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F
irst, the bad news: We’ve lost mil-
lions of tons of soil from croplands
in the United States annually for
the past 20 years due to water and wind
erosion. The rate of erosion skyrockets
the more soil is cultivated and left bare.
Heavy tillage also destroys the soil struc-
ture and life-forms that nourish plants,
meaning more fertilizer and amendments
are needed later. The good news? You
can help turn around these problems by
practicing no-till or low-till techniques on
your own land.No-till methods can be adapted to any
size of operation — backyard gardens,
small market gardens, multi-acre farms,
and more. The technique involves creating
a deep mulch, and then planting a crop
through the mulch. No-till in conjunc-
tion with cover crops can reduce erosion,
boost soil nutrients and organic matter,
and conserve moisture. Additionally, the
thick cover-crop mulch suppresses weeds
and encourages the microbes, earthworms,
fungi, and other beneficial microorganisms
that maintain soil structure and health.
Although no-till is now used on more
than 35 percent of the acreage of majorcrops, conventional operations largely
depend on herbicides and synthetic fertil-
izers. Organic no-till methods, however,
will allow you to avoid chemicals and
improve the soil structure in your plot,
whatever its size. For organic farmers who
need specialized equipment to make no-
till viable, we especially recommend the
following tools.
1 Roller/crimper. Organic no-till be-
gins with a cover crop (see “Cultivating
Cover Crops” on Page 45), which be-
comes mulch after it’s killed. You can kill
your cover crop with hand tools if your
plot is small enough, but larger growers
do this mechanically. About 12 years ago,
Jeff Moyer created the roller/crimper at
Rodale Institute, a leader in organic ag-
riculture research. This implement is ba-
sically a large, heavy cylinder with longBy Joanna Poncavage
These ingenious implements allow you to raise crops
organically while preserving the health of your soil.
Heavy, cylindrical roller/crimpers
are designed to kill cover crops and
create weed-suppressing mulch.p 43-45 NoTill.indd 43 10/5/16 2:49 PM