The Urban Farmer is a channel dedicated to sharing the experiences and learnings from Curtis Stone and his urban farm Green City Acres in downtown Kelowna, BC, Canada. Last year Green City Acres grew over 50,000 lbs of food on less than an acre of land, using 100% natural, organic methods and only 80 litres of gasoline. Every year we strive to revolutionize how we farm in order to reshape our local food system to be more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. Follow our journey, as we try to change the world one seed at a time.
Who We Are:
We’re a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about alternative and sustainable growing practices.
What We Do:
We provide delicious produce grown using organic methods on various rented urban plots and will teach you how to do the same.
How We Do It:
We use highly effective intensive farming techniques to maximize the production of the land, while regenerating the health of the soil.
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Great!…
also, what of the stragler weeds of the forked/ no till bed?
Good stuff! on of your sites has a plastic on the fence, Is that for privacy and/or wind/pest protection and what type do you use? Also do you plan on installing it on the site in the video?
Tilling got is bad reputation because industrial scale agriculture (and even small farms) were just tilling the cropland multiple times each year with ten ton tractors and then leaving the soil bare. Then all the topsoil blew away or washed away in the rain. This went on for over 100 years until only a fraction of the topsoil is now left. So the government stepped in and started advocating DON'T EVER TILL EVER NEVER!
And that is just false. Depending on the situation and scale it is very desirable at times. Especially if you are trying to incorporate some organic matter back into the soil that blew away during the past 100 years. Even these suburban yards were once plowed up and planted to grains for a very very long time.
the reason not to till is to let the roots stay put and not disturb the biology of the soil
It looked like you had no other choice
actually, you can view tilling as a planning failure. caused by previous decisions.
You still have biology from the other beds that can move back in. 🙂
are broadforks a viable replacement for loosening up a 10,000 ft plot (loam) or would you consider it over arduous?
show us your tilther! I do a ton of tilling and feel bad about it, but I figure with 3 to 6" of compost and limegyp and 423 it is ok, as long as it is balanced between dry and soggy. Tons of weeds but the farm is only 3 years old, and was leveled a decade ago for a house site, but the weed seeds are deminishing by my constant interior and border weedwacking. Another thing I do is shovel the good dirt out of the pathways, then let the weeds grow, and hoolahoe in clover and lowgrow fodder crops, it makes a moisture canopy, causes weeds to get lanky, and fun to walk through.
After three years of mixing compost deep down I plan to convert to broadfork and rake method, and tons of straw on plants that arn't picked on the ground. Thanks for the inspiration to know it is a viable option. Looking forward to watching more viders, it is reasuring to see the parallels in our farms
Hi Curtis, For everyone difficulty of sticking to no-till methods will be different depending on scale on what they growing and so on. I like your approach as at the end of the day it has to be also practical.
I agree on the approach. Often you'll get the best results giving a new garden bed an initial rototilling just to give it a jumpstart, then after that just keep adding organic amendments and you'll probably not need to till again in a smaller non-production garden. Would like to see your tilther in action!
hey Curtis. I read your book and I'm starting my farm in November(sub tropical florida). do you suggest a tiller attachment or power harrow for a bcs attachment?
Good video and I agree on all points. I've been trying to reduce tillage but there are times that it is the easiest and best way. What I would say is not to till to a powder. I was bad about tilling too much in the same spot. You are just ruining structure and releasing all the moisture when it is over done.
You really should do the BTE thing and do a video on that. Best of luck!
currently work on a farm in MI. it's a small farm about 20 acres we are currently growing about 72 rows of strawberries we are now just seeing very small cm in height weeds growing with skilled workers you can just skim the top soil just enough to get rid of the weed and not disturb the the plant it's very time consuming but almost nessecsry if you want to ensure the crop will be clean next season
Are you using a 30" inch tiller for the 30" beds? if so, what is the brand and model of this particular tiller.
coudl you please give me a link to your stale seed bed videos
It looks like dead soil.
What would you do to reclaim a plot that was consistently tilled as a form of weed control?
Couldn't you rototille than throw weed cloth down with holes to grow?
This is interesting because I have a new space that I tarped, the grass is now yellowing and I started pitchforking it and noticed that the soil beneath is a chocolate and loamy consistency. So from what I surmise here, I probably don't need to rototill, just fork it and perhaps remove the yellowing grass at the top by hand? That last detail I am not sure of. At the same time Curtis, you say if you are preparing a plot for the first time, I should rototill?
Cardboard, compost, wood chip mulch. 10000x better than tilling.
You should've put a cover crop. That's why your dirt is dry
Can I water the soil 3 – 7 days before tilling to hopefully have the soil close to the recommend moisture for tilling?
I understand not to till dry or wet soil.
My soil is in the sun all day.
Hey freind where can i buy a tarp like that? And second how often should till my garden
New subscriber just because someone tried to say their opinion after you gave your why and why not. Your reply was Yeahhhhhh no. Roflmao. Love it. I will go thru and watch all your videos just because of your truthful reply. Subscribed also. Folks have to realize there are more then one way to do almost everything.
Hey can you recommend a good rear tiller?