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Lazy Gardening

© Deborah Turton

So you started all your seeds and you went a little bit wild. You have 20 tomato plants and space for 10, 30 broccoli plants, and space for 15, and 40 pepper plants with space for 20. You could kill those extra plants, or attempt to give them away (and drive your neighbors away), or you could expand your garden. Oh boy, what fun. Rent that tiller (even better, buy a nice big one), buy that gas, prime that baby, and roar through the rest of your yard. Wheehaw. This is gardening!!!

Except...not really. Return the tiller, pass up the gas can, and listen to the quiet of your garden. There is a much easier way of gardening. It's called no-till. Doesn't sound nearly as exciting, but the results are much more exciting. No-till gardening is just what it sounds like. You garden without tilling - without digging - without turning over soil.

And, why, after tens of thousands of years of tilling, should we stop now? Well, after tens of thousands of years, it's time to stop the carnage. Yep, your soil is alive and tilling your soil creates microscopic carnage in your very own garden. Earthworms, nematodes (yeah, they're beneficial), bacteria, protozoa, fungi can all die when your till. Last month I gave you an intro to these wonderful soil creatures. You should learn to love these creatures. When you disrupt their home, your soil suffers. The fungi hold your soil together and give it stability; the earthworms till the soil; nematodes search out and destroy grubs; bacteria break down organic matter and make nutrients available to your plants.

Tilling wastes energy, time, and resources. First, resources are consumed to make the rototiller, extract and refine the gasoline, and transport everything to your garden. Then, more energy (and your time) is burned when you fire the tiller up. Or you could burn your own energy (and time) using a shovel. Whether it's a tiller or a shovel, every time you till you add oxygen to the soil. This creates a bloom of bacteria that digest your organic matter (OM). So the organic matter you added when you tilled is consumed without being much use to your plants.

Finally, you can plant sooner in the spring using no-till. It rains in spring - that's the main weather event. The worms will be perfectly happy to do the work on heavy wet soil. You can't till wet soil with either a shovel or a rototiller. No-till gardeners could be eating peas by the time you wait for the soil to dry.

The copyright of the article Lazy Gardening in Organic Gardening is owned by Deborah Turton. Permission to republish Lazy Gardening in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.