Tilling, Notill, Mulching, Compost???

In our first year at AVF (Ananda Valley Farm) we planted cover crops and then tilled them under in the spring and then rototilled in a layer of compost.

This year we are also plowing most of our fields as last year.

However we also will be trying a no-till approach on 9 rows and see how that goes.

A few months ago we visited a CSA farm in Sebastopol called Singing Frogs Farm to learn about the notill techniques they used.  It was quite impressive, Farmer Paul there just puts compost on the beds without tilling it in. This approach protects the soil's health, increases organic matter, and promotes microbial life.  Farmer Paul has created a fair amount of discussion in some farming circles.  You can read about here:

http://www.singingfrogsfarm.com/Home.html

http://craftsmanship.net/drought-fighters/



After seeing Farmer Paul's approach we also decided to not till in our compost.  Instead we'll just add a thin layer to the tops of every bed and then plant in them.
We'll report back later in the year how this approach compared to our experience last year when we tilled in both the cover crops and compost.
 
Here's a compost pile, ready to be spread around: