{photo: Frith Farm, going #ham on some interplating this year]

Interplanting

Much can be said about the downsides of interplating. It can make crop planning a nightmare, harvesting inefficient, and lead to too much experimental failure when the second crop unwittingly takes out the primary (been there, done that). But, still, the lot of us feel compelled to keep interplanting. Figuring out good companions not only makes the most of our space (i.e. increases the revenue of a bed), but also increases diversity, puts more roots in the ground, and the two crops can work together. Example, the trellised peas provided some shade for the romaine during this relentlessly hot/dry Spring and the lettuce made use of space that otherwise would have remained bare.

dcfarm gives us an honest take on five years of trial and error—and success—with interplanting with some good takeaways. They write, “I've done so much of this it's ridiculous. I attended a JM Fortier workshop a few years ago. At that event he stated that he'd never seen a commercial vegetable production operation succeed using interplanting or companion planting… After 5 years of experimenting I've decided the best approach is to plant…”

Further, check out all of the interplanting going on at Frith Farm.

Let us know what interplanting you’re doing this season. You can post it in the growers community or post a picture and tag us on Instagram @notillgrowers.

IG Notables

Here are several farms we’ve begun following on Instagram for some serious #notill inspiration. Side note: I’m very reluctant to follow many farms on social media. In an age of information overload, I limit it to just those who farm in a manner I want to take my farming, and post a lot of valuable information, or at least “descriptive” pictures of their work. We have an insanely valuable tool for spreading small-scale soil-conserving methods and connecting with one another here. Just sayin’.

Mossy Willow Farm
Ten Mothers Farm
Spindlebrook Fram
Oxton Organics

Free Broadfork!

Seriously, no click-bait. In case you missed it, paperpot.co has given No-Till Growers a free badass Meadow Creature broadfork to give away to one lucky attendee at the Frith Farm at Rough Draft event in October. We’ve already sold quite a few tickets (sorry folks, space is limited), so don’t wait to get yours (click-it below). Patreon members may receive discounts and it’s not too late to become a member.

Our model is different. It is based on the idea that the more we can share, discuss, and connect, the better our farms will be for the long-haul. Like farmers sharing observations over the fence-row, our aim is to provide you—the grower—with the best no-till information we can get our compost covered hands on. For free. However, it take a lot of time, and not a little bit of money, to keep No-Till Growers growing. If you found this post to be of value, you can help us keep it that way by voluntarily supporting our work for as little as $2/month on Patreon, or you can Venmo/Paypal a one time donation.