No-Till Carrots (Our Greatest Challenge Yet)

Literally as I am publishing this video I realize that I didn’t mention a couple other methods for no-till carrots that I’m going to try but fret not, as I say in the video, there will be more videos. Indeed, we are planning on over 30 beds of carrots next year right now. So yeah, there will be more videos. Some of them may even reference this video and this video may later reference those videos.. It will be like videos inside videos inside a video. Who knew no-till could be so meta?
I also forgot a weekly contest! Hm. Well, how about this: for this week I will just answer any questions you guys have. About anything. I can’t promise a truthful answer or one without snark, but by golly you will get an answer. To enter, just ask a question in the comments! That’s it. That enters you and automatically you win! Because duh, everybody is a winner on Rough Draft’s channel!
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[@bakersbooks]

I like going back and watching your older videos from this period when you were transitioning to no-till. It's really encouraging to see you weren't always super confident in your methodology but you worked on it and learned from experienced folks until you got to where you are now. Hoping I can do the same on a small scale!

[@davefroman4700]

Forking is from over fertilizing. I had the same issue. I planted a light feeder and then carrots after without adding compost and no more forking.

[@truthtone58]

I tried carrots last year in a small raised bed. I was impressed. Did it again this year and some cats thought it was a nice litter box. They got a new address. I resowed them and just about gave up on them but they came back unreal. I love growing them.

[@stevencecchini5725]

If I had to guess (and I do) I would say the larger carrot tops are from the greater amount of nitrogen in the bed that had the heavier layer f compost. Leaf growth was encouraged relative to root growth.

[@chriscaahbaugh2246]

I had the same thing happen when I started a bed for carrots...it took a couple years and they now look awesome.. When I started another bed for carrots last year I sifted through my compost from the start it took an extra hour but they come out perfect out the get 👍 👌..

[@clivesconundrumgarden]

We have alot of trouble get good germination. We have very similar (woody low grade) compost. This year we sifted it for carrots only. Obviously hard to scale but in a small garden I'd highly recommend it. Great content love your videos!!

[@GoGreenYes]

Garden-grown carrots are full of flavor and texture. They are long-lasting root vegetable that can be grow in many climates.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Completely agree on drip tape. Harrowing maybe releases a bacterial flush with more nitrogen and no-till would have a balance (by comparison) leaning in fruiting nutrient direction. (just a theory on harrow vs no-till). hehe.. Charlie is definitely kickin' it! :) I bet production goes up dramatically even next year with the no-till in play! Thanks for sharing!

[@jessewerner2119]

Unreal, looks amazing!

[@duckman860]

We use both drip and overhead sprinklers. Drip is really good for zucchini, cucumber, peppers ect

[@valm7192]

My garden is composed of rock and pebbles underneath the soil and the first time I put carrots they were mostly forked...Now they are great as I have more soil on the top.

[@woodprairiefamilyfarm5635]

We are planting potato mini tubers under landscape fabric. And since we want to rotate we want to grow something that will be a no till planting friendly cover crop in the plot for next year

[@r.perkins2103]

Possible growing ginger next to carrots prevented carrot fly? I like the two rows treated differently experiments. Love your content A+++

[@bentobarreirinhas5702]

Interesting. Don't understand most about this, but I am trying to grow vegetables in my garden

[@countrymousesfarmhouse497]

Those are fantastic carrots! I do no till here, using a chook dome system on mandala gardens. My carrots are wobbly and not great tasting, but interestingly my beetroot, turnips and potatoes are awesome, shape and flavour. We have some rocky soil in places that definitely makes a difference for forking. Cute cat. Lol

[@notillgrowers]

Definitely, we have a few rocks, too, and they will definitely help give you some fun carrot shapes!

[@tolbaszy8067]

Great videos! Maybe the difference between the harrowed bed and no-till is due to disrupting mychorrizal stratification.

[@lanebrandy1287]

The forking could be from hitting the more compact soil below. Maybe broad fork until you get a thicker layer then go no fork. My girlfriend and I love the vids! Thanks.

[@notillgrowers]

Absolutely possible. Especially in that spot. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@angelaborchardt7670]

Taller side had less sun exposure all around? Right next to tall vegetation...

