Hi Mallybills -- I use a serrated knife to cut the plants (especially big ones like tomatoes and broccoli) off at the ground level. That way I can put the plants, vines, etc, into the compost, and the roots stay in the ground and the soil isn't disturbed. If you layer lots of organic materials over top of the soil this winter and/or spring, I'd suggest still parting the materials and planting either your seeds or seedlings into the soil underneath. That's the way Ruth Stout does it :) As mentioned above, use newspaper if you've got lots of weeds to kill. Just use mulch if not so many weeds. No-dig is great because you can have things growing all year round, and harvesting all year round. Also, everything I"ve read says it's better for your soil (that's what you've been reading too, I'm sure.) I love the self sowing too -- each year you get crops that you never planted.

I tried round up and killed everything I had planted (even though I "protected it"). I had a tractor come in early winter and till with the concept that it turns up the grass and weeds so they freeze out during the winter (doesn't work). I tried landscape fabric (disaster, grass and weeds under, through and on top). I tried turning, weeding and covering with thick wet newspapers, then covering with landscape fabric and cedar mulch to hold it down...its covered in weeds and grass, but I can "roll it back" and the ground underneath is beautiful and ready after a year of hiding (but it was a small experiment to expand my rose garden). I'm now of the belief that mulch is the only answer. The less we disturb the soil, the healthier it can be with its own eco system. The only time I till is if I'm digging a hole for a bush/tree, then I till in the hole with a small tiller, then till the top soil into the hole, then till the clay/ hard stuff from the hole back into replacement 'topsoil'. From then on its strictly mowed grass/clover/leaves as organic mulch. (Although for this year's 'new March additions' I was short and put on cottonseed hulls.) Weed seeds that sprout on top of mulch are a flash to pull up. I've been amazed to see grass thickly growing everywhere right up to the edge of anywhere I have mulched. And when I 'weed' everything is filled with spiders, frogs, turtles, earthworms and beneficials. I have an orchard that is a continuing challenge, but I now mulch 6 foot circles around the trees and mow paths to them and just let the grass in between grow for the beneficials... or at least that's this year's plan (LOL) (I do occasionally 'till' a grass edge to weed it to expand a mulch area, but I may in the future try just mulching over the grass.) I have concerns that plastic and some other methods do not allow air and water circulation for a healthy beneficial soil to develop. So my vote is to mulch not till...

I agree with George. If you start getting big clods from the tilled soil, stop immediately because continuing will ruin your soil texture even after the soil dries. Just be careful about proceeding with planting. The nights are still VERY cold. Even with daytime highs in the 60s which are of course, refreshing lovely, we're still having nights in the 20s and only the most cold-hardy plants can tolerate those. Dawn

Muddobber, Welcome to the Ozarks! I spent a few years in Florida, gardening while I was there... and the Ozark soil is a completely different situation, isn't it? I feel like a beginner again, coming back and having to relearn how to do things! The earthworms are a great sign--they do wonders, but it can take time. My opinion: The organic matter in your mulches will do the job, but possibly not work miracles in just a year or two. But with patience and more mulch... My mother has a little garden plot (about 3'x3') that she's kept mulched with grass clippings for a decade. The soil all around it is hard as can be (Dad's a chemical fertilizer guy), but you can sink a pitchfork 12" into the ground in the garden plot-- like a table knife going through soft butter. It's amazing what organic material and a little time can accomplish. ...if you can still get a "decent" harvest out of what's there, I'd vote for continuing to lay on the OM and wait for nature to work its magic on what's beneath. I'm not sure, but letting pigs trample around on it might not be the best long-term idea-- their weight may work against you. (If you need some leverage with the family, look up Ruth Stout's books- try half.com for bargains and out-of-print copies.) Good luck!