Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Phil Bunch" <pbunch@cox.net>]

If anyone is interested in an introduction to soil ecology the following URL leads you to a good page:

 

http://www.safs.msu.edu/soilecology/soilecology.htm

 

Toward the bottom of the page there is a neat graphic that demonstrates how the soil food web works.

 

The link to the soil biology section provides a lot of details regarding how the various components of the soil ecosystem function. It is interesting to see how each kind of bacteria, fungus and critter interacts with the others and carries out the many steps that keep soil healthy and productive. This body of knowledge is the foundation of sustainable soil management. Traditional systems stumbled onto methods to preserve productivity. Many of these systems provide a valid baseline for sustainable management. We now have an opportunity to understand the mechanisms well enough to tweak that which has been learned over the years and refine our management skills.

 

Other links at the left provide some practical information. Some of this may or may not float your boat but I’m pretty sure you will find some gems in the stubble.

 

Phil Bunch