Planting Grains No-Til Method

Anyone have a method of planting grains in a no til bed? I’ve grown corn in lasagna style beds (no-til) but it was a painstaking process cutting holes into the cardboard and sowing each individual seed by hand. I want to plant corn and oats into a no til garden bed from scratch this year, but I can’t think of easier ways of planting into a no-til bed.

I thought about making some sort of sharp hollow pipe that I could punch holes through the cardboard into the dirt and somehow pull out a plug of dirt and cardboard out. Also, I don’t have to use the lasagna method, it was nice with weeds. Does anyone have suggestions on planting methods for no-til?

With small grains, I typically broadcast seeds onto the soil surface, just before a rain or snow storm.

To make a tube seeder -- Cut off a piece of pipe at a 60 degree angle. Jab it into the ground long-side facing away from you. Use your foot to push it forward, making a nice hole. Drop a seed, (or a plant), down the hole. Step on the hole to compact the soil around the seed.

With metal pipe, I can use these types of seeders even in heavy rocky soil.

I planted barley yesterday, a month later than last year due to weather. It was just a small patch about 4' by 20'. I raked off the leaves and plant debris from last year, pulled out a few dandelions and some tomato stumps and scratched the surface up good with my rake. Then I broadcast my seeds, stirred it around a bit with the rake and tamped it all down by walking on it. That part took about ten minutes. I selected each individual seed for large size and that truly had completely and easily lost its hull, that took a few hours in front to the TV the night before.

When I switched to no till, defined by me as getting rid of machines it took a couple years for the ground to respond, now I can almost "till" as much as is actually necessary with my fingers but it's faster with the rake and I don't have to bend over.

Ryan,  is this a new garden bed or do you already have some good soil going? Your method will likely be different depending on wether your soil is already light and workable or if it's a compacted lawn. My experience with corn is that it will thank you for every bit of input you give it. So something fast and easy will bear proportionally poor results.

No till from scratch, meaning un-prepared new ground, as Nathanael asked?

Tough, but still possible. I see from other posts that you are located in central Illinois, so you still have some time before last frost. Corn planted in cold soil will not germinate well, so until then, you can start your lasagna bed.

1. Lots of cardboard and newspaper, much overlapped, many layers. Don't worry about roots penetrating this. Once its wet, and worms start working on it, roots will get through quite easily.
2. Good finished compost or fresh vermicompost if you have it, with worms and worm eggs included (worms love cardboard). This will feed the soil organisms that are needed to jumpstart your crop. Remember your main crop is good soil, not corn or whatever you plant on top.
3. Water it down, get the cardboard layer good and wet, but don't wash away the compost.
4. Add whatever lasagna layers you have available, make them thin so there are no matted grass clipping layers, for example. Build it up as high as possible. 2 feet is not too much. Avoid material with lots of weed seeds.
5. Keep it moist, dig down to the cardboard layer to test, water before it dries out. The top can be dry, it protects the lower layers.
6. When its warmer, scratch shallow grooves to plant in, at your preferred row spacing. Plant your corn, cover with more compost. Water.
7. Depending on your birds/deer/groundhogs, etc, you may need temporary protection. The birds in my yard love to watch me plant and then swoop in to carefully extract each and every seed. They are smart! and they remember where every seed was planted. I also plant some sacrificial, fast germinating annuals like radishes and arugula. Birds may get some, but they will hide the corn shoots for a few days.
8. Sprinkle a very thin layer of fresh grass clippings on top. This camouflages the corn shoots, repeat every few days.
9. Add more lasagna compost as the corn grows, instead of hilling it up.
10. Maybe protect it from wind in your location?

A new lasagna bed, depending on your weed pressure and varieties, may need some weeding for the first year, but the loose compost makes that easy. Just pull it out early before it gets established. Grasses, especially - they have underground reserves of sugar in their roots to feed the growth of new shoots. If you get them quick, those reserves get depleted. If you leave them a few weeks, they can photosynthesize enough to become unstoppable. The farmers footprints (and attention) are the best fertilizer (and weedkiller).

Nathanael Szobody wrote:Ryan,  is this a new garden bed or do you already have some good soil going? Your method will likely be different depending on wether your soil is already light and workable or if it's a compacted lawn. My experience with corn is that it will thank you for every bit of input you give it. So something fast and easy will bear proportionally poor results.

I’m starting with an existing garden bed that was tilled in the past. However, I live in central IL and my soil is pretty good. Good structure and fertility.

Ryan Burkitt wrote:
I’m starting with an existing garden bed that was tilled in the past. However, I live in central IL and my soil is pretty good. Good structure and fertility.

Nice! I would plant the seeds not too deep,  cover with a layer of compost,  and cover that with mulch.