I do semi-perma. The berries and the asparagus are perma. The green beans, tomatoes and corn are not. However, I rotate crops and add trace minerals and organic compost each season. If I could get weed management down to a better science, I could avoid the shallow tilling that we have to do. I've tried cardboard topped with aged straw, and anything I can think of that doesn't involve chemicals. So far, no luck. I don't mind some weeds because very often any insect pest that our beneficials don't take care of will get attracted to early weeds and leave my plantings alone. I'll leave any clover that shows up, too, for the bees. But we have some varieties of weeds growing in these mountains that get taller than me and no bugs are eating them! Those get tilled under quickly. Like I usually say.. maybe next season I'll get it figured out.
