SOME NO-TILL GARDENING

By Partnership Employees

Here’s Cathryn Flint(the bunny rabbit)

• Checking out the small grain/clover winter cover crop of daddy-rabbit, Matt

• Then, an April scene of the garden

• No-till for the past 3 years

• Cover was “rolled down”. A “slam dunk”

• Great weed control, no crusting, no runoff !

• Cover grew more for later plantings of melons and eggplant

CHARLES WALLACE, SCT, retired long, long ago, Lincoln Co.

• Good variety of vegetables

• Looks like no weeds to pull ! !

• Note the close-up of lettuce—bet he doesn’t need to wash off any sand !

• Thanks to Elton Barbour for these pictures.

LLOYD PHILLIPSDavidson County

• Small grain for mulch, copious amounts

• Cucumber, pepper surrounded by protective ground cover

• Bet the SCI is pretty good here!

• He prepared a “how to” on no-till gardening for his clients.

BRIAN WOODCherokee County

• Uses rye/crimson clover for cover crop

• Rakes cover back, makes small furrow with hoe

• Applies lime, fertilizer at planting

• Note that he has cool-season crops, too.

• Goes bear hunting with a switch!

ROY MATHISWilkes County

• Lots of different vegetables

• Uses leaves for ground cover

• Threw in a conventional till slide for contrast—note cloddy condition

• Cites many advantages of no-till

• Being a soil scientist on the soil quality team, could not resist digging to show the contrast!

MARK and KAYLA HUDSONJackson, Swain Counties

• A little different approach - -• Grass clippings and recycled, shredded paper

for ground cover—looks like it works just fine, huh?

• No-tilled for about 6 years• No weeding needed-no herbicides used• See contrast soil profiles, ten feet apart. Left,

garden- right, lawn of 18 years!• Then, note the earthworms. Several people

noted earthworm populations moved in !

MIKE HINTONState Office

• Big variety of vegetables, including sweet potatoes—second slide following this

• Good-looking ground cover of rye—actually, all who use a cover crop have gotten the word—let it get big enough before you zap it !

• That’s his basket of goodies in the title slide. Good job! (Maybe he’ll bring in a watermelon one day.)

Talk about convenient ! !

Finally, your Agronomist

• Irish potato and triticale mature together-no burndown needed

• 2nd slide, about 13 years ago—then, deer got peas, butterbeans, and watermelon—raccoons got the corn, so he said @#$%^&* with it !!

• 3rd slide is slice of Cecil SL, after 20 years no-till and annual additions of about 5,000 lbs/ac biomass.

• Last photo—Proper use of disc !

A BIG THANK YOU - -

• To these who took time to share their pictures and information.

• No doubt there are others who are doing just as well, but are spending their saved time at the lake instead of taking pictures, and,

• Maybe others of you would like to give it a try—I’ll bet these good folks would share their knowledge.