No-Till methods of Food
Production
Natural Farming,
Layer Cake
Gardening, Smallscale Organic Notill
Masanobu Fukuoka
• Lived 1913-2008 in Japan
• Trained in Plant Pathology
• Wanted to Farm in a way
that mimicked nature
• Author of The One Straw
Revolution, The Natural
Way of Farming, and The
Road Back to Nature
4 Principles of Natural Farming
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•
•
•
No Cultivation
No Fertilizer
No Weeding
No Pesticides
Rice/Barley Succession
• Rice grown May-October
• Barley Grown October-May
• Done without Tilling, flooding of fields, and
fertilizers
• Matched or exceeded yields of highly
mechanized neighbors
• Did not ask “what more can I do?”, but
instead “what can I not do?”
Rice/Barley Succession
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Barley broadcast a couple of weeks before Rice
harvest with White Clover (nitrogen source)
Rice Harvested, and straw spread back on field
Thin layer of chicken manure (nitrogen source) spread
to help decompose straw (carbon source)
In December, rice for following year broadcast in clay
pellets
Barley harvested in May and straw spread on
emerging rice seedlings and clover
Thin layer of chicken manure (nitrogen source) spread
to help decompose straw (carbon source)
Fukuoka’s vegetable experiments
• Broadcast vegetable seeds in his
citrus orchard next to the trees amidst
clover
• Planted spring plants as winter
weeds began to die, and fall plants as
summer weeds began to die
– His vegetables outcompeted weeds if
planted with cover crop
• Every season, he let a certain
percentage of plants go to seed
• Plants in the same species crosspollinated with each other
– Vegetables “re-wilded” themselves
Advantages/Disadvantages
• Advantages
– Method teaches us to think outside the box
– Emphasis on observing environment and mimicking natural
systems
– Less work
– Straw recycles nutrients and suppresses weeds
• Disadvantages
– His methods for grains and vegetables not universal
• Need plenty of rainfall and fertile soil
– Vegetable method more of an experiment (wife still had
traditional kitchen garden)
– Rice impractical in Texas
– Resilient weeds (Bermuda & Johnson Grass)
– Japan’s climate much different than Waco
A Central Texas grain succession
• Using Fukuoka’s system, what type of
succession would work in this climate?
• Winter
– Wheat, Barley or Rye with a type of clover or vetch
• Summer
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–
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To be honest, I don’t know what would work
3 sisters?
Cowpeas?
Buckwheat?
Sorghum?
Layer Cake Gardening
• Salamander Springs Farm in Berea, KY
• Adapted, simpler version of Sheet Mulch
Gardening and Lasagna Gardening
3 Layers
• Bottom Layer- Cardboard, old feed bags
• Middle Layer- thin layer of compost or
manure
• Top Layer (icing)- rotted hay, leaves, or
similar carbon source
• Layers are left to compost for 3 months
before planting
Advantages/Disadvantages
• Advantages
– Not labor intensive
– No equipment needed
– Cardboard suppresses weeds
• Disadvantages
– Requires planning ahead and patience
– Some want immediately raised beds
Neal Curran’s Method
• Beds solarized with clear plastic
• Fall cover crop planted
– Usually a legume or a legume with a grain
– Popular examples include Hairy Vetch/Rye, Crimson Clover/Oats
• Cover crops overwinter and put on rapid growth in spring
and are crimped or cut at flowering stage
• Spring crops are transplanted into cover crop residue
• Same method can be used for summer cover crops to
fall vegetables
• Another cover crop or vegetable bed should be planted
after harvest to beat the next set of weeds
Advantages/Disadvantages
• Advantages
– Cost effective
– No initial compost needed
– Nitrogen source + Weed Suppression + habitat for
beneficial insects
• Disadvantages
– Requires a lot of planning and proper timing
– Early season crops and direct seeded plants cannot
be easily grown in thick mulch
– In Texas, weeds will eventually grow through cover
crop mulch
Common Threads
• Green Manures and Cover Crops
• Creative weed suppression
• If you don’t have a rototiller or tractor, you
have options