Elisa, the premise of BTE is that tilling destroys the soil structure and bio life. Tilling removes the covering; the soil rapidly dries out and top soil erodes. The "magic" in the wood chips is it is a covering that first retains moisture, and secondly feeds the plants as they decompose. It's why a mulch of smaller nutrient rich branches with needles and leaves is necessary and not just chipped trunks or bark chips only. The fungi that develop in the wood chip mulch help feed the plants. The mulch develops a helper system of organisms and other plant life that assists your fruits and veggies. In turn, your plants feed them. If you till composted organic material into your main garden, I'd suggest another experiment. Set aside a small section of your MG (maybe as small as 5x10 feet) for no-till. Still don't use wood chips, but layer your organics on the top (composted manure, yard waste, etc). Paul is very specific that if you don't have wood chips, just use whatever organic materials you have. (You can even use rocks) The most important part is to create a covering and not mix it in. Layer on top. When I tilled, I had virtually no earthworm population. Now, by not tilling, I can't dig a 4 " planting hole anywhere without killing several earthworms. And my soil (mostly red clay) is always damp and soft I destroyed a small tiller in two seasons trying to break up the clay. I then rented bigger tillers that beat me up for 6-8 hours trying to a 12x40 garden in which one half barely produced b/c of the rock hard clay. And it was back just as hard in the fall as it was in the spring. So it wasn't getting easier with time. Now with the wood chips, that area stays moist and soft. Everything grows there and I save the expense of renting, tilling, and fighting the soil every season. The fact that you got 25% more production is huge. You can get that in your MG using BTE principles but without adding wood chips. Paul no longer adds wood chips to his main garden b/c of his difficulty in walking. He uses them everywhere else. But in his MG he uses compost from his chicken pen as the covering.

Brenda, Hooray for the tiny tomatoes and peppers! They won't stay small for long. If your onions seem behind, try giving them a shot of nitrogen fertilizer. They are heavy feeders. You can give them dried blood/blood meal if you garden organically or any pelleted form of lawn fertilizer that contains nitrogen only. They also need a consistent amount of moisture even if no rain is falling. Otherwise they stall and just sit there and refuse to grow. You can plant garlic this year, but just not right now. In our climate we can start planting garlic in the September-October time frame for harvest next June or thereabouts. I am so glad your husband is hanging in there and making his way through all the surgeries. Hopefully he'll soon be strong enough for the third one. I am glad to hear he's making good dietary changes, and that you make it more fun and more meaningful for him by growing fresh produce yourself. Fresh is so much more nutritious because nutrients degrade as 'fresh' produce is shipped across the country, and even around the world, to reach store shelves. I also think there is something that just "feels right" about eating food you've grown yourself whenever you can. Dorothy, I know. It made me laugh out loud at first, but after a while I was tired of it. When we got married in September of that year so very long ago, it was 102 degrees. I think they thought they'd gotten on an airplane and flown to H-E-L-L. After we moved here, my brother and sister-in-law and their kids came to visit that August. They were here for 3 days and our high temps while they were here were 110-111-112. It was a drought summer, so that year the humidity was very low when they were visiting, but it still was miserably hot, even if it was a dry heat (grinning). They can't stand our heat 'cause they aren't used to it, but then I can't tolerate their cold weather either. We were there on Memorial Day weekend one year, and it was 26 degrees in the morning when we got up early to go trout fishing. Another year, it was 70 degrees and misty on the Fourth of July. I had typical Texas summer clothes with me, so all I remember about the Fourth of July was that I was freezing and that the fireworks show was cancelled because of the rainy, foggy, misty weather. Dawn

I've just decided that I'm not going to worry about it. I'll go to the meeting and "protest" with the others, but, honestly, if they don't take our property to build anything, we will just stay here more than likely. It will not be fun being so close to a turnpike, though. My BIL said a developer will probably want our neighborhood at some point if the turnpike people don't take it. I guess, my things is--how much more do we put into this property if they'll force us out? This is not a fancy property at all OR a fancy house. We bought here because it really is just the perfect size for all we want to do. Our last house in a regular neighborhood was fancy and large, but had almost no backyard. I don't want to go into mega debt to buy a large piece of property. I'm sure we would qualify, but at our age, do we want a large house debt? We've paid this house down quite a bit since living here, plus used our money to add a 1200 sq ft. shop and do some remodeling--the entire kitchen, living, dining, and utility was gutted. The hall bath was remodeled a year ago. Tom did most of the work on the bathroom, though. Our bedrooms and other bathroom need help. The carpet and other bathroom especially. BUT, do we spend the time and money doing that? Also, just the work of adding the gardens and remodeling a 12'x16' shed into a nice coop. I just think of how much work I did on the kitchen garden--it took a couple of years to dig out all of the bermuda grass. But ya know, the local news keeps showing the same picture of Franklin NOT Indian Hills when it talks about the new turnpikes. It's the next main road to our south. To me, it makes more sense to use Franklin. Seems like there's less development. Except Toby Keith's house. lol. And his Hollywood Corners place. Oh, and the votech. We will just see what happens. Either we will stay, or we will be forced out. Whatever happens, we will bloom where we are planted. I'm not sore from my fall. Thank goodness. I might have a bruise. Once I realized I was not going to be able to stop it, I let myself just fall without tensing up. I've been sick a lot in 2022. It's like the first year I worked with children--was literally sick half the year. Maybe our immune systems were weakened from not being exposed for a couple of years. It's like starting over. What is everyone up to this weekend?

Jennifer I have had the same sense to purge for several months. Minimal mom is my favorite yt channel and Joshua Becker. They have inspired me to go all in out all out as the case may be. I am only keeping what I need, love and use. And a few family heirlooms. Simplifying my life so I have energy for what’s really important is the mantra. Focusing on relationships gardening health wellness are of utmost importance to me this year. I have been collecting 5 gallon buckets at work and Walmart when I get a chance. I am repacking much of my stuff for storage into those because they don’t get too heavy for me and pulling big totes out of the loft full of stuff is dangerous for me. I am going minimalist in most areas but not really garden seeds. I still have a dream to have a large place to plant all the beautiful things and 25 different types of pumpkins etc. so I continue to save seeds of all types. I need very few things for this growing year. I found a5 gallon and a 2 gallon bucket full of sprouting seeds. They are so old not sure of they will sprout but thought I’ll try and if it doesn’t work I’ll feed to the chickens. I have been rethinking my yard and how I am going to lay out smaller area. The chickens have been working an area for me to rid it of weeds and grass. I just need to frame it in. I feed them there and they fertilize for me. I am going to cover soon and start a new area. I think it is best to let chicken poop sit for a few months before using it right? Cow peas are tradition for New Years. Not sure variety matters.