[@brianchrisman4331]

I just found your channel. I will be starting a market garden this yr.I like your videos because your new at some of this too. I def have allot to learn about growing at a large scale. I'm down in Florida and can't seem to find a compost supply without chunks of wood chip in it. I may end up building a screen tumbler to sift the compost quickly.

[@notillgrowers]

Thanks, Brian! And for sure. One thing I learned this year is that it's good to have both types of compost. You need one that is easy to seed into but you also need a fair bit of cover material so the chubk ones come in handy. I also learned from a Washington composter that you can even request non-filtered compost at a discount for just cover matrerial. Perfect for transplants really. Thanks for watching!

[@brianchrisman4331]

@@notillgrowers Yeah Unfort down here we have sand for soil, that needs a huge amount of organics. The compost here isn't great(at least I've found) here. I found some good OMRI stuff but to bring 30yds they want $500 for just a delivery fee due to being 80 miles away. The local stuff I find has wood chunk (bigger then yours) and has more sand in then I wish it did.

[@tarrucohuertaecologica9997]

Thanks for the vid. Thoughts: broadforking is probably necessary in the early stages of establishing no dig, especially for carrots. In terms of germination i have many times spots due to cutworms. The crop comes up well but by week 2 the seedling's start to fall and disappear and sure enough there's cutworms in the problem area. As to large tops N is a big influencer apparently. We alwaydy have way too large tops so need to dial down on N and up on K. In your case the previous crop was the same so maybe the harrow has some effect on short term N availability?

[@notillgrowers]

Yeah, maybe. That’s not a bad assumption. I haven’t tested this obviously, but it’s possible. The Broadfork does seem to make a big difference, at least until the beds fully loosen (which could take years in more clay dominate soils).

[@Jonathan-tr9tx]

The differences between the two carrots leaves and root sizes is from plant hormone ratios. Auxins to cytokinins

[@hillviewfarms6852]

Great content!! I've been experimenting with no-till for a couple of years now. Carrots have been the trickiest crop with our heavy clay soil and hot Mediterranean climate. We eventually added the tilther into our farm system to help with the seed to soil contact for better germination. We had success in the spring and now are experimenting with fall/winter production. Do you happen to have any tips for removing heavy crop debris like okra and broccoli to flip the beds to a new crop? Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@notillgrowers]

Thank you! So as for crop residue we cut the crop out at the base abd move the stem/etc. to the compost. This leaves in a bulky root obviously (especially for things like okra) but then we compost over that. Whatever crop follows will either have to be a crop we can sow around the roots (so not carrots but maybe turnips which are three or four rows instead of seven), or a crop we can transplant. The incentive to leaving the root in place is big: not digging up new weed seed, allowing the root exudates from photosynthesis to keep feeding the microbes, plus adding additional organic matter. Takes some improv but we feel it's worth it. Thanks for watching!

[@hillviewfarms6852]

Great! We have been doing a similar method but we are now trying to reduce the amount of human energy per bed on the farm. Our main trials this year have been leaving crop reside in place and composting right on the beds. We first started out using silage tarps to break down the crop residue then found better results using landscape fabric. With the fabric I was able to maintain better soil moisture levels increasing the biological activity in the top layer of soil. This method has worked really well with leafy greens and some bigger crops like summer squash etc. I'm wanting to trial a fail mower on some woodier crops like okra and broccoli to chop up the crop residue to compost in bed. I don't own a BCS with a flail mower attachment but would love to see if this would work. What do you think?

[@shawnrusselld]

I wouldn't consider adding a shit load of soil to the existing soil no til, but maybe that is just me. It's basically a til garden with extra steps.

[@ajb.822]

Well, I think he meant it mainly in that it's NOW a no-till garden, albeit a recent conversion, and apparently in his mind, it counted, because apparently, he'd of normally tilled right before sowing carrots. He did grow for many years originally as a conventionally tillage based grower.

[@ajb.822]

I know next to nothing compared to y'all, but am wondering if the neighboring planting (of okra ? ... I'm in nw WI. Don't grow or eat it ;) ) was a factor in the taller carrots. Reaching for sunlight ? Anything else to do with their proximity ? Otherwise , from the comments, I'm also leaning towards the nitrogen thing.

