Back to Eden

Oops - meant to be a reply to: https://permies.com/t/36290/soil/Convince-Father

I'd suggest getting him to watch the 'Back to Eden' film. Like Ruth Stout and many others, Paul Gauschi truly understands that just as in nature, it's all about covering the soil and no need to till.

Back to Eden

Michael Vormwald wrote:Oops - meant to be a reply to: https://permies.com/t/36290/soil/Convince-Father

I'd suggest getting him to watch the 'Back to Eden' film. Like Ruth Stout and many others, Paul Gauschi truly understands that just as in nature, it's all about covering the soil and no need to till.

Back to Eden

Will this work in a mediterranean climate with sandy soil though, you think?

I believe mulch works everywhere but in the med you may not have enough wood chips so other mulches would be in order.
Also, the film is a little misleading. Although he did initially, Paul does not currently use wood chips in his garden, The 'soil' in his garden is produced by his chickens as all his yard and garden waste goes into the chicken run where the chickens process and add their manure, then this 'soil' into the garden in the fall. The orchard does have an ample layer of wood chips.
I also believe that in many cases poor soils should be enriched before just throwing down mulch and expecting great results. Adding compost and/or aged/composted manure before mulching is a huge benefit for most soils. However, by it's very nature, mulch is sheet composting and in time, along with no till, the soil will surely be enriched.

footnote: One fall I placed a pile of leaves in my garden. The following spring as I tilled my otherwise hard ground, the tiller sunk effortlessly to it's maximum depth where the leaves had been in winter. Nature can 'till' better than any machine!

Nolan Robert wrote:Will this work in a mediterranean climate with sandy soil though, you think?

Michael Vormwald wrote:I believe mulch works everywhere but in the med you may not have enough wood chips so other mulches would be in order.
Also, the film is a little misleading. Although he did initially, Paul does not currently use wood chips in his garden, The 'soil' in his garden is produced by his chickens as all his yard and garden waste goes into the chicken run where the chickens process and add their manure, then this 'soil' into the garden in the fall. The orchard does have an ample layer of wood chips.
I also believe that in many cases poor soils should be enriched before just throwing down mulch and expecting great results. Adding compost and/or aged/composted manure before mulching is a huge benefit for most soils. However, by it's very nature, mulch is sheet composting and in time, along with no till, the soil will surely be enriched.

footnote: One fall I placed a pile of leaves in my garden. The following spring as I tilled my otherwise hard ground, the tiller sunk effortlessly to it's maximum depth where the leaves had been in winter. Nature can 'till' better than any machine!

Nolan Robert wrote:Will this work in a mediterranean climate with sandy soil though, you think?

Very interesting.

Thanks!

This is the complete tour of Paul Gautschi's Back to Eden garden on one video:

How is the video misleading if Paul started everything off with wood chips? It really isn't 'produced' by the chickens, as if the crops had been left to compost on the ground, the same effect would have been achieved. Since he feeds the chickens from his garden, and by digesting it and using the minerals and vitamins to produce eggs, they're actually taking away nutrients rather than producing soil. Furthermore, if it were not for the carbon content of the wood chips, the high nitrogen in their droppings would cause a completely inhospitable environment for the plants.