Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

Should I not ask why you believe uncomposted plant material would form more
humus than finished compost? I expect to have to support what I promote.
And BTW I'm here to learn just as much as anyone else, and that's why I
started this particular list. 

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

Many types of jobs will cease to exist: public relations executive, 
marketing directors, et cetera. I think work will be very hands-on, 
and a lot of it will revolve around food production.
    -- James Howard Kunstler, 2003
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/1/2006 at 9:42 PM Nancy Babbitt wrote:

>Paul,
>
>I'm not a scientist.  Simply a home gardener with an idea.  Maybe I  
>should not share my ideas, without proof?
>
>Nancy
>On Jul 1, 2006, at 8:44 PM, TradingPostPaul wrote:
>
>>
>> What do you base this theory on?
>>
>> ---------------
>> tradingpost@lobo.net
>>
>> Many types of jobs will cease to exist: public relations executive,
>> marketing directors, et cetera. I think work will be very hands-on,
>> and a lot of it will revolve around food production.
>>     -- James Howard Kunstler, 2003
>> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>>
>> On 7/1/2006 at 7:14 AM Nancy Babbitt wrote:
>>
>>> Paul,
>>>
>>> Is it likely then, that composting (allowing microbes to decompose
>>> the plant material) before it's applied to the soil, can have a
>>> negative effect on humus formation.  What I mean is that if less
>>> plant material is is present in the final compost, than before
>>> composting, and that lesser amount is added to soil, then there is
>>> less to potentially become humus.
>>>
>>> Is it possible also that the anaerobes assist in the humus formation,
>>> and they're not the ones doing the decomposing in a hot pile?
>>>
>>> Nancy
>>> On Jun 30, 2006, at 12:26 PM, TradingPostPaul wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Let me try that again easier to read. Point being, it appears  
>>>> that the
>>>> initial composting process is not humus formation; that occurs in
>>>> the soil.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> paul, tradingpost@riseup.net
>>>> ---------------
>>>>
>>>> from Humus - Understanding the Soil Processes
>>>> http://www.petrik.com/PUBLIC/library/ups.html#humus
>>>>
>>>> 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.
>>>> -----------
>>>>
>>>> from Humus: Still a Mystery
>>>> http://www.nofa.org/tnf/humus.php
>>>>
>>>> Humus is essentially a massive storage battery containing energy
>>>> that was
>>>> originally derived from the sun. Researchers in England discovered
>>>> that an
>>>> acre  (furrow slice) of soil with 4 percent organic matter contains
>>>> as much
>>>> energy as 20-25 tons of anthracite coal. Another researcher in Maine
>>>> equated the energy in  that amount of organic matter to 4000
>>>> gallons of #2
>>>> fuel oil. This organic energy, which is stored as carbon compounds,
>>>> was
>>>> originally derived from the sun  by autotrophic organisms such as
>>>> plants
>>>> that can extract carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide. About one
>>>> percent
>>>> of the energy from the sun that  reaches plant leaves is used to
>>>> photosynthesize carbon compounds. During the  plants' life much  
>>>> of the
>>>> energy that is absorbed from the sun is utilized for growth, foliage
>>>> production, flowering, seed production and other functions.
>>>>
>>>> About 10 percent of the absorbed energy, initially from the sun, is
>>>> left
>>>> available to a consumer, e.g. an animal that eats and digests the
>>>> plant.
>>>> Like the plant, the animal uses most of the energy it consumes for
>>>> functions such as growth and sustenance but can offer about 10
>>>> percent of
>>>> the energy it derived from plants to the next consumer in the food
>>>> chain.
>>>>
>>>> Humus in the soil has more real value than money, real estate,
>>>> stocks or
>>>> bonds. Its value doesn't fluctuate; it doesn't become scarce in a
>>>> recession; it's worth can't be depleted by inflation and it can't be
>>>> stolen. It is the direct or indirect source of sustenance for all
>>>> life on
>>>> earth. It can sometimes be lost by environmental changes but more
>>>> often,
>>>> its demise is from either the apathy or the inadvertent errors of  
>>>> the
>>>> steward who tends it.
>>>>
>>>> Humus is a renewable resource. Its presence in the soil can be
>>>> maintained
>>>> indefinitely. Unfortunately, many agricultural and horticultural
>>>> practices
>>>> are essentially mining humus. Like other mined products, such as  
>>>> coal,
>>>> minerals and oil, the natural resource can eventually be exhausted.
>>>>
>>>> The popular scientific definition of humus is "A more or less
>>>> biologically
>>>> stable, dark, amorphous material formed by the microbial
>>>> decomposition of
>>>> plant and animal residues". It is difficult to visibly
>>>> differentiate humus
>>>> from organic matter in other stages of decay. Compost, well rotted
>>>> manures
>>>> and peat are not necessarily humus. However, at some hard-to-define
>>>> point,
>>>> all of these organic materials will contribute immeasurably to the
>>>> humus
>>>> content in the soil.
>>>>
>>>> It is not realistic to think that one can quantify or qualify humus
>>>> production from contributions of organic matter to soil. There are
>>>> too many
>>>> factors that control its formation and existence in the soil
>>>> environment.
>>>> One can only assume  that cultural practices that both minimize the
>>>> depletion and contribute to the formation of humus will maintain
>>>> the best
>>>> possible level of soil humus for each individual environment.
>>>> ----------------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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