[@Garden_FarmLovers]

you are inspiring me idol

[@MrMrblackcreek]

VOLES? we do minimum tilling and it's mostly to collapse vole tunnels so I can grow carrots. How is your vole tunnel network dealt with?

[@Luktus8]

So can you define what you consider no till? You say you harrow but don't broadfork.

[@laldan29]

I have tried for 2 seasons to grow no till carrots and have always been dissappointed with germination so have bought a small mantis tiller that is just going to be used for carrots. Bit annoying but carrots are cool

[@funnywolffarm]

so patience is the only way that experiment can yield good information. likely I imagine if someone wants to suddenly go no till they need to avoid weak/sensitive root crop (carrots), or use shallow root crop, or find someone who wants to buy a lot of stoic root crop like radish. Those carrots are hitting something like clay (which I have here) and splitting and doing the best they can. Radish. Short root. Funky carrot. Only a few options as far as I see. Patience.

[@rostamkocholo]

The difference of the two rows is probably due to shade by tall crops ( okra) next to them.

[@anissaferringer4965]

Harrowing gave more tops bc it made the N in soil immediately available?

[@kingtut4752]

vegetation could be longer because of the light. which way does the sun go?

[@arthurianlegend352]

I think that the harrowing was less of a factor then the proximity of those hedgerows

[@themusiclab2621]

Is your compost mostly biochar?

[@dairsensi]

I forgot who it was, but there was another guy who did the same experiment. No till carrot bed vs tilled carrot bed. Had the same results. Tilled bed had tons of forked carrots with big tops.

[@notillgrowers]

Whoa, really!? That's interesting. If you think of who it was, let me know!

[@ciarataylor702]

Red gardens

[@jacksonrolett9683]

Do you think a better precision seeder, specifically the Jang, might increase seed/soil contact? By the way, we usually watch these videos on the porch with or coffee in the morning, and Arlo comes running to see when he hears your into music.

[@notillgrowers]

Good question. I don't know. The issue here, at least with our compost, is soil texture and conpost depth. I think any seeder will struggle honestly. Hoping next year the texture will have improved. And send my love to Arlo who obviously has good taste!

[@MistressOP]

next year remember to put some spring onion transplants in. get that second intercrop plant working for you. we tend to do a lot of green onions (almost like a mulch for root crops) a super fast crop when we transplant. That is handy since so many young people eat a lot of Chinese food. it's eaten 1 to 2 times per week. (homemade Chinese) when we started local Asian, African, middle eastern, South/Central American, and Greek/Turkish veggies, herbs, fruits -- where underdeveloped markets. we have a habit of trying to grow things for people who are already well served. Cos as farmers we just want to grow what we ourselves eat. without really reading the market around us. had a dairy guy who was upset cos he was going out of biz doing cows. he was in upstate new york, why are you worried about cow milk and the laws aren't welcoming to large manure pools. it's also a dumb way to farm. GOATS-- where the no-brainer answer. he was right next door to a large Muslim and Jewish market. We got farms partly going out of biz cos they are so insulated from the markets they should be selling. Out of either stubbornness or foolishness. Angry that the things they grow are worthless on these commodity markets or going down in flames cos of the tariff. It's so frustrating. All the money, land in the hands of people who piss it away. Meanwhile, those same people look down on first gen farmers without realizing how far they actually have to come to farm and how much they probably know. It's rather frustrating to watch all that top soil go.

[@notillgrowers]

Great thoughts! Thank you for all your comments and insight! And I agree about reading the market. We are really just dialing that in ourselves. And green onions for sure. They sell like crazy. I'm always shocked.

[@watermelonlalala]

You're not in Kansas anymore, Mr. Farmer Everything here is upside down. What's the matter? Can't you stand on your head?

