Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Sheila Baker" <she4bikes@gmail.com>]

Dr. Lynn Moody, a Cal Poly Soil Physics and Geology professor talks about

rototillers' destruction to soil structure. It is important that soil is relieved

of as much disturbance as possible in order to develop. We want this

planet around for another billion years. Let's don't destroy it for

ou immediate needs or desires.

 

-Sheila Baker

 

On 1/8/08, TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net> wrote:

And with all due respect to you, and I share your enthusiasm for humus (we
started this list as Soilmakers) - I know of the New Mexico company you
mention. As I recall, the only "proven" example the guy provided turned out
to be a place in AZ that actually had been composted for 15 years already.
I'm not saying there's no benefit in their products, just that the burden
of proof is on their commercial products, not on me to disprove them. I'm
naturally skeptical about miracle shortcuts. Last I heard he was
threatening to sue me for "commercial disparagement". I'm not selling
anything. Based on what I've seen the necessary microbes are already
present in most soils and need only the organic amendments to make the
populations blossom and go to work. And of course the composted materials
are needed ayway to build healthy soil structure. So I'd say that
commercial concoctions are not realistic substitutes for composted
materials and other needed amendments, and if you've got those materials
then the microbes, bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi will be there already
with the food they need to build humus. There can be no patent on soil
microbes or methods of growing healthy soil.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 1/8/2008 at 2:30 PM Yvonne Scott wrote:

>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
>



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