THE SIX KEY TENETS TO NO-TILL MARKET GARDENING.
VIDEO HERE.
When Rough Draft Farmstead first started out, we wanted it to be an entirely “no-till” farm which we theretofore defined rather simply as mulching the garden with hay or straw and not tilling it. Period. So several years ago, that is what we attempted to do. We bought or traded for hay from a neighbor—usually impossibly giant, rotten round bales—and spread it over our gardens laboriously. Every fall it was battle to get it spread then in the Spring we would transplant or sow crops into it. This of course worked fine... to an extent.The soil did become more pliable and healthier below the mulch, but it also resulted in a lot of added weed seed (ergo a lot of added hand-weeding); in soil that was too cool for early tomatoes; in a lot of difficulty direct seeding; and in whole days or even weeks spent simply adding mulch. It was, in short, not sustainable on a market scale. Now, however, we have come to see the folly in our thinking. The mulch was fine, and certainly a bonafide no-till practice. Where we failed was in our own myopathy—that we saw no-till as a single thing (mulch) and not a nuanced set of principles that could be easily be adapted to any situation and many materials. So in today’s video I have laid out these new set of principles we are following to get our current minimal tillage farm turned entirely into a no-tillage farm. Oh and while you’re watching, don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube, especially if you’re interested in no-till gardening but even if not! I mean, who doesn’t love watching nerdy farm videos? Lots of content to come all year long (because fortuitously, growing year-round has an important place in no-till farming), so stay tuned. -Jesse
FARMSTEADING.
When we originally came up with the name Rough Draft Farmstead back in 2011, our thought process was simple. We liked "Rough Draft" because it fit us as artists, but also "Draft" spoke to our ambitions to one day have draft animals. "Farmstead" originally just sounded better than homestead or farm, but it also felt more accurate, like it was directly in between the two. But over these past few years, I really feel like our farm has begun to embody the farmstead part of its name. And I'm proud of that.We homestead, sure. We grow our own food and cure and preserve and dabble in permaculture, cheesemaking, etc. etc. etc.. Certainly, we are very involved with our home. But we also farm. Professionally farm. We make our living growing food––a living that becomes increasingly more reasonable as we get better at it and as we dig in further.And I like it this way. I see a lot of interest in homesteading and permaculture, but not enough in actually making a living on this lifestyle. I love completely sustainable ideas, but nothing is sustainable if it can't pay for the farm, or the bills. This doesn't mean you have to drop all of your dreams and buy a giant tractor. It just means you should find ways for your life make your living. For us, we want to eat good food, so we grow a bunch of it and sell the excess (so to speak). We want fruit and herbs and mushrooms––same thing. And we do our best to feed as many people as we can. I have no idea if farmsteading is a word people use––my word processor is certainly skeptical––but I do like what it implies. It's a combination of farming and homesteading, and a viable way to make your life your livelihood.- Jesse.
ALL IN A DAY'S WORK.
With what we thought were to be a couple weeks to prepare beds for the strawberry and asparagus plants we'd ordered, Hannah and I were content to take our time and do things right. Slowly and carefully we had plans to plow and till spots for them, garnish them with natural amenities and have them nice and ready for these two perennial crops. When they arrived on Tuesday, however, about a week and a half earlier than we'd expected, our pace exchanged its calm for urgency. We had almost nothing ready for them yet –– and our esteemed guests were early and starving. We didn't want the plants sitting in the fridge for too long and there was an indefinite amount of rain coming––who knows when the next opportunity to get into the garden would be! So we got to work plowing and hand-tilling––as hard and insane as it sounds––and building a 16'x4' raised bed for the asparagus then filling it with soil and compost. It was a little bit of madness, or a lot of bit if you're human, but we were absolutely pleased with the results. If we worked this way all the time we would accomplish unprecedented amounts of gardening, then effectively pass away in six days. But we did it, and we're taking today off, and although the proverbial (and literal) fruits of our labor will not be seen until next season, we have confidence the strawberries and asparagus will reward us (and our shareholders) kindly!Among our other projects this week was the planting of blackberry, raspberry and black raspberry plants. Clearly, a lot of fruit has gone into the ground this week, one thing we'd really like to add and emphasize in our CSA in the coming years. (Next up on the fruit list should be blueberries!). Also, we were having a little trouble keeping our lettuce from "damping off" in the cold-frame, or dying from excessive water, so we had to go ahead and transplant them. They look happier out in the field anyway. Peas are up, potato plants are pushing through the soil, sweet potatoes are in their slip bed, onions are looking good... ladies and gentlemen, things. are. growing.- Jesse.
