A no-till approach means drawing inspiration from the forest's nurturing and passive approach as much as possible. To avoid disrupting the layered ecosystem of micro-organisms in the soil, you never turn over the soil (bye-bye, rototiller). You also keep layering organic matter onto the soil, keeping it completely covered at almost all times. This organic matter, or mulch, serves several purposes:

• Suppressing weeds
• Providing shelter to the micro-organisms that colonize the soil, and,
• Continuously enriching the soil by decomposing into light, fluffy humus. 

It makes so much sense. And I always hated fighting with my rototiller so I was easily convinced.

Going back to the time when I was reading all these revelations, I had already been using mulch in my garden in the form of landscape fabric. It had saved me hours of weeding, and I still don't hate it - I think it's a decent option for some scenarios. However, I was getting frustrated about a few aspects of it. First of all, it locks you into a certain planting pattern (wherever the holes are), so it was limiting my ability to do proper crop rotations. Secondly, it doesn't last forever and I hated the expense and waste it created. Thirdly, it's not very conducive to planting very tightly planted crops - you can't realistically make a hole every 5 centimeters. And finally, I now realized that it hadn't been doing anything to improve soil health. ​

The first year after reading this book, I decided to convert part of my garden to a no-till approach. Fabric mulch had never worked well for corn, because of how tightly spaced the seeds are. So, I decided to use lawn clippings to mulch my corn patch. The second year, I stopped replacing any sections of landscape fabric - whenever a section was too torn or degraded to use, I put down natural mulch instead. I used dried weeds, lawn clippings, and dried leaves. Even the occasional cowpot. Whenever I harvested vegetables, I removed any "extra parts" such as corn husks, carrot leaves, and the external leaves of cabbages, and dumped them right there and then as mulch - I started to see anything that was removed from the garden as a loss of nutrients, and it made sense to limit that loss. In the fall I left all plant matter, such as tomato stalks, to decompose into the soil. ​

Last fall, when I "closed up" my garden for the season, I took out all remaining landscape fabric. I dumped bags of leaves on each row - I just packed as many bags as I could every time I took a drive through a residential neighborhood. On top of the leaves, I put whatever I could find, such as weeds, branches, corn stalks, etc - keep the leaves from blowing away. I also used lawn clippings.

When spring came around, I was greeted by a vibrant soil that had been protected throughout the winter. Very few weeds pierced through the mulch, and the ones that did were easy to remove. I was able to weed my entire garden (30 x 60 feet) in about twenty minutes, and I only had to do it once. Normally, even with the fabric mulch, I had to spend a significant amount of time on several rounds of weeding in the spring. I also noticed that the soil hadn't compacted over the winter and during spring rains. It stayed fluffy and aerated, with lots of worms. ​

I've now planted my hardiest seedlings, for example onions, potatoes, parsley, and greens. It's been a pleasure to plant them in the natural mulch, compared to fabric mulch. Just spread the mulch with my hori-hori knife, making a little nest for the seedling or seed. No more cutting out the landscape mulch with an x-acto or scissors for every seeds (savvier gardeners burn those holes through, but still). ​

​I am still a little nervous about keeping up with that amount of mulching. The yardsweeper makes it relatively easy to gather up lawn clippings and that should be enough throughout the summer. We shall see! 

Some considerations for going no-till

• Do you have the means to procure natural mulch in the quantity needed? In my case, I predominantly use bags of leaves, and lawn clippings. We have a very lawn though and I can adjust how much of it I mow to make sure I produce enough lawn clippings.
• Can you handle to labor of mulching? It is most certainly going to be less than the labour you'd spend tilling and weeding, but it's not insignificant. A yardsweeper or lawnmower bag will come in very handy.

What can you use for natural mulch?
Scientifically speaking, it's useful to know that some mulches add carbon to the soil (mostly dried/brown stuff - for example  bark, cardboard, and sawdust) and some mulches add nitrogen (mostly green stuff such as lawn clippings, aged compost, weeds and hay). Leaves and branches occupy a bit of a middle ground. Ideally speaking, you could choose your mulch based on a soil test to determine if your soil needs more nitrogen or more carbon. In practice, in our area, nitrogen is typically what is most needed so I learn towards "green" mulches. 

A few other factors to take into consideration:

• What can you get for free? I get leaves from neighbors, lawn clippings from my lawn, I use weeds and extra veggie parts, and once in a while I go to the furniture store and take all their large appliance cardboard boxes (which they are very happy to give away - it saves them labor).
• If you are getting your mulch from somewhere else, do you know what herbicides or pesticides have been applied to it?
• Does your mulch contain weed seeds? For example, hay typically contains seeds (but straw doesn't). I did have a bad experience using hay - as it decomposed it sprouted into very strongly rooted grass. 
• Will it blow away? Leaves are susceptible to blowing away in strong winds, so I cover them with something else.

I also want  to mention that although sawdust is fine, walnut sawdust or shavings should be avoided (it suppresses growth). And, finally,, to bust a myth - it is not true that pine needles make soil acid, so you shouldn't fear them for that reason. The real reason things don't grow around pines in that pine needles make a very dense mulch, and, pine trees have very shallow roots. I actually really like pine needles as mulch - they provide great coverage and they don't blow away in the wind.

