Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Yvonne Scott <environmentalenhancers@hotmail.com>]

With all due respect to Lynn and his more than ample knowledge, experience and wisdom, I would say that constant tilling to achieve fertility is an oxymoron.  The problem is that tilling destroys any Humus and microbiology that was gained through the year. Humus is defined as remarkable brown to black products of soil chemistry that are essential for healthy and productive soils and is what defines fertile topsoil! It takes 100,000 pounds of raw organic matter or 10,000 pounds of high grade compost to achieve 40 pounds of Humus in soil. In nature on 1 acre of undisturbed land and in the top 12 inches there is about 2,000,000 pounds of Humus. It took about 40,000 years to generate that amount as it takes nature 100 years to grow just one inch. So as you can see building Humus is a daunting task. However in this age of technology there is one company that does manufacture a living and viable Culture Humus(R). And let me be clear that Humates, Peat Moss, and Compost are not Humus!
 
Currently the USDA's in the states from Iowa to Ohio are in panic mode as they are seeing desertification transpire in an area that used to have 20 feet or so of fertile topsoil. One of the factors in this destruction is tilling. If you till your soil then two things are happening; 1) any Humus in the soil is being turned to the surface where environmental impacts destroy it. 2) Any of the beneficial microbiology from the Soil Food Web, such as the Mycorrhizae fungi and helper bacteria living in the proper trophic levels of the soil is now on the surface and once again environmental impacts including sunlight then destroy them. What soil requires to build fertility, transmit nutrients, buffer salt and eliminate the pH issues, is the two components of Humus and microbiology. The two things that commercial agriculture and the plow have effectively eliminated from our formerly fertile areas here in the US.  
 
My observations of many organic farmers is that most of us just don't want to change: Our thinking, our habits, our beliefs. We think that doing it the "hard way" is the "organic way."  Returning organic material to the soil is definitely part of the process.  But it is not all that we must consider.  The most pertinent question it seems in today's rapidly accelerated desertification is: should we take the long road when a more efficient process will help us help the Earth restabilize and renew herself.  Most of us still don't have all the information at our disposal or we would certainly all know more about Humus and why it's absolutely necessary and why the dramatic losses of humus have created so many of the issues Lynn mentioned about his personal situation.
 
Humus is also the number one sequester of CO2 known and is assisted by Mycorrhizae fungi. Agriculture--full-scale and bloated commercial farming--is most probably responsible for releasing a good portion of the CO2 emissions we're dealing with today. This is due to the tilling and use of synthetics. For example, synthetic nitrogen forces the Mycorrhizae fungi to detach from the root zone of the plant simultaneously dissolving Humus and releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. I want us to do the right thing, not just keep doing the same thing and expecting different results.  We all know what that gets us. 
 
Most dissenters either confuse Humus with humates (which is a mined product and is hydrophobic meaning it is not water soluble) or poopoo the idea that significant changes can take place with only the annual topical applications of humus inoculated with beneficial microbiology and mycorrhizae  Wherever you are on this issue, at the very least, I would encourage you to learn more about Humus and how to get it into your soils.  I think we all agree that Nature can't be wrong after these millions of years of refining soil to support and sustain life and she can't be shortchanged through methods that work only partially and perhaps only some of the time.  In speeding up the process by restoring humus, we're aiding the healing of our soils, increasing their fertility, and building topsoil at the same time. Not to mention increasing the water-holding capacity which minimizes over time our costs for irrigation.  Heal the soil, reduce outside inputs.  And labor. For if we truly believe in sustainability we need to first look at methods, practices and inputs that reduce any harm to the planet.  
 
There is a company right here in New Mexico producing these products through their exclusive proprietary technology and the results have been proven over and over in various regions, climates and conditions.  As I respect the non-commercial nature of these discussions, I will simply state that if you want to learn more I can provide you with contact information.
 
If you would like me to forward two key articles to you--one on Humus--what it is and what it does--and the other a testimony to the results of using this method from one of the award-winning commercial organic farmers in Phoenix, Arizona, please contact me privately.  

Yvonne Scott
 

---

From: sunfarm@toast.net
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 11:38:48 -0700
Subject: [Livingontheland] roto-tillers

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:02:16 -0800 (PST)
From: Ken Hargesheimer <minifarms2@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Livingontheland] no-till
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: jbyrd@centex.net, minifarms@gmail.com, rhf@airmail.net,
susanich@earthlink.net, brad@homesweetfarm.com
Message-ID: <255586.75647.qm@web36502.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I watched a USDA video several years ago and on it the agent made this statement, "There is nothing more destructive of soil than a roto-tiller."
  
  I wish I knew what to do to get gardeners and farmers to go no-till. I just keep preach'in.
  
  The earth worms appreciate their home not being destroyed.  Soil appreciates not being ripped apart.  The rain appreciates going into the soil rather than running off carrying top soil with it.  The soil appreciates not being cooked by the sun. The farmer's body appreciates it for less work. The bank account appreciates it due to more profit.  

 The weeds' seeds hate it for not being brought to the surface to sprout.  Equipment dealers hate it due to no sales. 

 

Dear Ken,

    Although roto-tilling might not be good for things in many places, I believe that my farm would not produce and gain fertility without it. Each place and garden is unique and the owner must find the best practices, varieties, and equipment for his or her particular plot. These can vary even on neighboring farms. Breeding one's own varieties is essential for sustainable production on small scale farms and gardens. Here on Sandia Mt., we have a unique soil. It is a silty adobe that is high Ph. It soaks up the rain, but has a strong wicking action that dries it out very quickly. It eats organic matter to the point that raw organic matter is added, bypassing the usual composting, and one can never get enough of it into the soil to help retain moisture and keep friability up. In this high desert, there aren't any earthworms, even with lots of precipitation. Only by tilling in organic matter endlessly do earthworms show up. Tilling does upset earthworms, but they recover very fast, as the soil is full of their dormant eggs. Comparing soil that has been tilled with that which hasn't reveals the benefits. Irrigation is necessary, so it is necessary to contour and make rows or terraces to make it possible to provide moisture and control erosion. My tiller is the ideal tool to accomplish this, period. Troybilts have a depth bar that works great, giving accurate tilling depths, so I only till a couple inches to turn in organic matter once things are well established. This is necessary so the precious organic matter does not wash away during irrigation. My farm is very old-pre-Columbian, and is still here producing away. I don't have a whole Pueblo of workers at my disposal, so I have to substitute a machine to achieve the same results. Observing a Pueblo farmer hoeing his field, it is the same process as the tiller with the same results. A good and successful farmer does not listen to USDA agents before his or her own observations. Observe, observe, observe, and keep your nose out of books or videos that make blanket statements. We all create little unique universes in our gardens and get to play God a bit.

Regards, Lynn Montgomery