In the garden of eden...

Gardens can be anything from well manicured sanctuaries, to some seeds scattered in fertile soil.  Since we became an agricultural society we have tilled the land using more and more sophisticated means to do so.  Is tilling the soil bad? For me the jury is still out, but do i want to take the time to till the soil?  It takes time and a lot of sweat equity to till the garden and then provide a mulch cover to protect what we have tilled to prevent "weeds" and conserve moisture.  I'm raising sheep, pigs, and chickens, all of whom do their own part in prepping soil for seed.  If i place sheep in a pasture, they eat down grasses and their seeds, to the ground if you leave them there long enough.  Follow them with chickens in the same pasture and they will continue the job while begining to scratch the surfach of the ground.  Enter the pigs, excavators in their own right.  

Feed them just enough and they will root down into the ground tilling and mixing their poop into the soil along with the poop from the sheep and chickens.  Now its my turn to come in smooth things down plant rye and cover with straw.   Granted, this all takes some time and should be given a season to accomplish but i can be doing other things while this method  feeds and provides entertainment for my farm animals.  The next spring the rye will be waist high and after rolling, or crimping it down, can be directly planted into.  The soil will be fertilized, turned and contain millions of microbes necessary for the production of the nutrients my garden needs to sustain me.  The crimped, rolled down rye will add the mulch layer that will prevent weeds from growing.  This is my goal, to find a way to incorporate all of my needs with my life occupation.  My lifes work-to to create the things necessary to sustain my life, why go to work just to pay someone else to do it?