"WilcoxSE" wrote in message ...
Hi folks,
I have what may be a silly question but here goes;

If I want to switch over to a "no-till" method of gardening and use
newspaper and mulch...what method of plating seeds would I use...(as opposed
to cutting holes in the paper to place small plants)? Would I just layer the
newspapers side by side leaving a small 'row' in between them?
Thanks,
Scott
p.s. I would also like some good recommendations and sources for rock powder
amendments

you can't plant seeds in mulch, so when you use no-till you have to
get organized (in the past I had some luck with leaves which were
almost decomposed, but nowadays prefer less decomposed leaves for
better mulching). Typically leaves or newspaper completely disappear
in one year, and next year you should be able to plant seeds there. If
you mulch with, say, woodchips, they will take two (or more) years to
disappear, so you will have to make sure that bed is used for
seedlings in the next two years at least.

I tend to keep only a small part of my garden unmulched, and often I
plant lettuce in one of the unmulched parts, and then transplant it to
a mulched area once it has grown a bit. I tend to follow a rotation
that takes into account which plants go with which kind of mulch. For
example, garlic always follows tomatoes in wood chips, and
transplanted chicory follows garlic. Lettuce, chard and brassicas
alternate in manure-leaves mulches. The unmulched parts are where
leaves have disintegrated and they host a variety of salad greens
which are broadcast directly.