Studying the Effects of Perennial Cover Crops on Tomato Cultivation
Low growing, perennial cover crops have the potential to revolutionize organic farming. Because organic farmers can not use herbicides they must either till the soil frequently, or hand weed their beds. Using black plastic as a weed barrier is also a popular method, but one which adds toxic micro plastics to the soil. Tilling of course destroys the soil fungal network, and hand weeding is very cost prohibitive. Studies performed by the Soil Food Web School indicate that up to 90% of weeding time can be eliminated by the use of low growing, perennial crops of plants with strong mycorrhizal associations.
The Living Soil Network plans to conduct field trials using low growing cover plants on tomato beds. This experiment will be conducted on two separate sites in the South Portland area. Each site will have four 30ft long rows. ( eight rows total). Each row will be divides into four sections. The first section will be covered with low growing red thyme. The second section with creeping jenny. The third will have black plastic and the fourth straw mulch. This will be a two year project. During the first year, the low growing plants will be established. During the second year, the tomatoes will be planted in all four types of mulch areas.
All areas will receive the same biological treatments. In other words only ecologically complete compost or compost extracts will be used. No fertilizers or other soil amendments of any type will be used. Both the traditional mulching areas and the living mulch areas will be tested for biological activity using direct microscopy every 4 weeks. Crop yields will be measured at harvest and any weeds will be weighed as they are pulled.