Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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

And other minerals and organic matter can be returned by importing or from
elsewhere onsite.  What's often missed is cover crops, green manuring, and
sheet composting can take advantage of the natural processes to rebuild
soil.  Living plants use sun, air, and water to form organic material,
external inputs freely available all over the planet. Certain crops and
weeds pull needed minerals from the subsoil, and when added to the surface
mulch increase the overall mineral and organic content of the soil. 


paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
--Henry David Thoreau 

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 7/30/2006 at 5:45 PM Phil Bunch wrote:

>Perhaps I missed part of the conversation but if any part of the crop
>leaves
>the land it was grown on and the manure and urine that results from its
use
>does not return, there will be a net loss of nutrients. Nitrogen can be
>compensated by the planting on nitrogen-fixing crops but the other mineral
>nutrients are lost to the local system. They must be returned via some
form
>of fertilizer.
>
>Phil
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
>[mailto:livingontheland-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of
>TradingPostPaul
>Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 1:09 PM
>To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Wheat is the new oil
>
>
>I'll answer in between comments below.
>
>paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
>Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
>--Henry David Thoreau 
>*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>