[@ajb.822]

I totally agree with you on paying attn. to what folks around you are eating or would like to, finding under-served niches too. On farmers being open minded and taking more responsibility and blaming others less. I grew up on a dairy farm, worked there til my 30s, so, I hear ya ! On the other hand, while definitely pros and cons, I wouldn't call cattle ( vrs. goat) dairy farming stupid. I myself don't know goats, and I do know they're different enough from cows, and while I was never taught any formal stuff ( long story, but we weren't in anything like FFA and my Dad didn't really teach), but experience-wise, I know cows n calves quite well. I would farm differently myself, having already decided in early 20s I'd do rotational pastured, max that and minimal cropping etc. & grain feeding, & maybe seasonal calving, to an extent anyways. OG too of course, tho I'd like to do it Joel Salatin's way if possible ( not USDA certified). Then in recent years learning about planned grazing/holistic management, more about soil life and no-till and etc. , and ways to leave the calves on the cows for their milk ( no dealing with trying to keep everything clean and non-toxic enough, feed em enough but not too much, no milk replacer, and all that jazz). Then, there's still the commodity markets... no freedom, no control. Absolutely HATE it. So, would have to buy a farm near a small, independent processor/bottler/retailer who'd be willing to take me on, as that's not something I want to do myself. Back to goats... I've learned from Greg Judy the huge advantages of small cows on the sod health and for meat to carcass ratio etc. ( but hardy and thrifty and so on... we're NOT talking about any scrawny lil jersey that crosses your path... ). So, goats may not be necessary and unlike cows and sheep, goats ( I've read) really should have mainly browse, not a fairly tree & bush-less pasture like so many, sadly, are today. And I don't want to milk sheep. I'm tall and board shouldered and big hands, for a woman ( No, I'm not ugly. I am German/Swedish tho. ). So, not all of us AT ALL want to deal with tiny lil animals, either. I would like to try goats. Get to know them, used to them. It could be fine. But if pressed to choose what to put my $ and time into, and I couldn't go work for a goat farmer for awhile 1st, I'd farm cattle, in some way. And some people can drink cow's milk just fine and among the growing percentage of the population who's adopted the WestonA.PriceFoundation's research and guidelines - for super wise reason - OG, ( preferably raw) cows milk us highly sought after, as is the dairy products from it, esp. from 100% forage fed cows out in sun and eating fresh as much as possible. They're not trying to buy butter from goats, but from those cows.... . PS: I agree with the sad issue of general arrogance etc. among conventional growers - thanks to my mom's influence I was probably the only farm kid in my area who shopped at the food co-op and later, knew that OG wasn't primarily about it tasting better... . But new, different farmers can have attitudes, too... and the ol conventional guys may know a thing or two of value, also. Listen to Mark Sheppard's talks, he has nuggets of wisdom/good example per this topic.

[@MistressOP]

@@ajb.822 I do think conventional know things of value. I never said they didn't I was talking about a guy who was basically drowning in his market. Because it's upstate and there use to be way to much milk. Most of that stuff is already dead now. I know a lot of people tried to panic join co-ops and drowned. Personally, conventional guys ignored me while I stayed above water and they didn't. Right now it's mostly people who lease spray and F up my crap I'm dealing with. Worst yet I don't have water rights like they can do. But in a few years I think if we have flooding I might get into the flood program because I'm no dig on a lot of my field for a very long time. Meaning if I flood the joint the water goes right down into the water table properly. If I put it on slowly and give it time to breathe. Well, when I said goats/sheep. I was saying that in the way of mixing your stock. All cows works well and good. But by god not while you are dead next to one of the biggest goat markets in the world. And you need to manage your pasture anyways. A goat can for the most part be folded into most herds and almost forgot. 2 to 3 cows count as a cow on awful ungoated pasture. I'd even go has high as counting 4 goats per cow on shit pasture.Cos the cows just aren't eating the thing the goat wants the most. If you have or can located a solid feeder system you don't even need to overwinter them. You just need to manage your labor well. Your also in new york. Your next to the largest ghee market get out of milk and get into high milk solid breeds cows . The sheer unthought through farming in land holders/renters/leasing/custom graze is some of the scariest parts of American Farming today. Unthought through systems, an underfarmed land. And false conservation land being passes off as that. When it's actually more of a semi abandon farmland that's a hazard. As for me again brining up goats to that new york farmer. Is because it's literally a starving market. Begging for hala goats. IT's the easiest slam dunk if you are already dying. The sad thing is labor wise the goat is worth more than the cow. That market because I some what know new york. I think you really don't understand how much folks don't want to serve the market in front of them. Even when you set them up with options. I've seen areas where they use to look down on sheep/goats/rabbits/cuy. Anything other then the holy cow, holy pig. One of the biggest most underrated farming crisis is the management crisis on farm. We treat farming like "enterprises" when it's actually highly subsidized fuctional thing that has to work. Has to work and make sense and most of farming isn't pulling that off. Just folks sitting on farmland in hope people come to the farm or come back to the farm and it being lease out and highly underutilized. Meanwhile we are subsidies roads that aren't cost effective, schools to areas that aren't cost effective, building wealth for these land owners. Generational wealth but in turn we aren't getting back what is needed. Yes, commodity markets are to blame but also the farm owner/management/big ag/farm lobby... finally the rural voter who has a massive amount of voting power. Like insane level of voting power in our system. So much that we do corn Ethanol and corn Ethanol makes no sense.. That voting power has robbed itself of employees twice. Once the american farm employees who no longer want to farm for them and next the farm labor out of the country. IT's just all around going to blow up in our faces at some point. But hell, this land is water wealthy and land wealthy so who knows.

