Re: tiller recommendations

**m* l* <m*@earthlink.net>**

>
>I think the first reason is that no-till ag systems use chemicals as weed
>control and I tend to be an organic gardener - certainly not interested in
>no-till systems like this nor am I interested in promoting no-till.

I don't know where you got that notion that no-till uses 
chemicals.  None of the no-till gardeners I'm in contact with use 
chemicals, and frankly, I've not heard of anyone using them prior to 
no-till.  They usually use lasagna layers to kill weeds, but then, 
Oh!  Your deep mulch already prevents weeds, so you don't have that 
to worry about anyway.  I must say that I'm frankly surprised that 
you do garden because the few posts I've seen from you sound as if 
you're one of the non-gardening garden writers.  It's my 
understanding that tilling does bother mycorrhizae.  But we obviously 
move in different circles.  Margaret Lauterbach

>Having said that - if you're talking about deep mulch systems, I've been
>doing that for years a la Ruth Stout and indicated my use of mulch in my
>request for tiller suggestions.   And I've written about different systems
>of these deep mulch practices and trials over the years in both my books and
>columns so my readers get pretty tired about hearing about mulch and compost
>etc.
>
>My understanding is that tilling isn't going to bother mycorrhizae too much
>but it is going to really chew up established fungal strands and may, on
>some soils, contribute to soil compaction issues.  I'm sure Jeff L can weigh
>in here better than I after reading his book.    But as I said in my note, I
>was interested in a tiller for general bed making and some general work.
>  I'm equally disinterested in creating this 8 acre estate-sized garden with
>a shovel as my main tool. ;-)  With the deep mulch systems I use for weed
>control and water preservation the soil microorganisms are established and
>preserved quite nicely in the majority of my beds.
>
>So thank you for your suggestion about no-till but I've explored that -
>rejected it because of the chemical component.
>
>And thanks for the other suggestions about which machine has worked for you
>folks.
>
>Doug

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters

GWL has searchable archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters

Send photos for GWL to gwlphotos@hort.net to be posted
at: http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos

Post gardening questions/threads to
&quot;Gardenwriters on Gardening&quot; &lt;gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org&gt;

For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters