not being ground up!
In the spring we broadcast radish seeds into areas of the yard and just scratched them in lightly. When harvesting the radishes from the sunniest spot where they grew the best, it turned out there was a brick patio under a half inch to a quarter inch of soil, I put it there many years ago and forgot how far it extended. Anyway, the radishes were just fine growing in between the bricks, although there were a few lines on them. Usually we set up new spots by making a deep narrow trench and fill it with organic matter, and the dirt from the trench makes a nice slightly raised garden bed, but we don't dig again unless it gets completely taken over by the lawn. We barely even put down the lightest mulch, as the growing plants themselves shade the soil in the garden bed, and by the time they are done growing, there is plenty of organic matter to cover it if needed.
El mejor video que he visto. Muchas gracias por compartir.
America is the land of reductionism. I have been gardening for 50 years, and am just recently trying no dig. I've already learned that because I have such heavy clay soil, I either have to use a broadfork or a small tiller initially. After that, with organic amendments and other good soil practices, I shouldn't have to till after that first season. I think it's different for everybody, as you said, depending on the soil. Thanks for sharing your ideas and realizing there is no one perfect way.
Same here i have heavy clay soil. My pilot with growing two layers of potatoes no dig methode by adding mulch and compost on the second potato layer is a great success. It saves lots of money and work.
Hi Josh. I wonder if there is a way to kick-start no-till with deep soil from dirt and compost in one pass. Normally it takes a few years to build deep soil by adding compost as a top dress each year, often combined with broad-forking. Also the main part of the compost layer disappears within a year. 4 years ago I started my 16 inch high raised beds with a mix of 60 percent dirt and 40 percent compost. Did amend the soil with next to nothing the following years, also no forking. Whenever possible I left as much as possible of the roots in the soil and avoided pulling. Made 3 observations: the soil level did not drop, productivity of the fava beans was double the amount in year 4 compared to the first year, and the soil did not compact. My only explanation is that the roots replaced the spaces left by the decaying compost in combination with the ecology going on in the soil.
Some notes: my dirt is very fine, wind deposited sand, sifted compost contains decaying wood with a size up to 0.1 inch, if rain lacks, after transplanting or germination, subsoil watering is applied in order to reduce evaporation and weed pressure.
I have no clue if this approach would work on hard clay dirt, I'm curious if you have observed it somewhere. It could save a lot of work broadforking, but requires more work and compost to start. Totally off-topic: I think most commercial available compost is high speed processed for max volume, and killing weed seeds and pathogens, not for max fertility or soil building. It lacks mostly the vermi-compost stage. My once a year compost heap flip, surprises me every year with the huge amount of worms munching in there.
Stay safe, best wishes, greetings from Holland.
I think the only way to "kick start" a plot on clay (specifically because of compaction, but same general rule applies to most other soils) would be to start the plot in the fall and plant a deep rooting cover crop like rye into the compost layer (possibly with some N source added) then either flail mow or crimp, then tarp or add a thick layer of compost over top to plant directly into. On more sandy soils a blend of rye with leguminous crops like vetch or clover that have a variety of rooting depths and N fixing capabilities could also be a good solution to add some fertility as well. Could also be good to consider a winter kill blend like buckwheat or oats and radish for ease of spring planting while still handling compaction and adding N. Starting from bare earth I can't imagine another way to quickly add organic matter and nutrients into the soil.
@@danielhorst4459 I think the big question is, allows the no-dig concept doing the prepping of the soil doing deep digging and incorporating a lot of compost at the same time as part of the initial landscaping? I see a lot of backyard/urban/market farmers struggling with turning their native hard compacted clay into productive black soil, just by working the surface and using the broadfork.
@@earlshine453 The less disturbance methods seem only to work best on less compacted soils with some level of organic matter and microbial life already established. Yes I think with heavily compacted clay with little organic matter, tarping and then initial tillage or double digging with compost application is an appropriate solution, often there is no other way on degraded urban soils. This is the method of urban farmers like Curtis Stone, although he doesn't claim to be no-till by any means. But this will inevitably create weed pressure especially with any perennial species, it is important to pull out as much of the rhizomes as possible. I think in most cases shallowly incorporating the compost into the first 2-4 inches after initial tilling, and then adding more compost regularly is better to reduce the initial weed pressure. If incorporating organic matter deeper into the soil profile, tarping or flame weeding, then cover cropping is an effective way to choke out the weeds that do germinate.
@@danielhorst4459 Anecdotal: it takes time to absorb new ways of gardening. It took me 3 years to convince my wife to apply chop and drop and mulching in her ornamental garden with mostly perennials on bare dusty sandy soil. She got tired of the weed pressure and the high water bills caused by overhead watering. Her only complaint: the birds are displacing her mulch. So I run the tiny woodchipper for some time and hand over a basket with more mulch. She even started testing a drip line on the driest parts in het garden.
It’s a win-win! And was great way to ♻️ cardboard! I layer newspaper, compost & dried grass clippings on top of my cardboard. This method has provided me w wonderful rich soil w a lot of worms. 🐛
Your videos continue to inspire . I will be attempting what Steve here dubbed "Low-Till", next year on my new farm. My wife and I are closing on our new place soon.. I will have an acre and a half to begin preparing once we finish the move.
I think the most important distinction of the methods you described: chickens, broad fork, tilter. Are all generally less invasive and less damaging than a tractor or roto-tiller. and while they might not be 100% no till, I would call them low-till for those who are insistent about vocabulary. Especially if just used once when creating a bed for the first time. Masanobu Fukuoka the one largely responsible for the no-till movement has used low-till methods like chickens, hand tools etc.
no chickens, mate. go vegan
@@Vscustomprinting No.
