What I'm not sure about is what to do with the plants from this year. Do I leave them in the ground so as to not disturb the soil and just hope they will decompose over the winter?

Also, for next year, do I then put a layer of newspaper down over my existing bed and then start fresh new leaves, grass clippings, compost, mulch etc. and then plant in that new layer?

Help, I've been doing research, but all I can find is information about starting a new bed and I guess what I need to know is how to convert my existing bed.

Any tips or experience in doing this in Utah would be GREAT.

Thanks!

Malinda

For fall clean up I have removed squash, pepper and tomato plants and put them in a debris pile we have for weeds. I want to remove diseased and things that might hibernate over winter.

I leave plants like beans in place until spring. Kale, turnip, beets, carrots and spinach are still being harvested. Last year the spinach started growing again in early spring when we had a warm spell. Yum! Parsnips won't be harvested until spring after the ground thaws.

Garlic has already been planted in a bed that used to have peppers and onions. I put organic fertilizer in the rows. In the spring, I will put composted horse manure on all the other garden beds. I have not been doing well composting grass clippings and leaves because the compost bin was near trees and shrubs. Roots infested the compost bins. Late in the summer the three part bin system was moved to the open and closer to the veggies beds.

There are things like calendula flowers, dill, and borage that self-sow in the garden. I don't know if I would have less volunteers if I tilled or not. In the spring, I don't need to till. The ground in plenty soft. If a bed is too weedy from the previous year (we have a lot of creeping, runner spreading weeds and grasses), I cover the bed with black plastic for a few weeks.

sounds good to me so far, all our spent plants get tucked under the mulch eg.,. spoilt hay's or sugarcane mulch, so with leaves in place just lay spent plants cut or break them up a bit or if you have shredder run them through that once spread cover with mulch, around 8"s or so deep.

too easy really

len

I 'd suggest some reading over on the Soil & Compost forum here as your question is the focus of that forum more so than this one.

And as wayne already asked above - why? While there are some advantages to no till there are also some disadvantages especially in zones with little to no cold weather/freezes. So first make sure that doing this in zone 10 isn't going to increase your pests and disease problems in addition to the declining soil nutrient and pH problems.

When reading about unusual or controversial methods it is best to keep in mind that what works for one in a zone very different from yours may not work at all well in your garden's location. One way to determine how well it will work in your area is to investigate what local commercial growers do - till or no till and why.

Dave

If you're in a part of Utah where the soil has a high pH you could be waiting quite a while for the effects of soil organic matter + acid additions to change the pH of your root zone vs. tilling/incorporation.

Surface applied applications of acidification helping substances can be volatile and lose it's effectiveness to the environment before it effects the soil.

If soil pH isn't an issue then this doesn't matter as much (if at all).

Dry/arid parts of Utah can have pH of 8+ in many areas.

we eat turnips and beetroot and get lots of top's to recycle.

the case for me is there is no need for tiling ever.

keeping mulch tick will take care of weeds.

len

If you layer lots of organic materials over top of the soil this winter and/or spring, I'd suggest still parting the materials and planting either your seeds or seedlings into the soil underneath. That's the way Ruth Stout does it :)

As mentioned above, use newspaper if you've got lots of weeds to kill. Just use mulch if not so many weeds.

No-dig is great because you can have things growing all year round, and harvesting all year round. Also, everything I"ve read says it's better for your soil (that's what you've been reading too, I'm sure.) I love the self sowing too -- each year you get crops that you never planted.

I just found this online:

""For all of the bacterial plant pathogens and nematodes, the majority of fungal plant pathogens, and a number of plant viruses, a compost temperature of 131�F (55�C) for 21 days was sufficient for ensuring eradication."

There are several exceptions. Two common tomato diseases, tomato wilt (caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici) and Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), as well as clubroot of Brassicas (caused by the fungal pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicaeI), all required 21 days at 149�F (65�C) to degrade. "