Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Thanks, Dr. Melendrez (of New Mexico).  We've said before, soil science is 
unbelievably complex but all growers need a good appreciation for the 
importance of soil biology, since we've been bombed with the bare chemical 
aspects for way too long.

paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
---------------

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not 
television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only 
those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it.
   - Aldo Leopold in  Round River, 1933
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/28/2006 at 5:14 PM Soilsecrets@aol.com wrote:

>The use of protein as a form of fertilizer is not a new concept.  If  you
>recall from your grade school days the image of a Native American burying
>a  fish
>beneath his corn plant as a natural fertilizer.  What is really needed  to
>make this work is a good balance of aerobic microorganisms that can devour
> the
>protein allowing the N-P & K nutrients to enter the food chain of the
>soil.
>Some may call this the Soil Food Web, but regardless of what you  call it,
>when the trophic levels of soil life eat protein, there is always an
>excess or
>leakage of nutrients that find there way into the plant biomass as  plant
>available nutrients.
>
>In short the best form of a nutritional calorie for the aerobic bacteria
>(often called beneficial bacteria) of the soil is in the form of protein
>and not
>sugar!  Many organic minded people will promote the concept of using
>molasses as a soil food for microbes, but the best is protein.
>
>Hope this helps
>
>Michael Martin Melendrez Ph.D.
>Soil Secrets New Mexico
>