"No-till" isn't that new idea. When I was working in a local Agriculture department, years ago the subject was ever-present. No-till was what we tried to convince gardeners and farmers to practice. When I was studying horticulture no-till was very important in the horticulture education at the University in Krakow, Poland. Now I am in my middle seventies and I see that North America is awakening to this subject. Better late than never. I like your passion for recycling everything that could be reused. How little we need... But I would like to see the community not supported financially by any subsidy, except education. We need to be self-sufficient in everything. When you use cover crop and no-till metod, the plants need to be broken, or mowed and left in place.They shoud not let be going into seeds no mater what. In agriculture they roll over the cover crop and seed main crop in rows between the cover crop rows. quite often the cover crop is corn, easy to break. the broken plants tops are serving as mulch and the lower parts deteriorate like compost, build soil structure and leave some nutrients in the soil. In horticulture it is advisable to do the same. though many gardeners preffer straw. Wheat does this work slower because the capilars the root create are small and not as many as in the case if corn. While planting cover crop it is very important to use mixes of seeds, to supply as many nutrients as possible. The trick is plant only annuals. so even if they germinate next year they can be moved or broken and do the same purpose the next year. Cover crop is only for limited time i a year to enrich and rejuvinate the soil. I still garden and almost all my produce is from my little garden. And I still learn from others. Thank you for your work.

WoW this is Great!!! No Till for you, No Till for Me, No Till's the way Y'all We Agree! SOOO, now lets also Relax and get More Stress Free, and GROW the Fun with Paw Paw Gee!

in the garden, kitchen compost drilled full of hole cylinders in the ground plant feeders seems to work awesome

Thank you so much for posting these, Mr. Battle. This is the corner of youtube i clearly belong. It's pretty challenging to be a regular homegardener who is trying their hand at experimentation with covercrops and no till. I don't belong with the traditional 'till it till it's sterile' homegardeners, who have a wealth of knowledge about veg and fertillizer but disregard the soil life completely, i don't belong with the regular market gardeners, not really soil builders in my opinion but some are going in the right direction and i don't belong with the large scale no till farmers because it's not easilly scaled down, toolwise. They all have their useful knowledge but these were the scale and techniques i was looking for that bind it all together and make it easier to implement. I'm so deeply interested in this subject that my plot looks more like an experimental site than a garden but i like it that way. At this point, the vegetables are merely a bonus because i'm way too interested in the soil conditions and catering to the many species of pollinators to notice them. Of course this is a wild exaggeration. ;) I eat good! I'm doing it all, live mulch with garden perennials, mowed mulch, covercrop, interplanting, live mulch with veg, compost beds, hugelculture, sawdust, woodchips, woodshavings, leafmulch. Show it, i'll try it. The best way i have figured out to make a quick start is the lasagna bed but i have a diverse patchwork of all kinds of other techniques as well that work fine too. (i could not dig soil if my life depended on it, that's how it all started) Especially woodshavings from the rabbit pen has been a lifesaver. That stuff is gold as a soil cover. I get it from the local petshop who save it for me. comes with covercrop species already mixed into it from the rabbit and hamster food plus their urine and manure. The pigeons come in, poke around in it and manure right where they should. Have to work with what you get! Let's see how that overwinters or not. Hope it all winter kills. Probably not.

You slide the blade in a curving motion so it cuts as the sickle slides across the grass/weeds. No hacking required. I used this and learned the proper way to use it in Germany... You guys are working to hard hacking with it. 👍😎

Every time he says ya know, plant some vetch.

The scythe is a cool tool. But what I’ve found very effective is doing no cut work at all. I let nature and weeds make the soil rich. Weeds die back as soon as I start planting a new cover crop of buckwheat and red clover/ mixed variety of small bird seeds as well so the finches come. It works wonders. By the time the plants all die and weeds come up the soil is beautiful. I used to have a very hard sand/clay soil that grew nothing. I can now grow everything. Even hard to grow plants inside that tiny area I’ve been experimenting on. It’s beautiful right now as the clovers and buckwheat die back. I found wild flowers thanks to birds inside. Just beautiful how nature lets it just work out. Of course, don’t let it go solo without planting something. I have a patch of weeds and plants I don’t touch for three years and the weeds really just overrun but I let it because bugs and birds prefer the weeds funny enough

Love what was said about Monsanto.

