Some great stuff, for sure. Anyone doing woodchip or lasagna compost garden? https://vimeo.com/28055108

I still maintain a tilled garden up north at our cabin where the soil is heavy with a lot of clay.

At home I have gone 100% no till, with established beds. I don't like wood chips as much as leaves. I cover beds with leaves in the fall and pull those back into my walking paths to plant seeds. I save dozens of bags of leaves from fall, and use them to make compost, which includes our grass clippings and kitchen scraps, and place this rich mulch around plants as they mature and are thinning out.

The amount of earthworms and production are impressive. Weeding is very minimal.

I have used some leaves as well. Once we begin to understand soil biology, and how healthy plants are actually grown, it's amazing that the system works better when we stand back and get out of the way. . I live in an area (desert) that receives about 3.5 to 5 inches of precip per year, and we have no topsoil. I have several places where the covering has been applied, and rich, dark soil is beginning to form. Listened to a gentleman named Gabe Brown speak at a small farm conference. He is doing AMAZING things on a larger scale (5,000acres), and re-writing the rules for sustainability.

Tim I have also worked several Gardens in the Desert so I know what you are up against in building your Soil. I will be starting a High Altitude 5 acre Terrace Project not too far from you hopefully in just a few weeks if the weather holds out. I am at the Juniper/Pinyon level of just under 6,000 Ft. There is absolutely no Top Soil and I will have to build my own.

I have to share that the user here crossfireoops has extensive knowledge about this topic and we have been communicating about this very same thing. He brought up a very good point I had not considered and is very important for us out here when it comes to building soils. He brought up the fact that it is imperative to import additional successful Humus in the beginning because there are Bacteria, Enzymes and Fungi needed that we will never achieve from our own Soils without it.

Just wanted to bring this possible future problem to your attention because we are working similar Soils.

I started using compost tea, made in a horse trough, using a cheap aquarium aerator. AMAZING!! the results. Using horse manure, cow manure, and wood chips to start got me headed in the right direction. Now using compost from the chicken yard and another cow manure based batch I made. Inoculating the soil with Mycorrhiza has huge possibilities as well.
Gabe Brown had one picture in his presentation showing 3 inches of topsoil added in a 3 year period by growing a combination of cover crops. One of his pastures noted brix numbers of over 20.

Yep...Soil building Cover Crops is the plan here too. My challenge for several years now has been in researching what crops will do well at my altitude. It's coming together though.

Gabe Brown's system uses a wide array of cover crops mixed together. He claims the variety of root systems left in the soil is one of the major components to building healthy, high brix soil. I am researching cover crops now, as well. Don't overlook compost tea and raw milk as well. Some guys here are having good luck with rye as a cover crop. My elevation here is only 4,000 feet, but very alkaline conditions with wide temperature swings.