Allan, you've seen my farm and Steve I believe may have seen some slides of
it. I think it is a BIG mistake to use a five foot wide tiller or a tractor
that rips up the soil behind the tractor wheels. There are several reasons
why I farm in beds with permanent sod (walking and driving strips) in
between.
For several years I used a subsoiler, a spring tooth harrow (chisel) with
the outer feet removed and a 40 inch tiller. That was lots of work changing
implements and making numerous passes over the beds. Then I got a 40 inch
wide spading machine that did the work of all three implements and did it
better. I'd buy another spader any day, but I'd keep it small enough to
spade only the bed between the tire tracks and never the sod strips.
For starters let's talk about ether or organizational energy, or if you
prefer, orgone accumulation. Bare soil gives off energy. A vegetative cover
draws it in. If you looked at nighttime in
frared you would see the freshly
tilled surfaces give off more energy than the sod strips. You simply lose
more energy if you cultivate everything. Plus organization arises at
boundaries. The boundaries created with a bed/path system are far, far
greater than a clean cultivated field with vegetation only at the outer
boundaries. Cultivating the beds works air into the soil and this stimulates
the grasses and clovers growing in the paths. Mowing the paths feeds the
beds and keeps earthworm populations high. In fact, if you clean cultivate
you tend to kill a lot more earthworms as they have nowhere to go to hide
and recuperate like they do when they can hide out in permanent tunnels in
the paths and you simply don't dig up as many of them in the first place.
In wet weather cultivation is MUCH easier. There is little compaction in the
paths the tractor rides down, and the beds, which are never driven on, are
NEVER compacted. Thus they
drain quite well. In 1989 we had at least a
shower on every day from the beginning of June to the end of August. In June
we got 24 inches, in July 18 inches and in August 22 inches. I would wait
until the afternoon after the previous day's shower and cultivate and plant
corn, beans, squash, etc. just before that afternoon's rain and I had the
most productive market garden up till that time. I kept my planting schedule
up despite all the rain and planted nearly every week, never had puddles in
my fields, etc.
On picking days out in the rain with rubber boots I walked on vegetative
paths and never came in with mud on my boots. It was difficult keeping up
with mowing the paths, but with a rear bagging mower and feeding the
clippings to the cow there was a good incentive to do an hour or so's mowing
every day. But basically I could market garden without mud no matter the
rain. And when things are dry the paths conserved moisture and kept
the soil
and garden cooler because a lot of the sunshine was absorbed and not
re-radiated.
Then there is erosion. When I came to it my farm was ruined by erosion. I
had to fix all the deep gullies and shallow soils. And old, dying apple tree
was two feet higher than the surrounding slope and had the only decent
topsoil around it. I've had floods where the creek got out and swept across
my beds. I caught as much soil as I lost, which hadn't been the case with
previous floods which had cut the deep gullies originally. There's no doubt
that after years of beds and paths I've gained topsoil and the low spots
have filled in. After a 4 or 5 inch rain the creek water is turbulent, but
not muddy. Dust undoubtedly filters out of the sky but it no longer goes
down the creek. I've reversed erosion.
Beds and paths lowered my need for compost. I figured I had pound for pound
as much earthworm flesh on my farm as I had cow flesh, and the e
arthworms
were far less trouble while the cow compost went a lot farther. I companion
cropped soybeans down the middles of my corn beds so the earthworms would
have a more balanced diet. Good heavens the vegetation was heavy and corn
became my best soil building crop! Of course picking and driving a wheel
barrow along the grassy strips was the most convenient things about it, but
I think the fertility issues and moisture management were the most
indispensable.
I've known three other market gardeners who farmed like this with beds and
paths. Both figured they had invented this method, and they had. They just
weren't the only ones. I originally copied my bed and path system from one
of them (John Gallerie, who was more like Bruce Blevins as he worked a good
sized garden with only hand tools) and adapted it to tractors and
implements. (I'm with Bruce on the idea of keeping a tractor out of the
garden, though for me that means keepi
ng it on the paths. Anyway I couldn't
keep up with 6 acres of hand cultivated beds.) All of us swear by it and
would never go back to clean cultivation. But few if any other farmers seem
to pick up on it. Of course, with many clean cultivation was good enough for
their pappy and their grandpappy so its good enough for them, by cracky! New
fangled idears are just a flash in the pan, here today gone tomorrow--or so
they think. Ah, well. I would never advise clean cultivation if there is any
alternative available. The advantages are too good. There's not much more I
can say. I show people and talk about the advantages and mostly it seems to
go in one ear and out the other. They have this picture of clean cultivated
fields and they go out and buy machinery and implements that bring on loss
of energy, fertility, erosion, compaction, mud, kill earthworms, etc. just
the same as if they had never seen my 40 wide spader and light tractor,
light p
ickup truck (which also straddles the beds when hauling lime or
compost) and lawnmower friendly beds. So it goes.
Best,
Hugh