I been listening nearly an hour and have not heard a lousy gardening/ farming/ idea/comment yet!!!😅Dennis

Glad you are out there teaching - does anyone mass produce vermicompost? - I use compost tea early in my soil for 5 year and no pests or disease- just a little garlic and hot pepper spray the fist and second year to get rid of black bugs on my tomatoes. - take care

place a strap on the top of your chainboard so you can slide your foot into it. The combination of a step board with weight of chain and using a foot and arms to distribute weight to lift and smash works wonders. Or just drag it if the crop cover isn't too tall. Fantastic video btw!

I really like this video.

Vetch - will not die - I have used vetch for my small scale market garden over the past five years, I allow it to grow wild each season then, at its peak, I introduce chickens into the area...in large enough numbers the chickens will scratch out, knock over and kill most of it enough to allow my planting of beans, peas, melons, pumpkins, cucumber, corn, sunflower and tomato mixed seeds. This tangled mess makes for enough produce each season to allow me to make a small living over the spring summer fall seasons that allows me to work in the winter garden (Sub tropical SE Queensland Australia) when the weather is cool enough to allow full days of work. At current times, (February 2017) the weather is 30 degree C (86 degree F) with 87% humidity at 0730 in the morning.!

Your video is a great reminder of the value of patience and perseverance. It takes a lot of time and effort to grow and harvest melons and oranges, but the end result is so worth it. And the fact that you're able to make a living by selling them at the market is even more impressive. Keep up the great work! And it's an honor to have you visit our channel, we can discuss more about our experiences in harvesting and building farms.

Thank-you! From England. A few weeks' ago, I sowed a grazing rye plus vetch green manure mix on my new-to-me half allotment. Your heads-up on knocking it down is especially thought provoking re the vetch! Very bext wishes, John Courtneidge

What an immense wealth of knowledge! Thanks so much for posting. I have two questions for readers. 1. I understand the concept of planting starts into roller-crimped or flailed green manures. But how does one use a hand-pushed seeder in this thick layer of green mulch? I've seen some videos on the subject, but no definitive answers. That is, could one grow carrots in this recently terminated green manure? Or do you have to get out the shovel and dig a narrow furrow so that the seeder can pass? 2. I've studied biochar quite a bit and think it's brilliant, especially when used with a fermented liquid soil amendment to activate the soil microbiology and colonize the biochar, which is used as habitat. BUT, I've studied its use in the Amazon, where soils are low in carbon, rich in clay and iron, and have poor drainage. What's the advantage of using biochar in an organic sandy loam in which there's already high carbon content and active microflora and microfauna? Seems like conventional farms with low C levels would need it more than an organic farm with rich soils.

touching tribute. great KZfaq channel really inspiring for a home gardener

this video has a lot of good info, ya know!

CHEERS!!🆒

@ 16:00 just use a heavy piece of plywood and walk on it and jump , then just flop it foreward and do it again.......its a good way to pick wilde blackberries too..........that chain lift ergonomics will totally wear u out

Hook that chain on the back of a rider with a rope, and DRAG IT down that row back and forth, and it will RIP OUT that crap. Wow. That's crazy to manually try and remove that vetch with the chain. I don't do no till. I do ONE TILL. I get it tilled up good, with stuff to build the soil, then I lay a heavy sheet of black plastic on, and cut holes for my crops. That way next year, all I have to do is plant the rows or holes. So easy and very little pulling weeds! I've even used strips of old carpet between the rows. Works great!

great video and very touching

Very good.....

some type of old fashion snow shoe to terminate the covers might work, the kind you see like on Grizzly Adams show

Thanks very informative.

great video

Great job!

Should grow a mixed variety of cover crop - like Mother Nature does

Great video

First note: to expand the market for tools, Food plotters for wildlife. Second: a 2x6 board with 2x2 angle iron screwed to it and use your weight it crimps as you go. use decent handles on it. Rest of the video I was just soaking up info. Thanks for sharing.

I LOVE JC TENNESSEE ,,, MY SISTER LIVED 1 EXIT WEST OF TRI-CITIES AIRPORT!!! Y'ALL COME SEE US! WE'RE LOCATED NEAR TO YOU; in TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA!!!!

I would say the seeder needs a row of square stock metal rollers. That would redistribute the weight and if you put them in a chevron they would also put the disturbance back. The front drive tractor needs tracks. Don’t think it needs to be so long either. Cutter wheel could be on front and yohman plow in the middle. Both need trailer screws with locks to add more precision to depth. Duel scissors could raise both with one lever. I’m not seeing a snap pin on the plow to prevent braking the plow. If it hits a big rock it could destroy the plow or bend it badly. If this could take paper pot planters on racks! Amazing! That’s a major time saver for long runs.

