To plow or not to plow

[budepps3760]

I am confused. I have a disc harrow, box blade, bush hog and single row cultivator. I have been thinking that I need a moldboard plow and I will be ready to get started gardening. Seeing how I have never gardened before I wanted to read up and I watched a few videos on everything attachments. Read a few posts on TBN here and a few articles I found on Google. Watched a video or two on YouTube.

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My confusion started when I read that plowing would not be a yearly event. That made me scratch my head because if it's not an implement used annually I could not see sinking that kind of money into something used so infrequently. Then I started reading that it was bad from a conservation stand point.

So my question is what is the truth? What would you recommend concerning tillage. I do not plan on a large garden, an acre or two at the most.

 

[jeff9366]

A moldboard plow is execellent for opening new ground with a compact tractor. It should not be used annually. Moldboard plowing about once every eight years refreshes nutrients in crop root zone.

If you have a Disc Harrow which is heavy enough to cut the soil where you live that is usually enough to prep soil each year. A Disc Harrow with 9" spacing between the pans will cut better than a Disc Harrow with 7" or 7-1/2" spacing between pans, but leave a rougher bed behind the implement. A Disc Harrow with 7" or 7-1/2" spacing between the pans is meant to follow the plow. It will leave a smoother seed bed behind the implement. Monroe Tufline is well known for their Disc Harrows with 9" spacing between pans on the front, cutting gangs and 7-1/2" between pans on the rear, smoothing gangs.

(You can adjust aggressiveness of Box Frame Disc Harrow cut and bed smoothness by moving the gangs. The front gangs cut and should be set on a greater attack angle than the rear, smoothing gangs. It is evident from posts on TBN that a minority with Disc Harrows adjust them.)

If you want a smoother seed bed go over the disced ground with a chain harrow, spike tooth harrow or a Landscape Rake with gauge wheels. If the garden is small, a Ratchet Rake attachment for your FEL bucket works well.

For most Gardeners, a tractor PTO powered roto-tiller is an all-in-one garden implement, displacing the plow, disc harrow and chain harrow. Once operator is proficient, only a manual bow-rake is necessary before seeding.

It is important not to overwork soil with any implement. You can beat the life right out of soil, especially in hot climates where organic constituents break down rapidly.

To me, a one acre, irrigated garden is a huge commitment which will produce more vegetables and small fruit than a single family family can use. If your kids eat vegetables voluntarily they are unusual. A two acre garden is a commercial venture.

As always, above is generally true. For some situations, up North, with clay and gravel, plowing annually may be the the norm.

 

[Jarrod32]

A moldboard plow is execellent for opening new ground with a compact tractor. It should not be used annually. Moldboard plowing about once every eight years refreshes nutrients in crop root zone.

For most Gardeners, a tractor PTO powered roto-tiller is an all-in-one garden implement, displacing the plow, disc harrow and chain harrow. Once operator is proficient, only a manual bow-rake is necessary before seeding.
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I agree with everything in the above post. I pulled out what are, in my mind, the two highlights. We have a large garden, and the tiller is the key. Of course, it costs as much as a plow/disc/harrow combined...but does the job of all of them. From breaking new ground to garden in two passes:

 

[bdog]

Agree with what they said. On virgin ground a moldboard will turn everything over and bury all the residue. After that is done you can just use a disc each year to prep it for planting. If you have ground that has grass or weeds growing thick on it and just have a disc it is going to take a lot of passes and time to get it to bare clean soil.

I bought a moldboard when I purchased 15 acres that was formerly in CRP grass. I tried my disc and it didn't work worth a darn. The moldboard buried it all and I just use the disc and a chisel plow each year now. I sold the moldboard as I don't need it anymore.

With just an acre I might just try discing it. It will take multiple passes but it isn't a large area. Just don't expect to start discing and then have a nice garden ready the next day. You will need to disc, let the plant matter break down and decay, disc some more, wait, disc some more, etc.

 

[budepps3760]

Thank you gentlemen for these enlightening responses. I have a much better idea of how now to proceed in the future. TBN is by far the best resource that I could have ever found.

 

[CCWKen]

Better read up on canning too. A one acre garden, as already mentioned, CAN produce more than you eat or have room to store. Plan your rows and groups and stagger seeding (for the season) so you don't end up with 500lbs of cabbage all at once. My B.I.L. seeded about 10 rows by about 75' of Jalapeno peppers the first year as a trial run. His wife, my sister, was canning 4-8 quarts a week and giving away pecks of peppers. They ended up selling some of it from the parking lot of a local farm supply and turned some extra cash. The BIL had to have a hip replacement so this year his gardening chores are over and sister couldn't keep up. A garden is a lot of work and can add many hours to your schedule. Be sure to get everyone involved to spread the load. However, the reward can be a horn-of-plenty. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[wmonroe]

What is the downside of using a moldboard plow every year? My current practice with my garden is to use the plow to turn over all the left over garden plants/stuff in October-November and let it sit over the winter. Come late April or early May I get the pto tiller out and hit it once and it's ready to plant.

 

[jeff9366]

Plow Pan, a layer of soil compaction just below plowing depth, develops over years, inhibiting deeper root growth.

LINK: Googlelow Pan Layer

One should work the soil as much as necessary but no more than necessary. Especially in warm climate areas, such as the U.S. South, overworking will destroy organic material. Then the soil packs.

If your conditions require the plow, then plow. Try one year without the plow, just use the roto-tiller.

I read here on T-B-N that annual Fall plowing is still fairly common up north, in Michigan and Wisconsin, where the soil has considerable clay.

Further west, in the Great Plains, where wind erosion has to be seriously considered, Chisel plows are the norm, which are conservation plows. A light duty implement relative to a Chisel plow, for SECONDARY tillage, which performs the same function behind compact tractors, is the Field Cultivator.

Field Cultivators were among the first implements (mid-1930s) designed for the tractor Three Point Hitch.

 

[Egon]

Chisel cultivators and disk's are nice but you have to have enough tractor to pull them properly.

The roto tiller would be the best choice but it too will leave a base layer as will a disk. The chisel tooth goes deeper and does break up the subsoil but to do that properly requires a bigger tractor.

 

[MF283]

For a first time garden, i'd plow as deep as the tractor will pull one, size determines that. Here in TN with a lot of clay it packs pretty hard after a year or so.
I would plow in the spring & at the end of the season would "shallow" plow enough to turn residue back into the ground every other year. If i had a chisel, i would have used that instead. A tiller would be a great addition, all i had was a Troybilt tiller which worked great & provided me with plenty of exercise.
Thanks to the Mennonites only being 45 minutes away, it's cheaper to buy from them than raising my own.

Ronnie