Here is a short video we found that nicely describes how to use a gallon milk jug to do winter seed sowing. It’s great because the seeds know when to come up! Winter sowing video.
Seeds of Solidarity Farm emphasizes soil building and worm production through permanent no-till raised beds and fields. We use cardboard, mulch, and cover crops to nourish and open up land and nourish the life in the soil. We’ve had great success transforming forested, acid land marginal for growing vegetables into balanced and rich agricultural soil. Without a need to till, there is no need for machinery that uses fossil fuels and release carbon when tilling; we grow in solidarity with the 80% of the world’s farmers that cultivate the earth with their hands. We use solar hoophouses to grow vibrant salad greens, spinach, and Asian greens from February through December, as well as tomatoes, peppers, and other hot weather crops. Hoophouses extend the growing season and protect from pests and weather extremes increasingly wrought by climate change. Increasingly, we grow sacred crops such as traditional corns, wheat, and tobacco.
Our family farm is distinct from the non-profit organization, but serves as an educational space to share strategies for viable small scale intensive farming. After 25 years of marketing produce retail and wholesale, from farmers markets to restaurants, we now sell our produce exclusively at our farmstand and to our very local food coop. In addition, we cultivate over 14 varieties of garlic, sold at the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival.
We are happy to share a few resources to support no-till farming and gardening for life, and efforts to Grow Food Everywhere!
Information sheets:
and our Video on the Cardboard Method for no-till, weed free, soil enriching growing!
Results from a SARE grant on using cardboard as mulch.
Small Scale No-till Vegetables at Seeds of Solidarity Farm by Brian Caldwell, Cornell Small Farm Quarterly, October 2016
Creating the Worm’s Perfect Single’s Bar by Ricky Baruc in the Natural Farmer, Winter 2015-16
Seeds of Solidarity 