@@kevlar1482 so you want more unnecessary pandemics?
What a stooge
I live 26 miles west of San Antonio, TX.
We have Houston black clay soil. We are also in semi arid climate. No till works here but if you are starting out with Virgin soil here, you have to root plow deep (2 ft), then plow again, then disc, then you dump a crap load of compost down, till the he'll out of it, till it some more, then throw more compost on top, and then a foot or two layer of triple ground native hardwood wood chips, and if it does not rain a few inches, ya better have a means to irrigate it. I did 3 acres like this and I still have until fall to wait before I start planting. I did one acre this way 4 years ago and all that I have to do is keep laying this one acre year after year and I do so with leaves now. What was once hard pan clay is not 18 inches of black, fungul compost and soil mix and I can dig down to the depth easily by hand.
In hard pan clay soils, no till works AFTER working the soil really heavy the first time. In sandy country and medium to light loam, no till works just fine. The plow, the disc, and the tiller in necessary when starting out in any hard pan clay soil.
I agree 100% with you. Thank you for this wonderful video!🙏
I've been doing no till and mulching with straw for 4 years, and I wouldn't do it any other way. Had My soil tested for nutrients last year, and every one of them were off the charts, and that's without adding compost/amendments last year. Going to try to get my with no compost again next year. Hoping all still goes well.
I’m just agreeing with the positive comments. The simple take away, farm soil and the plants will be healthier, taste better and be more nutrient dense. Just build soil via organic matter, compost and compost tea, plus the root exudates of living plants, let the biology do its thing. Love the no nonsense delivery, super succinct 👌👏👍🥦😎
Well said. Well rounded, productive, positive, logical and solution based perspective. Just found you on this here interwebz. Really diggin' your videos and overall attitude/thought process so far. cheers man.
For me, No-till = little soil disturbance + home made compost.
Except making compost at home isn't viable at most scales, and there is no reason a buisness can't make decent compost, if they have incentive to do so correctly.
Ae Norist - True. Commercial operations need to find trusted sources, which is a real challenge if you are looking for true organic compost. My garden is small vs the available compost on the property, so it’s not a problem for me.
My chickens are in their glory scratching up the finished corn field, squash and melon beds. First year on this land very rocky soil. We tilled it before I heard of no till. They I heard about Ruth Stout thick hay mulched potatoes. Read up on permanent mulched beds and I’m a total convert. My garden was fantastic. Wore me out with the harvesting and preserving. A few people were dubious about growing potatoes with digging but witnessed the harvest and were convinced.
Adding two truly no till beds via thick hay mulch and compost this fall.
Will convert my husband eventually. He still insists on tilling “his” part of the garden. Lol.
Ae Norist one way to make your own compost at home is to compost via heavy hay, straw, leaves, grass clippings mulched right on your beds year round.
@@bonniek753 Good luck converting your husband. Boys and their toys. Haha. It was hard for me to sell our small tractor, but I didn't really need it. Don't regret it now.
We did no till for a year on our farm, after we started tilling again(but still adding our compost, fertilizers, and mushroom substrates, our yields more than doubled if not tripled and disease and bug control was far better. We are on Maui in Hawaii with heavy clay soil so I understand no till can work great on sandy or silty soil, but our clay soils seem to do better with lots of oxygen from till and compost and fert which makes our biological systems regroup so fast as well as our climate.
How do you fight blight IF it attacks?
I till the plant row with a grass walkway in between each row !
Hi Josh, Thanks for excellent videos with wealth of great knowledge. System looks great - rational and efficient, while growing quality produce..
How/where may one get enough compost, or enough waste to make one's own compost, to be able to convert a couple of acres to this system?
I'm looking at converting to growing like this, but not sure how to get enough compost to be able to do so successfully. TIA for your help.
If you have rocky, gravel and rock like clay you need to amend ,
I don't have a broad fork but believe I will build one because I have black Smith skills now and don't want to spend $200 for a experiment as I've never had a chance to use.
No tilt cost a big investment in compose.
I'm working towards a no tilt but to many rocks today.
Thanks good teaching Sir
Just finding you and glad I have. Maybe this question is answered in a video I ha emt found yet, But... I have been raised bed gardening for several years. It is time to make new beds as mine are deteriorating. We have gone back and forth on what type of beds to build Or materials to make them from. Super interested in your method but don't have the chicken population or time to work the ground. Any help or advice would be SUPER appreciated.
"No til" is wonderful where you don't have voles. Voles see mulch as a vole hotel with food all around them. I have voles and when they hear the tiller rev up they run for the hills. The closest I can get to "no til" is tarping. I like it and use it whenever I can.
Voles and mulch
The destruction is never ending:
mature fruit trees, large blueberry plants, raspberry beds ...things t bgg at need the mulch to do well become
'Is THIS no-till?" - well I don't think anybody would argue that landscape cloth is no-till - they don't turn any dirt. I'm POSITIVE you can find people that'll say that Jang seeder or pulling a plant is tilling. That chicken ... Omg, how many takes did you have to shoot to get that right! I LOVE that! I also use my chickens to prep ground. Well I did before a fox killed the vast majority of them :/
Here in Western Pennsylvania we have acidic soils which require liming. Calcium really needs to be mixed into the soil... applying on top is not so effective because will not disolve and soak into soil like processed fertilizers do .... So I till to mix in lime every 5-6 years.
Put it on the surface and then cover it with compost. Plant into the compost.
The worms will incorporate it throughout the soil in no time. No weeds, no work.
Awesome photo in the Thumbnail.