The reason the peas are doing better in the trees is most likely due to more soil moisture. That can be effected by a few factors. One of the most important is organic matter content of the soil�.another is a little midday shade that can keep the soil from drying out as fast�.and another factor is if it�s on a hill or in a low spot. Next time your there, really get down on your hands and knees and compare the difference in the soil in the tree area versus the soil in your field. The improved soil conditions in the tree area is likely going to come from having a lot of built up organic matter in the topsoil�that helps create more favorable conditions. Having tilled in the past�..the field has likely been degraded of organic matter in comparison. That creates unfavorable soil conditions.
The first priority for anyone wanting to use a method like this is to recondition your field and get it back into the same state as that soil in the tree area��THEN�..once that�s accomplished you can focus on trying to grow a few ice cream crops if that�s what you choose to do. At this point in time though�..you just need to focus on amending the soil nutrients and producing biomass to reinfuse the soil with carbon. Turn over some leaf litter in the woods and check out the rich dirt underneath. That's what were wanting. It�s a learning process and asking yourself �Why is that area doing so much better than this area?��.is one of the best things you can do. Once your eyes open up to see the real effects that organic matter is making then it becomes much easier to incorporate managing it as a part of your game plan.
These pics are from several years ago and one of the last tilled plantings I did. I had been heavily tilling for several years and had degraded my soil down to pure sand/silt�..zero organic matter. My Egyptian wheat was really struggling but there were a couple spots of noticeably different growth. The first one was around an old stump and the second place was a spot where I had been piling brush for several years prior�..the difference is due to increased organic matter. This is one the things that first started opening my eyes to the importance of organic matter. Also notice on the right of the first pic how well the "weeds" were producing biomass where it had never been tilled.....still full of organic matter.