A word about the broadfork
Finally, as you transition to a no-till approach, you may need to fluff your soil occasionally. For that I would recommend a broadfork. A broadfork fluffs the soil without turning it over. It leaves the microbiome of the soil intact. Eventually, as the soil becomes fluffier and fluffier, you won't need to broadfork it anymore, but, it is a good transition tool.
​

Setting up a new no-till garden bed
Most of my beds were converted from tilled beds to no-till. That means that originally, I dug up the sod and tilled it. However, it's also possible to create new no-till beds in your lawn, without tilling it even once. I am trying that for the first time and I will write a separate blog post about my experience once I am a little further along with it.

Over the years I have worked to establish more perennial food plants on our property. They typically cost a little more upfront but having low-maintenance, recurring sources of food is great. In the process of writing this post, I realized we have over forty different perennial foods growing on our property - a mix of naturally occurring and purposefully introduced. 

I have integrated these perennials plants in various places on the property, creating a bit of an edible landscape; but I also have a few dedicated perennial beds in a section of our property. I keep these beds separate from my main garden so that they don't interfere with crop rotation. Before I switched to a no-till approach, it was a also a concern that they would get in the way of rototilling. 

I'll provide a summary of the perennial foods we grow, in hopes that it will give you ideas if you live in a similar zone. Even though we live in zone 5, I tend to favor perennials that are rustic to zone 3, to ensure they are very rustic and survive our winters. 

Trees:

• Apple trees - I planted a few specific apple trees (honeycrisp, empire, and a sweet yellow variety); we also have a variety of wild apple and crabapple trees planted by animals in the forest. (two or more compatible apple trees are needed for cross-pollination)
• Pear tree - I planted four pear trees, which should be two cross-pollinating pairs. They haven't produced yet but I think they will this year.
• Plum tree - I only have one plum tree, they are self-fertile so they don't need a companion. It's new and hasn't produced yet.
• Hazelnut trees (bush) - I have eight hazelnut trees, I planted them this year. I got them from Meadowlark Rise Farms, local to us. They plant a variety of nut trees, but it seems like hazelnuts are doing the best in our area.'
• Sour cherries (bush) - This one spreads! It is beautiful when it flowers, and I use the cherries to make ice cream, Turkish cherry jam, and chocolate cherry jam / ice cream topping

Berries and other small fruits:

• Honeyberries (Haskap) - these do amazing here, but they need to be covered by a net or the birds get them all. They are a great early crop. 
• Gooseberries - new this year
• Strawberries - I chose everbearing plants which means that they produce throughout the season, instead of one big batch. They are great for snacking whenever we pass in front of the patch, conveniently located between the house and the workshop.
• Saskatoon berries - new this year
• Concord grapes - for eating fresh and for juice
• Artic kiwi - new this year

Edible flowers:

• Daylilies - the flowers are edible. They are a nice snack or a nice garnish on salads. Be sure not to eat lilies though.
• Hostas - the shoots can be cooked and eaten
• Lilac -  good for garnish or for making flavoured simple syrup , I can it and use it to make lilac lemonade or seltzer water
• Sunchokes -  the tubers are delicious. We especially like them fermented (which also takes away the gassiness that some people experience with sunchokes)
• Sunflowers - for seeds

Herbs:

• Rosemary - doesn't always come back, depending on winter conditions
• Lavender - doesn't always come back, depending on winter conditions
• Sage - doesn't always come back, depending on winter conditions
• Mint - invasive, be careful where you plant it
• Oregano - invasive, be careful where you plant it
• Thyme
• Chamomile
• Chives

Others:

• Rhubarb
• Horseradish - harvested for the root. Can spread.
• Asparagus
• Amaranth - not really a perennial, but it reseeds itself generously 

Naturally occurring perennials (foraging - more details here)

• Raspberries
• Fiddleheads
• Daylilies
• Sumac
• Sugar maple
• Cedar
• Stinging Nettle
• Mushrooms - for example shaggy mane. Still learning about these
• Wild grapes
• Crabapples
• Wild chamomile

Failures - things I might try again:

• Sea buckthorn - got swallowed up by weeds, will need to try again
• Blueberries - I've tried these several times but they never survived, I'm not sure why

This year I am growing onions from seed for the first time, after many years of using onion sets. Part of my motivation is cost, but I also read in Le Jardin Vivrier that onions from seed tend to store better. Here is the approach I am taking based on the principles of no-dig, intense planting.

I started my onion seeds in a tray. I planted them very densely in rows. I didn't thin them.  I trimmed them a couple of times to keep them around 6-10cm long. The trimmed ends are very fragrant and I used them in my cooking.

Once it was transplanting time, I trimmed them once more to around 6cm, and loosened the soil in the tray. It was easy to pull out the tiny onion seedlings and untangle them. 