I'm surprised you don't just use a 3/4 sheet of plywood, paint it with linseed oil so keep it going longer and with a rope on the corners, just step on it. It will knock down the plants while dispersing your weight so as to not over compact the soil while being a lot lighter and faster. That way, it's place, step, place, step, saving your back, time, and making it more accessible to children and the elderly. (Not that my old man couldn't knock that out faster than I could!)

I want one of those been planting machines! 😁

you look like the grim the grim reaper with that. sorry maybe a day after Halloween and my imagination Saludos desde Costa Rica :) good content man!

freshly dried veggies and packaged in air sealed packages last for years and are just as fresh 19 years later with adding a little fresh water and 10 minutes of hydration add some meat and simmer into a meal fit for a king

Better get a farmer to demo that thing, Mr. Engineer.

Push and drop action with a lifter rod type thing on couple of wheels would be much easier for that heavy chain tool! I think I will get it done for our farm.

If you need a way to lay down the cover crop, look no further than people that make crop circles. A 2x6 with a hole in both ends and a rope through it. Set it down, step on it, move forward and repeat.

This is how crop circles are made.

Preach

i would use a sickle mower on a garden tractor. you can also get walk behind model.

If someone made a small sickle bar mower like a hedge trimmer with wheels wide enough apart to span a row and some vertical "wings" to keeps cuttings from tumbling sideways you could drop your cover perfectly along your row.

Could you use a set of skis and walk sideways like going up hill or maybe snow shoes

That hurt watching you sythe. Remove the blade, turn over the handle then re-install the blade on the proper side. The handle hump needs to be up. Not down. Slide the blade across the ground. Don’t chop.

He's saying, "Wrens Abruzzi Rye", for the cover crop. (I couldn't figure it out and had to do research)!

59:42 Preach!

Hey Pat, when video was it that you were breaking down the layer of the Earth such as the drillosphere?

It was mentioned in the video that the no till drill is being sold internationally. I'm developing a small regenerative agriculture demonstration farm in Vietnam and this is a perfect tool for my project. How can I get a hold of an agent in SE Asia? Thanks, Mark

I’m wondering if a 3’ piece of angle iron screwed to the bottom of a 2X4 would do any better if you stepped your weight down onto it to crimp it off sort of like the guys faking crop circles were doing. Also, if you put a mulching blade on the mower and leave the dispensing chute closed it might do ok, but as thick as that vetch is it’ll definitely bog the mower down.

On a 30” bed you might plant up to 12 rows. What good is a single row planter? Use a sickle mower on the vetch. Don’t step on a bar wrapped in chain? The bar will spread out the weight.

You noted your seeding machine was disturbing too much soil. i.e. going too deep; w2ould it not go less deep if you lowered the back wheel?

Tillage has a future, in that, you need to start with something so till plant your cover crop and go from there. No magic, but get rid of the bad, and put in the good.

22:22 Looks like this guy was doing it smarter than the others. Stomping creates more compaction? Well maybe, since you have that stupid chain there. Get rid of the chain and now your "stomp" is more distributed. Plus...the green resilient material underneath is cushioning the stomp. To be that ticky-tacky and hyper vigilant over petty compacting actions seems like unnecessary stress both mental and physical. And then they feature this guy riding some motorized wheeled seeder...which obviously compacts more than a stomp on a flat piece of wood. The seeder even has a 100lb weight on the front...in addition to the weight of the driver and at least 100lbs of barbell weights and 40lbs of foam by the tires! Idiocy to worry about compaction in one sense and not care in another sense. The whole beginning of this was hard to watch. Watching that lady and those guys swing that scythe unsupervised and un-tutored was cringey and a big joke. The end was hard to watch too. 500 lbs of machine and man on three wheels...and it didn't even work, lol. But no...don't stomp the vetch 'cause compaction!

❤

what you doing with all that mugwort though, its great for medicinal teas

I do think your scythe handle is upside down

I wonder if one could replace a siegh with a hedge clipper with a extended handle.

What will smother the weed creeping charley please? Thanks in advance.

I think the pun was intended! 😆

Could I get a spelling on the 'renabrusi' rye around minute 26? I doubt I've spelled it right and would like to search my area for it once I've got the right name. Thanks.

I need that machine.

I've never had a problem with vetch spreading in my garden. I chop it finely onto the soil before it seeds. Borage pops up everywhere, again nip the seedheads off. Mustard is easy to incorporate, slice it in with a spade. Brown mustard overwinters, Ethiopian gives more ground cover. Rye is a pain though. It's not easy to incorporate with a spade, is not easily IDed against other [weed] grasses for a novice so a whole bed can easily be taken over with grass. It just needs a wet period - when it's fairly mature and impossible to dig - then it seeds.

