No-Till Gardening

A Mulch System for Growing Just

About Everything
NOFA-VT Winter Conference 2009

Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D.

Vegetable and Fruit TA Advisor
Northeast Organic Farming Association of
Vermont

www.nofavt.org
 Today’s Session
• No-Till Gardening
– Straw Mulched Systems
– Pebble Mulched Systems
– Bark Mulched Systems
• Cover Crops
– How the can fit into a no-till gardening system.
 Tools
Needed

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No-Till Gardening: Using
Straw Mulch

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 No-Till Gardening: Straw Mulch
Clear Off Mulch
For Direct Seeded
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Warm Season
Crops Until They
Germinate

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No-Till Gardening: Straw Mulch

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Direct Seeded Cool

Season Crops Only
Need a Furrow

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 No-Till Gardening: Straw Mulch

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Direct Seeded Crops and

Sets Require A Thinner
Layer of Mulch
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No-Till Gardening: Straw Mulch
Cool Season
Transplants Can
be Mulched
Immediately
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No-Till Gardening: Straw Mulch
Warm Season
Transplants Should
be Mulched Before
the First Rain To
Prevent Soil Splash
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No-Till Gardening: Straw Mulch
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Perennial Plants Can

be Kept in Mulch
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No-Till Gardening: Using
Pebble Mulch

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Cranberries in Pebble Mulch

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 No-Till Gardening: Using
Pebble Mulch

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 No-Till Gardening: Using
Bark Mulch for Ornamentals

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Flowers: Bark Mulch

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 Orchard Crops: Bark Mulch
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Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening?

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 Cover Crops Qualities for No-Till
Gardening
• Cover Crops Uses
– Cover crops, green manures, and catch crops
• Some Types
– Legumes: clovers, field peas, vetch, etc.
– Grasses: winter rye, oats, annual rye, etc
– Others: buckwheat, mustards, sorghum-sudangrass
• Winter Survival
– Winter-killed: buckwheat, oats, sorghum-sudangrass
– Should winter-kill: annual rye
– Survives winter: winter rye, perennial ryegrass, hairy vetch,
white clover, winter wheat
• Will Re-grow after Cutting
– Can be cut repeatedly: annual rye, rye, vetch
– Can be cut at some stages: oats, buckwheat,
 Cover Crop Seeds
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Annual Ryegrass

Winter Rye-Vetch Mix

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Survives Winter
Oats

Buckwheat

Should NOT Survive Winter

 Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening
Serial planting after onions

Oats

Buckwheat WSH

Annual Ryegrass Rye-Vetch

 Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening

Rye-Vetch Annual Ryegrass WSH

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Biomass Production
Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening

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Buckwheat and Oats Biomass—Past Cutting

Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening

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Before and
After Cutting

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Cover Crops in No-Till Gardening
Final Cutting
Rye-Vetch

Buckwheat

Oats

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Annual Ryegrass
 Harvest from Mulch Gardening
System
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Questions on Mulch Gardening and
Cover Crops?

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 Resources
™ Start with the Soil. G. Gershuny.1993. Rodale
Press.
™ The Rodale Book of Composting. D.L. Martin &
G. Gershuny. 1992. Rodale Press.
Î Managing Cover Crops Profitably. SAN. 2007.
Î Manage Insects on your Farm: a guide to
ecological strategies. M.A. Altieri and C.I.
Nicholls with M.A. Fritz, 2005. SAN.
¾ Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control
R.Dufour. ATTRA. 2000.
‰ ATTRA: <http://attra.ncat.org/> (Many Topics)