PDF The Organic NoTill Farming Revolution HighProduction Methods for SmallScale Farmers Andrew Mefferd 9780865718845 Books
Download As PDF : The Organic NoTill Farming Revolution HighProduction Methods for SmallScale Farmers Andrew Mefferd 9780865718845 Books
Learn how to use natural no-till systems to increase profitability, efficiency, carbon sequestration, and soil health on your small farm.
Farming without tilling has long been a goal of agriculture, yet tilling remains one of the most dominant paradigms; almost everyone does it. But tilling kills beneficial soil life, burns up organic matter, and releases carbon dioxide. If the ground could instead be prepared for planting without tilling, time and energy could be saved, soil organic matter increased, carbon sequestered, and dependence on machinery reduced.
The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is the comprehensive farmer-developed roadmap showing how no-till lowers barriers to starting a small farm, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency and profitability, and promotes soil health. This hands-on manual offers
- Why roller-crimper no-till methods don't work for most small farms
- A decision-making framework for the four no-till methods occulation, solarization, organic mulches grown in place, and applied to beds
- Ideas for starting a no-till farm or transitioning a working farm
- A list of tools, supplies, and sources.
This is the only manual of its kind, specifically written for natural and small-scale farmers who wish to expand or explore chemical-free, regenerative farming methods.
PDF The Organic NoTill Farming Revolution HighProduction Methods for SmallScale Farmers Andrew Mefferd 9780865718845 Books
"Andrew visited 17 organic farmers and using pictures and details they shared compiled a fantastic comparison of different methods being practiced around the nation today. A fantastic must read if you are interested in no-till practices that can help save our planet as well as your back reducing weeds and improving soils to say nothing of saving labor. I've read a lot of garden/farm books and this one is a great reference."
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The Organic NoTill Farming Revolution HighProduction Methods for SmallScale Farmers Andrew Mefferd 9780865718845 Books Reviews :
The Organic NoTill Farming Revolution HighProduction Methods for SmallScale Farmers Andrew Mefferd 9780865718845 Books Reviews
- Disclaimer I am not a market farmer – only a vegetable gardener. That said, I raise 3,000 sq. ft. of vegetables that I have no-tilled from virgin sod. I have experimented with and still use cover crops, deep mulch, cardboard, occultation, and solarization. Now on to the review…
Conversational Style The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is not a how-to book or manual with neatly organized steps. Rather Mefferd uses conversational style to tell the stories of about eighteen farmers and their no-till farms. For a farming novice who has never heard of no-till before, this book will serve to pique the curiosity and present a case for no-till farming but will fall short of being a comprehensive handbook. For someone who is somewhat familiar with the subject, Mefford's book may well provide the incentive to start small while answering questions on the viability and profitability of no-till.
Contents The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution begins by listing the benefits of the no-till method and an overall explanation of various techniques. Mefford organizes the remainder of his book by no-till methodology dedicating a separate chapter to each farm interview. Sections include mulch grown in place, cardboard mulch, deep straw mulch, and compost mulch. Mefford also highlights the differences between the use of plastic for occultation and solarization.
Andrew Mefford is obviously an advocate of no-till farming, but he does not gloss over the method's weaknesses – namely problems with perennial weeds, slugs, and voles. Throughout the book, the benefits of no-till are overwhelmingly portrayed as outweighing the negatives. These benefits include low entry cost, increased soil biology, better soil structure, increased organic matter, water conservation, weed reduction, and reduced labor requirements.
Opinion I pre-ordered this book months before it was released, and I am not sorry I did. The content is useful to me as a hard-core gardener and should also be of inspiration to a small-scale market farmer. If the book has a downside, it is that the information is so interspersed throughout interviews rather than being organized succinctly in handbook style. This makes locating information for future reference slightly more challenging. On the flip side, the casual conversational style makes for easy reading and brings to the book the authenticity of real-life, economically viable farms as working models.
Oh, and one more random note, the cover takes fingerprints like mad, but hey, your copy will probably be soil-stained and teeming with microbiology soon anyhow. - Andrew visited 17 organic farmers and using pictures and details they shared compiled a fantastic comparison of different methods being practiced around the nation today. A fantastic must read if you are interested in no-till practices that can help save our planet as well as your back reducing weeds and improving soils to say nothing of saving labor. I've read a lot of garden/farm books and this one is a great reference.
