Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Mark Nagel <activism98201@verizon.net>]

Paul,

This is a great piece!

It, however, seems to put forth the notion that tilling may not be all that 
bad: that's how it reads to me, not that that's what I'm personally 
suggesting.

If humas is pretty stable, then would tilling really be a big threat to its 
stability?

Tilling is likely to break up some of the bindings of humus, but at the same 
time isn't the idea of tilling to re-incorporate organic material into the 
soil?  Would this activity offset the negative impacts that tilling has on 
humus?

I realize that there are other factors here such as soil erosion and 
disturbances to microbes and worms and whatnot*.  But what I'm trying to 
understand is what things promote and what things demote humas production 
over the long-haul.  * As these are the things that are key humus 
constructors I could see where tilling would be most potentially damaging to 
them.

NOTE: Again, I am in no way trying to revive the notion of tilling.  I think, 
however, that there is a place and time for everything (part of the larger 
toolkit); tilling, personally, is a tool that I am too lazy to want to employ 
:-)


-Mark Nagel
Everett, WA


=====================
From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>


Here's some excerpts from SUSTAINABLE  SOIL MANAGEMENT
By Preston Sullivan, NCAT Agriculture Specialist
May 2004 ©2004 NCAT
http://attra.org/attra-pub/PDF/soilmgmt.pdf

Research supports our central ideas behind this list. This is basic to the
most productive, sustainable growing for home or market - and the survival
of the family farm. 

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

[snip]