No-Till Guerrilla?

[DuskrayTroubador]

I posed the question a couple years ago and remember all of the responses being pro-tilling.

Have any guerrillas here tried and had success with no-till?

 

[f-e]

Yes. There are many variables at play though. If you soil sample and dress the ground for the rains to take it in, then there is little need to disturb it. If it's good ground.

 

[40degsouth]

Hey everyone,
I’m dealing with heavy clay or pure sand soils so l like to initially till in as much organic matter as I can and then just top dress. I seek out spots that others would never think to look for a grow.
Cheers,
40.

 

[f-e]

Both the extremes 40degsouth
Heavy clay often contains a lot of stuff at a good level, but can equally have something missing almost entirely. I have an ancient reed bed turned to meadow in a clay valley floor. I have high Mg and Ca, with reasonable K but no P. Well... under 10ppm. I want 50 to 100 really. I just take P and some N along. Broadcast spread it, with a few weeks rain left before season. Then it's taken upto 6" deep. Hopefully the winters rains have closed up any cracks, and it should soak in the surface nicely. I have turned clay, but the first rain has it back in the hole, more compact than ever.

I was looking at some diary pics of another site, year on year. I can clearly see years when I turned in compost and blood/fish/bone mixes. Then when I soil sampled and took up about 5kg of the right stuff and just spread it at the right time. It's loads better balancing the soil properly, than spending time tilling it. Though you could do both. I just do a small bit of tilling, immediately around the plant site. I may use a hand full of compost. Just getting the new plants roots, a definate connection to the ground. Sometimes clay comes out in slices when you dig. You need to use your foot to get each one off your spade. Having failed to do anything with a fork, except gouge a few lines. At these times, with dry weather ahead, It becomes like planting in a bucket of bricks. You have to use a bit of compost, just to make a connection to undisturbed ground. These are extreme times, but can be avoided. Just dress the ground at the right time, and let the weather help. Do soil sample though, or you could be carrying in fertiliser that isn't needed, and could be increasing toxicity of specific elements, if already abundant. It's almost certain.

You could spend less on the analytics and amendments, than the sacks of compost many of us carry in for days.

Sand is new to me. That is carry time. Lots of bio matter. Sand holds so little. You have to feed regularly, while slowing building the soil with bags n bags of organic matter. Thankfully I don't have sand to deal with. There is no plant it and forget it option, as you can't get a seasons worth of ferts in the ground. So there is a lot of attention needed.

I have a soil site that could be bagged and sold as peat based compost. I don't want to turn that. It's just lovely. I can't expect to make it better. It's top-dress only. For planting, you just dig a hole with your hand. I'm not buggering that up.