Hello Permies! I'm new here
Recently I got a job as a farm assistant with a non-profit organization that grows organic produce on a historic farm in the heart of eastside San Jose. The produce is distributed throughout the community as a means of addressing food insecurity as well as providing good nutrition to low-income families in our area. Today was my first day working in the new pepper beds, and most of my time was spent hoeing a carpet of weeds! As I weeded the farm manager talked about the drought and the water crisis facing farmers.
I asked him why the beds we were working in weren't mulched, since mulching would both help to conserve precious water and suppress the weeds. He answered that this was because they till the fields with a tractor and mulch makes tilling impossible. I then asked why they don't graze their sheep in the beds rather than tilling. He said that this was due to restrictions imposed by the city against such practices.
So, being the novice that I am, I am turning to you all for advice in this matter. Is there a type of mulching, living or non, that would be appropriate for tilling?
