Meadowlark
No N-P-K Required
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2019
- Messages
- 2,814
- Reaction score
- 2,365
- Location
- East Texas
- Hardiness Zone
- old zone 8b/new zone 9a
- Country
I see a lot of folks saying it works...but what does "works" actually mean?How has it worked out for you?
Does it outproduce veggies grown in containers?
Does it outproduce traditional methods of till, cover crop, chop and drop, green manure application, rotation, etc.?
I intend to answer these questions based on my own internally originated data.
Two identical 10 ft rows and three identical containers will be used to grow identical veggies under identical conditions and production results compared.
Row 1 will be a recently harvested row that started out as "No N-P-K required" before crop harvest and receives nothing but 1 inch of compost on top of cardboard. No weeds removed; no soil disturbed. No synthetic fertilizers will be used. No insecticides/fungicides.
Row 2 will also be a recently harvested row that also started out as "No N-P-K required" before crop harvest and located right next to Row 1 and will have two rounds of chop and drop cow peas ( as time permits), one application of green manure cow peas, 4-6 inches of cow manure tilled into the soil, and all plants mulched with compost and all weeds removed during the growing cycle. No synthetic fertilizers will be used. No insecticides/fungicides.
The three containers to be used include the "headfullofbees" container recently refurbished with traditional methods and two other HK containers starting with "No N-P-K required" garden soil. No synthetic fertilizers will be used. No insecticides/fungicides.
Identical fall veggies will be planted in each and all production will be measured and recorded.
The goal is to determine for myself what "works" means in terms of no dig. This experiment will run until about November when harvesting should be complete.
I'm completely open to vegetable suggestions and/or any other suggestions anyone would like to see included in this little experiment.
I probably won't plant the selected veggies until about Aug. 15 and suggestions will be accepted up to that time...so let the suggestions begin.
Last edited: