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["SISU!" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Bill Jones wrote:
> Actually I looked into this question years ago.  I wondered if 
> anything can be done with conifer waste, other than spreading it in 
> the paths to kill weeds.  And other than whittling and a fun homemade
>  soap, I found the answer is no.  Even if not for the turpentine and 
> rosin, the lignin molecule of conifers cannot be digested by fungi, 
> and doesn't break down into healthy soil.  That's why the land under 
> them is barren except for a few specialists.

?????  What the heck kind of conifers do you have?  From my memory, it
is mostly Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce out there, and maybe some short
stubby pine that I don't know the name of..grows near the ocean.
Still, Bill, I'm not getting your argument.  ALL plant material will
compost, even conifers.  You think Georgia doesn't have pines and other
conifers??  Please.  They don't call it Georgia-Pacific for nothing.  We
got Yellow Pine and other types of conifers everywhere.  There's cedar,
hemlocks and even some Frazier Firs.  It all contains turpentine and
resins, and it all composts.  It's acidic, sure, but you neutralize the
acidity with other materials.  As for a reason nothing grows under your
conifers....it's probably a shading issue or foraging by non-native
species or something like an overpopulation of deer.  Oregon, and
especially the Coast Range, is one of the "greenest" places I have ever
seen, and I am just having a hard time understanding your argument over
the soil.  It's too dry for grasses...too many conifers for much
sylviculture, and what else....hmmm, I can't remember....oh yeah,
conifers don't build the soil because of the lignin.  You are wrong in
that there is no fungus that produces the right enzymes.  Check this
page out:
http://compost.css.cornell.edu/calc/lignin.html
It seems to me, that the problem with the natural conifer forest floor
is that it is basically an anaerobic environment.  Aeration is the key.


 If it were otherwise then anyone could have a grand
> garden just by dumping on fir needles, as I once envisioned.

No one said it would be easy.  It's gonna take a lot of work and nothing
is going to happen overnight, but it is possible, I think.


> My galfriend places no faith in her barren pasture at all, and gives 
> her sheep a big bowl of Lamb-Gro twice a day each.  Fortunately I'm 
> in no such position.

???  Now you've really lost me. :)  Are you now saying that you don't
have to feed because you have a green pasture???

Bev

--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky