Indeed they are. Otherwise you're just stuck with hot sand.

Don't forget Grillo Tractors, see them making raised beds at Big Pond Farm; kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rJx-ZcKiyqu8c6c.html

Thanks Jeff. We've definitely enjoyed the flail mower thus far.

I just used my BCS flail mower yesterday to chop up the eggplant that was up around 6' tall and some standing corn. It didn't do all that well with the Seminole Pumpkin vines since they were closer to the ground than the mower blades would reach, but I'll try to pull them up and then use the flail mower to shred them once they're in a pile. Doing what I'm doing just wouldn't be possible without the BCS flail mower. Once it has started to rot, I'll use the tiller attachment to till it under. I'll continue tilling up the garden about once a week to bring any nematodes to the surface to be killed by the heat of the sun.

Sounds like a great strategy. Those nematodes can be quite the pest!

Thanks Erin! Glad you enjoy them.

Take care of the soil and it will take care of you. Might want to try tillage radish as well. That makes a great cover crop for clay soils.

Thanks Andrew!

Thanks for watching!

Great point!

It's definitely a tough weed to handle. If you can keep them from going to seed, you can slowly control the population over the years.

You could use rye or red clover. Both work well for overwintered cover crops. Just make sure you cut it or till it in before it goes to seed.

excellant idea......see if bell beans or favas will tolerate your cold.

Sure can!!

You can do it with a tiller. Or some folks will use a bottom plow to turn it over completely.

Not if you incorporate it well. Till it, wait about a week, till it once more then it's ready to plant.

Mark Prescott the disk harrow attachment for the wheel hoe isn’t heavy enough to work it back into the soil. So we put the tiller attachment on the BCS and do it that way.

Haha. Haven't tried a scythe, although they do look really cool!

Cover crops are great for after growing seasons or between growing seasons. Depends on what your goal is for the soil. We have a chart on our site that tells you the benefits of each cover crop.

It definitely tills better if it dries a little.

I'm not sure what your question is? What type of problem?

Not for this crop we didn't film it.

@@gardeningwithhoss . OK cool I'm gonna be ordering some sorghum Sudan grass from you.

It sure is. We've been planting fall crops all week.

You could till it right after cutting.

There are two schools of thought at play there. Some people like to till it in green for soil building, whereas others prefer to leave the mat of mowed material on the soil for weed suppression.

Should not be forgotten the third school of thought. Based on science and results. DO NOT TILL it pure and simple. That's pretty much as, walking two steps forward and one step backward. Specially on those South regions flagellated by the Sun and heat the mulch is supposed to be exactly that...MULCH. Weed suppression, water conservation, and soil improvement all in one package.With less work/sweat and fuel use.

You would have to plant it by hand with a trowel making a hole for each seed.

A tea made from the leaves is astringent. It is used in the treatment of profuse menstruation, intestinal bleeding, diarrhoea etc.

To attach the flail mower on this BCS unit, you actually rotate the handlebars 180 degrees and are driving it backwards as opposed to when you're using the rototiller attachment. Notice the location of the motor, which is usually on the front when tilling. That's why they look backwards.

Many studies have shown that crimping and planting into the debris doesn't do much for weed suppression.

Correct, but unfortunately there's no such thing as a walk-behind no till seeder. So we have to incorporate it in order to plant a vegetable crop following the cover crop.

@@gardeningwithhoss there are several no-till seeders for walk-behind tractors. I have one from Brazil called Knapik. There is also one made in the Southeastern States somewhere. I don't have the contact info for that one.

I guess what we meant that is there are none that are walk-behind with motorization.

Hoss Tools I get that. You’re doing a good thing. I’ve seen people put them on lawn mowers. Idk seems easier and more beneficial to me, however in my area, our soils are full of clay and cannot be planted in until one is sure it will stay dry enough as it rains like 9 out of 10 days in our springs. Tilling helps that, but I would hope I can make my soils have better drainage thru cover crops. Rn it seems like all it does is make the soils hold more water.

@@gardeningwithhoss I'm not sure what you mean. The ones that are available are not self propelled, but they are pulled behind a walking tractor which is motorized. Maybe you meant that there is no UN-motorized (push type) walk behind no-till seeder?

We try to prevent the cover crop from going to seed, so there should be nothing to harvest. If it goes to seed, then we have weed issues for years to come.

their a pita unless u have acres to warrant the machinery.

For this garden, we till it in the soil. But in one of our smaller gardens, we're experimenting with chicken tractors and fencing. Videos on that coming soon!

Looking forward to it Do you know of a way to havest grain in small scale ?

A scythe?

They have some very small threshing machines available, I think from India. Or you could just use a big tarp and do it by hand. I think the definition of "small scale" is actually a rather nebulous term. It might be something to look into for Hoss Tools. I have been looking into growing and processing Quinoa and maybe even Amaranth.

thats the best part of rejuvenating soils.

Turned it into green manure and incorporated into the soil so we could plant something else.

Are you crazy?! If you let pigweed go to seed, it's almost impossible to get rid of it. The seeds can persist for decades in the soil. We're trying to grow vegetables, not pigweed.

A little, just curious about why some weeds are so hated. Its my understanding some can have benefits for the garden.

@@Evenflo76 people that say those kinds of things are the type of people that like messy gardens or that have a hard time controlling weeds. Weeds steal water and nutrients from vegetable plants -- simple as that. That's why we try to minimize their presence in the vegetable garden.

It's easier to till in the soil when dryer. If too wet, things can get a little clumpy.

Can't plant directly into mulch with a walk-behind seeder. That's why we don't mulch annuals, because we'd constantly be removing mulch to replant every 30-50 days. So we have to incorporate the cover crop into the soil so we can get it ready to plant again.

You're right Raymond if all you want to do is build soil structure and soil life however gardening also has an additional goal of crop production. Big farm operations have access to no till machinery that can sow into untilled soil. Sadly we smaller gardens don't have access to that kind of technology yet and need to do some tiling.