Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

This is part of our series supporting the role of high organic matter in=
 food gardening for nutrition and profitability. This relates directly to=
 successful fossil fuel-free growing for the home and local marketing.

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

Humus - Understanding the Soil Processes
PETRIK LABORATORIES
http://www.petrik.com/PUBLIC/library/ups.html#humus

The natural life cycle of out fields must be kept functional through the
addition of organic matter after the residues from the previous crop have been
depleted in order to build new Bio-Organo-Mineral nutrition for our next crop.
This action connot be replaced with the water soluble salts or overdoses of
chemical fertilizer which destroy soil life, not build it.

During the growing season, as the plants fix carbon dioxide by photosyntheses,
about 10-25% of this fixed carbon,finds its way back to the soil through the
roots (root exudates) this is even if all residues including roots are 
removed.
This is very important in bio-organic farming.

The production of humus is a complex process. In general cyclic substances 
like
phenol groups and also other like organic acids and vitamins (humus is also
related to crude oil) are polymerized with help of enzymes,like phenol 
oxidase.
These cyclic compounds are both from plant parts(like lignin) and are also
produced by the microorganisms. Mostly fungi, actinomycetes (Streptomycets) 
seem
to be responsible for humus formation. Aspergillus, Pisolithus, Rhizoctonia,
Streptomycets are only but a few examples of microorganisms actually capable 
of
synthesizing cyclic(aromatic) compounds and form them into humus from 
non-cyclic
materials.

It is impossible for man to produce stable humus synthetically. Man can 
properly
cultivate the field, supply organic matter and so encourage the development of
stable humus in the soil. Soil with stable humus must always be protected to
maintain the fertility and productivity of the soil.

The production and maintenance of stable humus in the soil should be the 
primary
goal of every farmer. Good stewardship of the land is necessary to protect and
maintain mankinds most important asset, fertile soil.

For nearly one hundred years soil science in most schools of higher learning
(especially in agricultural colleges) has been primarily concerned with the
physical and mechanical aspects of soil structure. Biological thinking has
become a major concern only in the last few years.

The new approach considers not only the physical properties and mineral
structure of the soil,but also the process by which organic matter is
transformed into humus by microorganisms.