We "garden" a bit (see photo below). Acutally, we have market gardened for over 20 years. We use high intensity methods on a couple acres of our 73 acre farm which lets us use the rest for recreation and wildlife habitat (and pays for improvements like a pond, 2 duck ponds, and 3 wetlands, as well as thousads of trees and two prairies. The cover crop to the right of the picture is oilseed (daikon) radish which suppresses weed growth. We let it go to seed, and disk it for a second crop, and then fall plow to get ready for next year. We are not organic (we're presbyrterian), but rather use the best and most ecological practices. No manure on food crops at our place. Putting down the plastic early allows weeds to emerge and die before we poke holes for the plants. Drip irrigation and fertilizer allow for maximum yields so we can produce as much as we can handle (4 of us) in a small area, leaving the rest for play.
