I tried the no till thing on one of my two beds. Every year after pulling my tomatoes, I'd lay down my compost, cover it with leaves for about a month, then cover with "Christmas Tree" mulch (shredded Christmas trees... it breaks down by the next year). Usually, the bed that I tried my no-till thing on did a bit better than the other side. Not any more. Last year, the till side averaged 24 tomatoes per plant. The no till side averaged 3.
After pulling my plants, I tried to stick a pitchfork in the no till and it would not budge. All the compost I had been adding over the years was simply gone. I don't know if it washed away or was stolen by garden gnomes. There was nothing but the red clay crap that was there when all this started. The ground level, of course, had not raised any either. On the side that I till, the ground level has raised 12 inches and my pitchfork will push through to the end of the spines with one hand.
So, this year, I dug up all the red clay I could, about six inches down, and replaced it with several year old leaf mold, compost from my own pile (mostly rabbit manure from last year that has been picked over by worms), and, of course, Craigslist leaves. I'll put the Christmas tree mulch down when it becomes available.
Oh, and I tilled the hell out of both sides. The pitchfork goes all the way down on both sides.
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