Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Art Corbit" <art_c@cox.net>]

There is only one possible way to improve soil and bring it back where it
was at one time long ago. That is to import compost of different kinds from
outside the plot of land you are building. You need a wide verity of
different kinds of material in compost to do the job.

People think if they grow cover crops on their land and then turn it under
they will put minerals back into the soil. They do but only the minerals the
cover crop took from the ground as it grew. Turning under cover crops does
improve soil but by allowing more Oxygen to get into the soil and keeping it
from getting hard. This allows the soil to absorb more water when it rains
which will help the plants to grow better. This does not improve the quality
of the food you grow on the land later.

If you want to add Nitrogen to your plot the only way to do it right is to
cut plants that are known to be high in Nitrogen, compost them and then work
the compost into your soil. To add anything to your land it must be brought
in from outside the plot.

Animal manures, certain leaves, none of the Oaks, too much acid, certain
grasses while it is tender before it seeds. Good healthy crab grass before
it seeds is a real good soil builder. Never use any oil based fertilizer
unless you want to ruin your soil.

Art


----- Original Message -----
From: "Harvey Ussery" <huboxwood@earthlink.net>
To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 10:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Wheat is the new oil: Nutrient Cycling


> > 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.
>
> Not so fast, Phil. Don't forget that *sunlight* is also being added on
> the plus side of the equation. As long as the nutrients exported (farm
> produce) do not exceed the addition to fertility made possible by
> sunlight, agriculture is sustainable.
>
> > 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
>
> Again, it's not quite that simple. Another possibility is to "mine"
> minerals out of the deep subsoil using extremely deep-rooted fertility
> crops. You mentioned nitrogen-fixing crops, but alfalfa, for example,
> not only fixes nitrogen, but is deep-rooted and brings up minerals from
> the depths as well. Comfrey puts down roots 8-10 ft deep, bringing up
> minerals that would otherwise never be available to more shallow-rooted
> crops. Can't substantiate this, but I have read--can give you the ref if
> you like--that most decent agricultural soils have enough mineral
> content in the deep subsoil to support 100,000 years of agriculture, if
> sanely farmed.
>
> ~Harvey
>
> --
> Harvey in northern Va
> www.themodernhomestead.us
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