To till or not to till 😁

[Robert walker]

I read all the comments here. The only thing I might disagree with is some saying to till in lime to balance the ph. I have read a lot of things written by agriculture professors that say lime will not leech up in the soil, every time it rains it goes deeper and ends up being no benefit to your plants. I till my garden in the spring and then I spread lime right on top of the ground. It also stops bottom end rot in tomatoes. Since I started doing that my garden has produced A much better yield. I’m in east Texas where we have a clay base with anywhere from 12-18” of sand on top of it.

 

[Kasamoto]

''We look at the forest around us and note the pine tree’s that have been there hundreds of years with thick ( 4 inches ) compost at their base but under that pure white sugar sand.''
''We don’t understand why the soil isn’t dark rich under these tree’s?
You’d think after that many years the soil would be black?''

Not sure if I understand correctly... the first 4'' layer is organic matter (top soil) and under that is sand ? that would make sense if the case, soil doesn't mix on its own it accumulate in layers. The sand was deposited there by floods, glacier and wind then organic matter pile on top of it. Trees help retaining organic matter in place.


Tilling would be good, it would mix the sand and the manure which would be beneficial for compaction, soil retention and adding mineral to the manure. It would offer a smooth transition, now I wouldn't buy a tiller just for that.. not tilling isn't going to hurt anything, the vegetation wont struggle to start on manure.

I agree. Tilling would help. Many plants thrive in sandy soil, especially with organic matter added.

 

[houdel]

It's not real clear to me what your objective is. Are you trying to create topsoil for a lawn or for a garden? How much area are you talking about? How much manure are you talking about?

In my case, I was trying to improve my soil for a garden. What I did was once a week I would run out to a local stable and get a pickup bed full of stall bedding - a mixture of horse manure, straw, wood chips etc. When I got home I would put a shredder on the tailgate and run the bedding mix through it which did a great job of chopping and mixing everything up. I piled pickup load after pickup load in a single pile and let it compost. Horse manure is pretty hot, in the middle of winter in below freezing temps the pile would be steaming. Then come spring I'd spread the now composted product over my garden and rototill it in. That worked great for me.

Not sure of your intent, but I'd recommend shredding your manure if you can, or at least repeatedly mechanically agitating what you have to break it down and speed up the composting process before you spread it out.

 

[RB5]

I live in Texas. I have sugar sand on top of various colors of clay. I started a garden spot over 5 years ago. I add compost to the garden every year. At first I planted my crops in rows of compost and soil mounded up. I would put anything from composted cow manure in bags to top soil and potting soil I bought pallets of when a local nursery was getting rid of them. I also had a huge load of compost delivered one year. The last 3 years I have been adding a huge pile of cow manure and hay mixed from the pasture where my cows eat hay. Each winter I move a pile of it to the garden and let it sit. Before this cold snap I turned some of it with my tractor, and it was warm inside. I spread it before planting. I disk the compost in with my tractor. I no longer have to make rows out of compost, and the soil is getting much easier to work. The garden area is 6 inches to a foot higher than it was before I started this. Each year I add a few more feet to the area I disk up. I also put any compostable scraps in a pile pile of hay and manure near the garden. I keep that going and keep adding to it. I use an organic fertilizer. I've had some really good gardens when the weather is right. Last year the soil was deep enough that I actually had a good corn crop for the first time. I currently have a pile of compost that is around 10 by 15 feet and 3 to 4 feet tall ready to mix in. I still have more to move out of the pasture. Prior to starting on this I used to grow a few things in raised beds. It was ok, but it was too much work keeping the weeds out. Bermuda grass goes wild in raised beds. Our place was once used to grow cotton. I still see a few plants here and there. After that is was used for cattle for a number of years. Compost is your friend. You can add minerals if you need to. I have not had my soil tested. What I am doing seems to work really well so far.

 

[RB5]

I read all the comments here. The only thing I might disagree with is some saying to till in lime to balance the ph. I have read a lot of things written by agriculture professors that say lime will not leech up in the soil, every time it rains it goes deeper and ends up being no benefit to your plants. I till my garden in the spring and then I spread lime right on top of the ground. It also stops bottom end rot in tomatoes. Since I started doing that my garden has produced A much better yield. I’m in east Texas where we have a clay base with anywhere from 12-18” of sand on top of it.

Calcium also helps the tomatoes. We have about the same soil here. In some places there is very little topsoil above the clay.

 

[paulsharvey]

I've read and heard both arguments on lime. I guess I'm of the nature, if I'm buying something, I want to make sure it's In the soil, not On the soil; but the wisdom seems to be split. If I had to break down what I've read/heard; if it's Bare soil, lime sould be worked into the soil (shallow), to keep it from blowing/washing away; But if you have stubble/cover crop/ect, then it 'seems' wisdom says, don't work it in, until your doing your primary or secondary tillage.