I grabbed 3-4 onion seedlings at a time

My garden surface was already loose soil (if it had not been loose I would have used the broadfork to loosen it). I had recently replenished the mulch covering it, with a layer of leaves and a layer of grass clippings. I used my hori hori knife to spread the mulch apart and make a small hole. I placed the 4 seedlings in the hole, making sure not to cover them above the split in their leaves. I packed the soil around them a bit. 

The reason I put 4 onions per hole is that they will naturally push each other apart as they grow. In many cases I will harvest one per hole as a "green onion" early in the season, and maybe even another one to cook as a young onion, but they'd be fine left together to maturity, too. 

I used a distance of 8 inches between each 4-pack of onions. Even this densely packed, since onions have such skinny leaves, they won't shade the soil and weeds, so it will be important to keep a thick layer of mulch in between the onions, all summer long. I planted my onion sets the same way. In total, I have about 300 onions planted. They are one of those things that we never seem to have enough of! One of my favorite uses is French onion soup, which I pressure can. 

Woodworking skills and tools come in handy in the day to day. My latest project was making a gardening bench, which is mostly used while kneeling but also for sitting. It makes it more comfortable to kneel, saves my pants from the worse of the dirt and scuffs, and makes the repetitive up and down motions easier when it comes to long days of working along rows. The design I decided on has a few bonus features as well - it makes it easier to move all my tools as I go down a row, and if I flip it upside down it's a nice stool from which I can complete the "admiration phase" of my work or take a little break. My design was inspired by commercial products such as this one. 

Materials needed:

• Foam (I purchased a kneeling pad from Rona)
• Wood: 2 by 12, about 6-8 feet long (1 board) OR 2 by 6, about 6-8 feet long (two boards). I used pine for budget reasons. I'm sure it will get marks on it as I use it, but I really don't mind that for this project.
• White carpenter's glue
• Contact cement to glue the foam to the wood
• Polyurethane finish

To create my design, I experimented a bit with stacks of books to see what was a comfortable height for kneeling, how high I wanted the handles to be (to assist with getting up repeatedly), and how wide I wanted the kneeler (I wanted a bit of extra space on each side to put down a tool if needed). I also experimented a bit to see what dimensions would work to fold my gardening bag over the top edge. I decided to use mortice and tenon joinery for strength.

I could get 2 by 12 boards so I started by jointing and laminating pairs of 2 x 6 boards cut to size. I planed and jointed them. Then I used my router to carve out a mortice and handle in each vertical piece. I made the handle and mortice symmetrical, which made for an appealing design and simple router set up. 

Next, I used my router table to carve out a notch at either end of the vertical board. This creates short little legs that make the bench more stable on uneven ground. As a bonus, once I started using the bench, I realized that they are great for hanging my hat or any tool with a loop. 

I While I was at the router table, I started to work on the tenons, at either end of the horizontal piece. I routed out material on both faces of the board, adjusting until it was the correct thickness to slip just right into the mortice. I used a handsaw on the two edges to complete the tenon, and chisels to round off the tenon and adjust the fit. I made the tenon a bit longer than needed, so it would stick out a bit, just as an aesthetic choice.

Then, I used a palm router and rasp to round the edges. I glued the mortice and tenon, and applied polyurethane finish. In the picture below, the bench is drying upside down, on some painters' pyramids that I 3D printed a while back. All that was left was gluing the foam on with contact cement.

I had a chance to try out my kneeling bench yesterday while planting onions, and I love it. It is comfortable, less tiring, less muddy, and makes it easy to move all my tools along a row as I progress. The upside-down side definitely came in handy too. I love hooking my gardening bag on one end, and my hat on the other when I take it off to cool down a bit. Overall I am very happy with my design! It took about two half days to make, plus drying time. It was a lovely project to spend some time in one of my happy places, my workshop, listening to the rain falling on the tin roof.

Fiddleheads are a great food to forage. They are very easy to identify around here, and come pretty early (early/mid-May this year where we live, in Eastern Ontario), right as nature wakes up and before I can get fresh greens from the garden. It might be easier to spot a nearby ostrich fern patch in the summer, and go back to harvest in the spring. We have lots in our forest.​

Fiddleheads are the early form of the Ostrich fern - one of two abundant ferns in our area, which also has a lot of Cinnamon fern. It's key to be able to distinguish between these two ferns, and luckily it's pretty easy.  The first key characteristic of the ostrich fern is that is it covered with light brown / tan paper - as opposed to the white fuzz that covers the cinnamon fern. The second key characteristic is that its stem has a groove in it (a cross section would be U shaped like a tiny celery), as opposed to the cinnamon fern which doesn't. In the picture below, the ostrich fern is at the top and the cinnamon fern at the bottom. 

I cut a couple of fiddleheads from each fern and leave the rest, to ensure a sustainable harvest. I cut them near the ground as the stem is quite good. Once at home, I sort through the fiddleheads to confirm identification, remove as much of the papery husk as I can (but it's fine if some stays), trim off the ends and wash them. I boil or steam them, then pan fry them in olive oil with garlic, salt, pepper. I add a little bit of lime juice. Delicious!