how to take care of the soil when leaving in the winter

Should we plow the soil at the end of winter?

Two schools clash on this question, to plow or leave the soil as it is? What should we think ?

What is plowing?

It is a reversal of a layer of soil using a plow or a manual tool such as a spade or a triandine. It is mainly used to destroy surface vegetation by burying it. There is “lying” plowing which turns the soil at 180° and “upright” plowing which leaves the clods at 90°. In the latter case, the vegetation is still buried fat by the action of skimmers*.
If the plowing is not deep, maximum 15 cm, and especially if it is erect, the life of the soil is preserved. In the event of deep plowing 25 cm for horizontal plowing, in clay or clay-loam soil, the life that was on the surface risks being suffocated with a loss of fertility.

Tillage without tillage.

The soil is simply aerated and lightly stirred to a variable depth ranging from 5 cm for weeding with a “canadienne” or a serfouette to more than 10 cm for work with a “chisel” or with a manual tool such as a “grelinette” or a triandine.
At the origin of agriculture, a few thousand years ago, man used the plow which was only a wooden pick pulled by other men, and which only decompacted the ground surface.

There are also followers of no tillage

Those who sow or plant by scratching only the location of the seedlings or plantations and leave all the vegetation present on the spot. In this case, the vegetation present comes into direct competition with the crop. This technique is only possible in special cases where it does not compete with the new culture.

In any case, avoid

The tiller that should never be used. On the other hand, a rotavator, which is a machine hitched to a tractor or a tiller, can be used to refine a seedbed, but only at a very shallow depth, around 5 cm, which is possible because the working depth is adjustable on a hitched machine.
In addition, the forward speed can be faster, which gives a coarser structure of the worked soil.

Why not use a tiller?

This machine completely destroys the structure of the soil by making particles that are too fine which will crust on the first watering and which will not have the capillarity necessary for the survival of the micro-organisms in the soil.

Should we add fertilizer?

A distinction must be made between fertilizer which is intended to return crop exports to the soil or to feed the crops directly and amendments which are intended to rebalance and nourish the soil.

Organic Matter (OM)

Is in principle an amendment which will allow the clay-humus complex (CAH) to retain the nutrients which are mineral ions in the soil. It will also contribute, through the CAH, to structuring the soil and giving it aeration and capillarity favorable to microbial life.
In general, OM is quite poor in nutrients.

Fertilizers,

They are basically mineral salts or mineral ions in solid or liquid form.

Fertilizers can be said to be “mineral” when they consist solely of mineral and organic salts if the mineral ions are combined with organic molecules. Anyway, the plant almost essentially only absorbs mineral ions.
In a soil well supplied with OM mineral fertilizers can be used without problem.
In a soil rather poor in organic matter (less than 2%), it is recommended: either to bring organic fertilizers, or to add a supply of organic matter before spreading fertilizer.

Nota Bene :

Some fertilizers made up of anions (negative ions, such as the nitrate ion) are very soluble, including very “leachable”, i.e. they are carried away by water during rain or heavy watering.
Others, such as the phosphoric ion, are very soluble and leachable in the form of ions but are very insoluble in the form of calcium phosphates. In acid soils they are quickly dissolved and available to the plant while being leachable.
But remain in solid form, not dissolved in alkaline soils, that is why it is necessary to use superphosphates which have been decalcified by sulfur.

*The “skimmer” is a component of the plow, placed in front of the coulter and the coulter. She strips the part of the soil that will end up at the top by plowing in order to bury it well as well as the MO brought.

Ask all your questions during the gardening program on Sunday morning on France bleu Isère from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. by calling 04 76 46 45 45.