Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

Stick with the second definition at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humus :
Second, in agriculture, "humus" is often used simply to mean mature compost, 
or natural compost extracted from a forest or other spontaneous source for 
use to amend soil.

I only now looked up that link that was sent by ecofinca, but check out what 
it says:

Benefits of Humus

    * The mineralisation process that converts raw organic matter to the 
relatively stable substance that is humus feeds the soil population of 
micro-organisms and other creatures, thus maintaining high and healthy levels 
of soil life.
    * Effective and stable humus (see below) are further sources of nutrients 
to microbes, the former providing a readily available supply while the latter 
acts as a more long-term storage reservoir.
    * Humification of dead plant material causes complex organic compounds to 
break down into simpler forms which are then made available to growing plants 
for uptake through their root systems.
    * Humus is a colloidal as substance, and increases the soil's cation 
exchange capacity, hence its ability to store nutrients on clay particles; 
thus while these nutrient cations are accessible to plants, they are held in 
the soil safe from leaching away by rain or irrigation.
    * Humus can hold the equivalent of 80-90% of its weight in moisture, and 
therefore increases the soil's capacity to withstand drought conditions.
    * The biochemical structure of humus enables it to moderate – or buffer – 
excessive acid or alkaline soil conditions.
    * During the Humification process, microbes secrete sticky gums; these 
contribute to the crumb structure of the soil by holding particles together, 
allowing greater aeration of the soil. Toxic substances such as heavy metals, 
as well as excess nutrients, can be chelated (that is, bound to the complex 
organic molecules of humus) and prevented from entering the wider ecosystem.
    * The dark colour of humus (usually black or dark brown) helps to warm up 
cold soils in the spring.
(excerpt)
------------

My further comment:

Think about humus' critical role in plant nutrition, in holding moisture and 
draining excess water.  And the only way we get it is by composting or by 
getting enough organic matter decomposing in the soil. It's my conviction 
that humus-rich soil produces healthier plants and more nutritious food, and 
far more of it, with less water and pest or disease problems. And in a 
no-till, permanent wide row or raised bed system you can enjoy far more 
production for home or market for the space you grow in. This critical 
combination of techniques can make growing easier and more worthwhile for the 
millions. And for the times we live in and what's coming, I'll push this at 
every possible opportunity.

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 5/18/2006 at 2:06 PM Mark Nagel wrote:

>I'm kind of confused (well, many folks would say that I'm totally
>confused, but that's another issue :-))...
>
>This Wiki article, as I've seen elsewhere, says that humus "is any organic
>matter which has reached a point of stability, where it will break down no
>further and might, if conditions do not change, remain essentially as it
>is for centuries, or millenia."
>
>It further states "Effective and stable humus (see below) are further
>sources of nutrients to microbes."
>
>Can humus really exist without microbes?  To me it seems that it's all a
>package deal, and if this is the case then any nutrient extraction by
>microbes is likely to alter the chemistry of the humus, and with it, its
>stability.
>
>I personally don't believe that anything is stable.  And I can't see how
>something can retain stability when living things are acting upon it.
>
>
>-Mark Nagel
>Everett, WA
>
>
>=====================
>From: ECO FINCA <ecofinca@hotmail.com>
>
>This link can contribute to know a little more about humus...
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humus
>