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sawtooth: If you follow the term, "tilling on the cheap", then I guess you would call my gardening just that. I rotate my garden every year in a 3 year cycle. Each year I have 3 plots going; this years garden, last years garden I fallow disking down vegetable waste all summer and next years garden where I grow one or two crops of plow down buckwheat. Last years garden is where I do 90% of my tillage, tilling quite deep not only to bury vegetable waste but during season I try and bring as many weed seeds to the germination range in soil as possible, allowing them to germinate, then kill them, usually by tillage. The buckwheat year, I broadcast seed the buckwheat as early as I can in spring. Soon as it comes in blossom or before I plow it under, and plant a second crop. In early Oct I plow this all under and prepare my next years garden. This preparation involves making rows I will plant on next spring. Not large rows or hills, just try to get then 2 to 3 inches above soil surface. These hills or rows dry off quite early thus allowing me to plant long before I could ever till in spring. Never allow the buckwheat to go to seed, it can become the biggest weed problem you have. In the garden year I rarely ever have tractor on that section. I have a small roller curved to fit over rows. I use this to break the crust only then seed or plant on the hills I made last fall. I have a set of mid and rear mount row crop cultivators for my Farmall 140. Most years I don't even use them. Getting rid of weeds in the rows is a pain in the butt. Much easier done those other two years. By getting garden ready in early Oct., any weed seeds close enough to surface will germinate, and will be killed by frost or I can use roundup. The secret is DO NOT disturb soil again after this. Just plant in spring with no tillage. The only thing tillage will do in the garden year is bring weeds seeds to the germination range in the soil, that were not there when you started.
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