# Has anyone tried no till vegetable gardening?



## Retiredontheriver (12 mo ago)

Every year I till my entire garden, plant, and spend the rest of the summer pulling weeds. So last fall I completely mulched my garden with straw. So far I have few weeds coming through the straw and I am digging the holes to plant without tilling. I am also starting my seeds in the house and transplanting when they have established roots. ( I put the seeds in wet paper towel) I am planning on doing this on my corn and beans also. It takes a little more work to get the plants in the ground but I hope that I will not have as many weeds. I did till for my spinach and I have weeds already in with the spinach.


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## Lightfoot (Feb 18, 2018)

I like that idea. I planted winter rye in my garden last fall but it did not work out, probably a tweety bird buffet. I hit the entire area with glyphosphate a few days ago and plan to skip the tiller this year.


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## Lumberman (Sep 27, 2010)

I didn’t till mine this year either for the first time. I have a 1/2 acre garden that I’ve been working on the soil for a few years. 

I sprayed it with glyphosate early this year and mulched the whole thing with straw.

We will see how it goes. 

I’m hoping it will be less weedy and hold moisture better.


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## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)

When I was a kid on the farm, we had huge garden. More often than not it was not all used, and my dad would seed the unused part quite heavily with buckwheat. He said the dense shade kept weeds from coming in, and there certainly seemed to be less weeks for us kids to pull when it planted later on. It also attracted a lot of bees which I am sure helped in the pollination of the cukes, tomatoes, pumpkins and squash. FM


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## MichiFishy (Sep 17, 2019)

Growing up we tilled ours every year. When I bought my own place I tried the no till with mulch method, works really well for me. If you keep up on the weeds the first couple years, you will have less and less every year. Early spring I rake all the old mulch onto my pathways, spread compost and encourage the chickens to work the area over. After everything has sprouted to a few inches high I spread mulch. Do my best not to walk off pathways especially after a rain, soil has great aeration even though it has been 6 years since it has been tilled. After harvest is over I leave the gate open and encourage the chickens to work the area again. 

I've had good luck catching the tree crews clearing roadsides for free mulch, just have them dump a truck out by the garden. Few pics of my garden this year, getting ready to spread mulch next weekend.


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## Retiredontheriver (12 mo ago)

MichiFishy said:


> Growing up we tilled ours every year. When I bought my own place I tried the no till with mulch method, works really well for me. If you keep up on the weeds the first couple years, you will have less and less every year. Early spring I rake all the old mulch onto my pathways, spread compost and encourage the chickens to work the area over. After everything has sprouted to a few inches high I spread mulch. Do my best not to walk off pathways especially after a rain, soil has great aeration even though it has been 6 years since it has been tilled. After harvest is over I leave the gate open and encourage the chickens to work the area again.
> 
> I've had good luck catching the tree crews clearing roadsides for free mulch, just have them dump a truck out by the garden. Few pics of my garden this year, getting ready to spread mulch next weekend.
> 
> ...


This is my first year trying this. I'm glad to know that it works. Thanks.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Haven't tried it but I'd say success probably depends on soil properties. If it is pretty compact it's not good for roots. If it's a naturally loose, well draining soil, it seems like it would be just fine.


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## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

Take and mulch around your plants to stop the weeds. I won't use the chips from the trree service for this as there are a lot of nasty stuff in them that you don't want started but for walkways probly be OK. I have planted potato in clean wood shaving with out putting them in the ground with very good luck. You do not need a fork to dig them and they come out nice and clean. Most will be in the pile of wood chips


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## Retiredontheriver (12 mo ago)

Here are some pictures9










































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## cwk33041 (Dec 30, 2013)

I did a bit of reading this year and decided to go the no till route. What I read was that tilling actually germinates the weed seeds and makes it worse. What I did in addition was to place a layer of cardboard then a few inches of compost on top of that. I have a relatively small garden though. Been three weeks and not a single weed. I also notice my moisture retention is much better and I have more worms then ever.


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## grapestomper (Jan 9, 2012)

I sprayed mine this weekend and am going to try it this year. 
I usually till mine. Just brings the weed seeds up. 
Can't hurt to try.


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## Hear fishy fishy (Feb 9, 2013)

I have been doing no till garden for 3 years. I seem to get better results each year. My plants have done well all year. I am not sure if it’s the growing year or not but also have good yields and stuff still producing. Although stuff really starting to slow down with cooler temps. I have started seeds and grown plants and purchased plants. I tend to get a little better results growing tomatoes from seeds and purchasing pepper plants.


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