Learning how to build a "no-till" regenerative permaculture garden

This method of gardening intrigued me after seeing several documentaries about this approach, a few being Back To Eden and Kiss The Ground. 

Here is a great A great basic explanation of regenerative permaculture:
"A holistic design system that goes beyond sustainability to actively restore degraded ecosystems, rebuild soil, and enhance biodiversity while producing food. It integrates ecological principles—like working with nature, diversity, and closing loops—to create self-sustaining systems. It is often applied through techniques like no-till and food forests

I started with a basic layer of cardboard spread out across my garden rows, then I layered on manure, soil, mulch, compost, last years weeds and dried stalks crumbled up and spread throughout, chicken + duck waste, and hay. All this variety of decomposable materials help build the nutrient density of the soil! 

There are quite a few benefits to gardening like this so it's impossible to list them all, but here a few that convinced me to give it a try!
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• It cuts down on weed growth. Tilling  stirs up weed seeds and disturbs the soil
• By mixing many different kinds of decomposable material, the focus is on adding nutrient density, not taking away or stripping soil. This serves as fertilizer and encourages earth worms and microbes that benefit the soil quality!
• With soil that is higher in nutrient density, the food yield is much higher and nutrient dense as well.
• It helps the soil retain moisture 
• This approach is low maintenance and easier to maintain by requiring less weeding and regular watering!

Below are a few beginning photos + pics of this same garden space last year. I have herbs scattered throughout that are thriving now that they've had a few years to get established! I'm also making comfrey compost tea because it is super mineral dense and serves as an excellent fertilizer! Also I just love the comfrey blooms, they are just soooo pretty (pic below). 

I'll continue to document my garden progress the rest of the season. Keep up with me on social media if you're interested in following along :)