MAINTENANCE

Keeping the vegetable beds grass and weed free is a constant

program.  This is because we do not till, and because we

have grass paths between the rows:

1. No-Till ;  There are billions of organisms in the soil that

maintain its structure (air spaces, chemical balance, cohesion, etc) and actually help feed the roots.

These include beneficial microscopic bacteria and fungus, protozoa other tiny things, ants,

millipedes, sow bugs, mites and spiders, all the way up to earthworms.

These living things grow and consume each other, leaving behind nutrients

that vegetables need to stay healthy.  Some have symbiotic relationships

which actually allow the plant root to absorb everything that it needs.

Now, if someone comes along and digs up and/or turns over

the soil, much of the life and structure is destroyed, through 

dessication, or drying out of the dirt, physical changes in the dirt itself,

 and death by ultraviolet sunlight exposure.