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NO TILL VEGETABLES A GROWING IDEA
For years conservation experts have focused on planting field crops using no-till. In Pennsylvania, there are now efforts to promote the use of no-till for transplanting vegetable plants.
Traditional methods of plowing and cultivating often leave vegetable fields bare during most of the growing season and throughout the winter months. Because of this continuous soil disturbance, soil erosion rates on vegetable fields are often higher than on fields used to grow field corn, soybeans, or small grains.
Organic farms using cultivation as the only method of weed control find the constant tillage destroys soil structure, reduces organic matter, and soil nutrients.
By no-tilling, Pennsylvania vegetable farmers are able to maintain a protective ground cover all year long. Benefits of this layer of mulch include conserving soil moisture, improving soil quality, better field conditions for harvesting and cleaner vegetables at harvest time.
For more information on no-till vegetable farming, visit www.cedarmeadowfarm.com and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Resource Conservation and Development Council website at www.separcd.org
Pete's Gone Bio
We have converted all our tractors and irrigation pump to BIODIESEL. We may as well burn what we sow!
Drip Tape Recovery System
Pete has been irrigating his crops completely with drip tape for over five years. Drip tape is placed next to the row, only watering the crop, not the row middles and weeds. The drip tape is placed under the plastic mulch or soil and no water is lost to evaporation. We use 1/3 the amount of water as overhead irrigation, In 2008 a machine was purchased so we can recover the tape and reuse it another year.