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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Earth charity
  • Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:07:22 -0700


On Jan 31, 2008, at 7:54 AM, Don Bowen KI6DIU wrote:

As long as the carbon stays below the level of oxygen in the
soil. Microbes eat the carbon and emit CO2. There is a balance between
CO2 production by decay and carbon production by plant growth.

Right. Apparently there is what I guess might be called a "dead zone" where carbon does in fact sit in limbo due to lack of oxygen, at a level below typical agricultural activity. It is this area that has some people exited about the possibility of carbon sequestration.

It's a lovely idea and I wish it could be proved true. High-organic- content soil is good for many reasons: erosion resistance, microorganism health, drainage, oxygen pathways, and not least, plant food production. We who have been gardening this way for a long time know the benefits and wish that industrial agriculture would use it. Alas, even if agribusiness embraced the concept, I doubt that the condition can be optimized to the point of affecting global temperature control.





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