[@skipscramble5915]

I’ll guess the harrowing made more nitrogen available

[@alveygardens]

My thoughts too, but how is that possible if the only difference is harrowing the bed?

[@skipscramble5915]

@@alveygardens I’d have to re-watch the video but off the top of my head it would have to do with mildly disrupting fungal structures, allowing N-producing bacteria to flourish at the comment of the plants as the soil kinda “reset” itself.

[@skipscramble5915]

@@alveygardens that’s really just a wild guess though!!

[@johndev72]

Your compost looks alot like chopped up tree leaves...carrots and brassica respond well to tree leaves (composted or leaf mold). Deeper roots due to cooler, moist and undisturbed soil biota aka myco and micro organisms. Taller greens maybe due to disturbed, carbon and nitrogen burn off (nitrogen = more lush green growth). Disturb the soil biota = warmer, drier soil. Do I win a prize ???...do I get credit on your next carrot vlog update ????...do I get a carrot :-) Like the sheep !!!

[@cherylbibbee2143]

Dude!

[@coleradley6614]

Miyashige daikon radish = no-till carrot. ;)

[@chrisshepherd8708]

Has the baby been drinking Red Bull?

[@SteveRichards27]

How do you deal with carrot root fly?

[@notillgrowers]

Variety has been the best thing for us. Resist-a-fly is a good one, and bolero has done pretty well. Also just good conditions helps--healthy soil that is well-drained. We rarely get more than a handful of carrots that way, but they may be more of an issue in other areas. For sure.

[@SteveRichards27]

@@notillgrowers I've tried those varieties, no luck, sounds like you are lucky with your location : All the best - Steve

[@VagabondAnne]

I have decided that all "spotty" germination is probably due to birds snacking on sprouts in a particular spot, and flying away once they're full. In other words, it's probably nothing to do with you.

[@liamaclellan3024]

That might be true for larger seeds, but carrots are pretty infamous for extreme sensitivity and patchy germination. That said, I haven't finished the video yet...

[@someguy621]

Its not nematodes, they will cause bubbling effects. Carrots just fork at the slightest resistance.

[@SgtSnausages]

If two negatives make a positive, is one "hard-working" if one is too lazy to be lazy? OR ... Is the basic problem when one is probably being too lazy to be lazy enough to not be lazy ? Does the fact that I was not too lazy to not write this question change your answer? ... asking for a friend - he's not gettin' nothin' not done today because he doesn't have not enough time.

[@notillgrowers]

I'm afraid I'll need a universally accepted definition of lazy before I can answer these questions. I'll also need some money. Thx!

[@SgtSnausages]

I'm too lazy for that. (definitions AND money)

[@notillgrowers]

Me too I'm afraid.

[@davehughes4884]

A bit small . Where are the big carrots

[@tarjei99]

In Norway, unsellable carrots (small and damaged) are sold cheap in at least some supermarkets. They are own brand. I buy them because they are cheap and taste great. Possibly better than the normal carrots, because they tend to be eating carrots.

[@maetineegunter3093]

i thought broadforking was part of no-till?....right...cause your not tilling.