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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops benefit everyones soil

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  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Cover crops benefit everyones soil
  • Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 12:52:49 -0700 (PDT)

Zack,
 
You just turned conventional wisdom upside down.
The generally accepted view is that depletion (i.e.,
loss) of humus is greater in a hot climate than in
a cold climate. According to one source, humus
is lost 50 times faster in the tropics than in the
North of Europe. I was born and raised on my
grandfathers farm in the North of Germany, and
now work and live on a piece of land in the South
of Portugal, I can assure you that this is more
than just theory.
 
Loss of topsoil can have more than one reason. Mostly
it is agricultural practice, especially deep ploughing and
the use of chemical fertilizers without returning organic
matter to the soil. Also, regions which were historically
covered by forest, like much of central and Northern
Europe, have more stable long duration humus than
grassland, like the prairie in the US, the ploughing of
which resulted in the dust bowl.
 
In the part of Portugal where I live it gets quite cold
during the night. Night temperatures below 10 C are
common. This is no problem for microbial activity,
in fact, my compost temperature charts show much
higher heap temperatures for the night than for the day.
This clearly shows that microbial activity is higher at
night than during the day even though ambient
temperatures are lower. As long as the temperature
doesn't drop below 0 C there is plenty of microbial activity.
 
If you have a lot of torrential rain, then it is even more
important that you keep your soil covered.  The mulch
or cover crop will not wash away, the uncovered soil
will.
 
Dieter Brand
Portugal

Zachary Domikez <zdomike@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dieter and Aliza are in hot dry climates, which is the
opposite of the south of Chile. Here, if you leave
the organic matter, the cool night temperatures,
always below 10C, or 50F, will reduce microbial
action, aka- decomposition. That, and the regular
showers washing away the same microbes, leaves the
leaves, and the forests and fields here reflect that
lack of action.

There is very little topsoil production! A bit more
warmth, less rain, and soil could develop. Stuff just
sits there, year after year. . . . .

I compost in cubic meter (cubic yard) bins made out of
covered disposable polyethylene sleeves, to increase
the heat and reduce the washing action of the rain.

Also, lasagne layering has worked well for raised
beds.

Regards,
Zack

----- Original Message -----
Didnt they talk about tilling the green manure crop
in? I thought it was better to cut it and let it lay
on top instead of stirring up that precious 6" on
top. And of course doing it before it reseeds:o)

Aliza
----- Original Message -----
From: Dieter Brand
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 11:13 AM

The way I understand it is that cover crops are the
precondition for no-till farming.
Dieter Brand
Portugal



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