The Search for the method.

I started searching the internet for no till garden operations. I will say that, at the time there was no information available. No-till had not made it's debut on the garden side, or so it initially appeared. After some long searching I found in a old article on Mother Earth News. The article referenced Ruth Stout as being a certain mother of modern no till. I found one of her books on Amazon and purchased it.

Her book was extremely readable. If you do not own any of her titles I suggest that you pick one up for the entertainment value of it at least. She was a amazing author and teacher. I true gem of her time. Her method employed the use of mulch for weed retardation and promotion of soil structure. Based on what I had learned in soil science it sounded like the perfect method. Add that with the soil cooling and moisture retention properties of the mulch and I figured that it would be a good system for Oklahoma. (It is seriously not unusual for the temperature to be over 100 and the wind to be blowing 20MPH+. You should consider this part of Oklahoma a extreme dehydrator)

It was a bitter sweet thing for me to consider mulch gardening as the champion of my garden. I had spent a significant portion of my time building a 3 cubic Yard compost pile. (At the time I was thinking of doing a composting toilet... the wife was not fond of that idea but was as supportive as any woman can be of a man essentially spreading his humannure on the garden.) Wither her method I did not need to compost...

In the end I used the compost bins because I still through out a lot of animal based materials and I am not confident enough to just place that in the garden directly. I usually grow morning glories on it. I find that it makes this base object a little more appealing.

In the end though I had a method that was perfect for Oklahoma. The mulch helped retain moisture, and provide even moisture for plants sensitive to massive fluctuations in soil moisture (such as tomatoes) while simultaneously providing protection of the seed bed for weed control. And unlike mulches like black fabric or plastic, the mulch would help to keep the soil cool. Methods like that might work well for California, but I have my doubts about an area that is as hot as Oklahoma.

The question still remained, how do I start the garden since I am not converting a garden but rather starting on in new ground.