What is the botanical name for that cup plant? Please and thank you.😊

I have stopped using most chemicals, except some magnesium and 13-13-13, and some Hasta-grow, and some anti-fungals. My last problem weed is sedge. I have sprayed and dug and I it just comes right back thicker. I am not opposed to using chemical-geddon in those spots at this point. Any sure fire way to get rid of this? tia.

17:10.. Better to get a long plank and place it on the field.. walk across the plank to the other end readjust plank end position across field,, walk back and repeat.

Half while mustache tech guy ! That was insane

What about the fake crop circle process. You could even attach a piece of angle iron to the bottom to create a break or crimp in the stems.

No way vetch then! My place is a garden, not a market garden. I sowed rye and buckwheat - the rye overwintered (Q 1) what sort of Rye did you say???) with onions in it and will harvest those later and hopefully cut the rye maybe hoe it in? I bought lupins as a green manure but they didn't come up probably too cold -(Q 2) have you used this? Also sowed mustard and has done great looks quite fragile; maybe it will be more tenacious later. I have also sown Phacelia Tansetifolia in the bean beds. Afraid that the mix may include vetch - I am in France. (Q 3) Has that 'cup' plant got a latin name? I did dig year before on new ground as lots of couch grass with terrible mesh of roots. I am worried about using the straw as sure not organic! (Q 40 could i just use compost and green manures?

if you ahve animals like cows or goats, will these eat the veg?

Where do I get a sythe? I definitely need one, I just purchased a property, 2 acres, but it's 2 acres of weedy mountain inside. So I need a sythe that works, and is affordable. So where can I get one? Where did you get yours? I looked at tractor stores, and farm stores, they don't have them in my area. And I've been needing one really bad for this new property.

is the vetch a nono-culture?

what town are you located in again?

What happened to the no till idea

Why don't you dig a swale to guide the wet weather spring away from your garden maybe even drainage tubes?❓❓❓❓❓❓❓

how about a pair of cross country skis and just walk all over it?

whats the name of that biodynamic accumulator he like @ 50 min mark with the latin name?

who is Located near TAZEWELL ????

Thank You for the video. With all do respect. Couldn't you just use a good ole fashion sickle. Before swathers were made. Sickle n rake my uncle used for years... Convert one over to 3 or 4 ft. Length. Use PTO unit on smallest tractor u can find. Or even use maybe a portable drill for power source. And a walk behind.

At 50:07 he mentions a plant that I can't find the spelling of. Anyone know it?

why is it necessary to terminate the cover crop is it simply the sun access?

Pat less babble more action!!!

Im not wonder and sowing direct. I much rather plant in Modules 😅

So, what instead of vetch? Did I miss something?

Please, turn the handle on that scythe, it is a great tool but not that way!!

Would a weed whacker cutting suffice?

a local goat or two could eat the vetch

25:00 exactly how to NOT use a scythe.

*JESUS, Just ROLL a LOG down it, lol*

Can someone please show them how to use that Sythe? That's painful to watch.

😅 Hey if you have discord i can show you my current grow before it reaches week 7 The cultivar im running i got from a breeder who uses a hormonal spray to feminize his clones. This could be in the direction im pointing to in my genetics. 😅

How about weed wacker!

Why not drag it?

Vetch is better in a system that utilizes grazing animals.

tie wraps are not regenerative steel tie wire when it breaks it will turn to rust

The first tool at 16:30 looks seriously inefficient. You either need something equivalent to a lighter garden roller or simply drag that item behind you as you would with a tractor. The repetitive strain injury factor looks high on that tool simply due to its weight and the unnatural body movements required to use it in the manner shown.

To lay the grass, kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ldGXea9pv5rdomQ.html around 00:36

The hell zip ties?? Lift and drop not drag?

Looks like tilling opening up the vid.

IN EUROPE THEY HAVE MULTIPLE BLADES, SOMEBODY NEED TO GO IN THE LARGEST INDUSTRY FARMERS IN EUROPE TO COPY THERE MACHINE THAT USE THAT KIND OF MACHINE AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CAN CREATE OUR OWN NECESSITY MACHINE FOR A GOOD CONVENIENT NEEDS FOR THE FARMERS, LOTS OF YOUNG AMERICANS ENGINEERS CAN CREATE THAT MACHINE