Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Michael Nevin <mikepnevin@yahoo.ca>]

Hi - An interesting book to look at which could shed some light on the questions you raise is:

Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web.

Authors are: Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis with a Foreward by Elaine Ingham. Published by Timber Press 2006.

I found it very helpful. Our library in Toronto has 16 copies.

The mantra Feed the Soil and not the Plant makes sense if one has an idea of the extent and complexity and function of the various soil organisms.

The authors go into the difference between a fungal as opposed to a bacterial compost and why this should matter to gardeners.

Cheers, Mike in Toronto

"E. E. Mitchamore Jr" <emitch@att.net> wrote:

Manure has been used to enrich soil since the beginning of agriculture, but I still have not found much in-depth science about how, or why, there is such a benefit.  Recently, while reading about grass-fed beef, a point struck me: Ruminants digest cellulose by bacterial action in their gut, with the result that their manure is pre-inoculated with beneficial microorganisms.  This was a revelation to me, and explains a lot while raising other questions.  For example: Do browsers (who eat more woody material), have bacteria well adapted to that purpose, or do they deposit fungi that are normally required to break down the lignin in woody matter?

 

And, does poultry manure, well-known to be hot (a lot of Nitrogen), have any such beneficial microorganisms?

 

While I'm thinking about such matters, does anyone have any thoughts about "fuel" being necessary to get the benefits of inoculating soil (like with compost tea)?  We've acknowledged that most soils are humus-deficient, so it seems like you must add organic matter that is biologically active (good compost), or organic matter + inoculation.  Seems like the fuel has to come first, then the microbes.  Once established, good soil should maintain itself if enough organic matter is left or added.

 

Sure, you can do the right thing without understanding, but understanding is better.

 

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.biz

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

---

Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!