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Re: Rototilling - What is the alternative

On 4/4/02 4:45 PM, "Lee Reich, PhD" <springtown@netstep.net> wrote:

> Bill,
> 
> Look in my book, WEEDLESS GARDENING (Workman Publishing, 2001), for a thorough
> (I think) discussion of what TO do if you do
> NOT rototill or otherwise turn over the soil. I also talk about all the
> downsides of rototilling, besides having to do it.
> What I present in the book is more than just idle musings from my backyard; it
> reflects my talking with a lot of gardeners
> and farmers, as well as my plant and soil research experience with the USDA,
> the Soil Conservation Service, and Cornell
> University. And my own backyard expeeriences -- I haven't tilled my soil in
> almost 20 years.
> 
> Lee Reich, PhD
> 
> Bill Shear wrote:
> 
>> On 4/3/02 5:54 PM, "Jim Kennard" <jim@growfood.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Can someone tell me what the recommended alternative is to rototilling?  I
>>> must have missed that in the exchange somewhere.  My interest is primarily
>>> the
>>> family-based garden of 1,000-10,000 square feet.
>>> 
>> So far, I haven't gotten any "science" about not rototilling.  How about it,
>> some of you "scientific" gardeners?
>> 
>> My vegetable garden beds have been rototilled 2-3 times annually for the
>> last 25 years and the soil remains light, loose and fluffy.  I till mainly
>> to incorporate soil amnedments like old mulch,  compost, rock dust, lime,
>> etc.
>> 
>> As a scientist myself, I know that a big part of the scientific method is
>> going with your own experience rather than what appears in books or on the
>> internet.  So if it works for you, carry on.  Let the latest fad just roll
>> over you!
>> 
>> Bill Shear
>> Department of Biology
>> Hampden-Sydney College
>> Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
>> (434)223-6172
>> FAX (434)223-6374
>> email<wshear@email.hsc.edu>
>> Moderating e-lists:
>> Coleus at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coleus
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>> MilliPEET website at
>> http://www.fmnh.org/research_collections/zoology/zoo_sites/millipeet/home.ht
>> ml
>> SHAPE OF LIFE website at
>> http://www.pbs.org/kcet/shapeoflife/episodes/conq_explo1.html
>> 
>> "It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.  I do not
>> get nearer by a hair's breadth to any natural object so long as I presume
>> that I have an introduction to it from some learned man.  To concieve of it
>> with total apprehension I must for the thousandth time approach it as
>> something totally strange.  If you would make acquaintance with the ferns
>> you must forget your botany."
>> Henry David Thoreau, Journals, Oct. 4, 1859.
>> 
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> 
> ============================================================
> Norton System Works Pro 2001for only $14.95
> or get the 2002 edition for only 24.95 for a limited time!!
> Get free bonus National Geographics Maps with every order
> FREE!
> http://click.topica.com/caaajP4bUrGSSbVOai2f/MyFreeSoftware
> ============================================================
> 
> GWL has searchable archives at:
> http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters/
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> up at  http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos/
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> 
> 
> 
OK, OK, I'll buy the book!

But what I hear from the above is that you haven't rototilled in 20 years, I
rototill frequently, and we're both happy.

Bill Shear

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