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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] TWO AGRICULTURES, NOT ONE, By John Michael Greer

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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: <pbunch@cox.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] TWO AGRICULTURES, NOT ONE, By John Michael Greer
  • Date: Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:33:07 -0700

Mass is conserved.

---- Harvey Ussery <harvey@themodernhomestead.us> wrote:
> On 09/30/2010 07:13 AM, paul@oneseedling.com wrote:
> > Once nutrients leave the farm they must be replaced from other
> > sources. ~paul@oneseedling
>
> As has said been earlier in the thread, by no means entirely true. Three
> sources of *renewable* nutrients on-site come to mind:
> * Deeply rooted crops (alfalfa, comfrey, others) that "mine" mineral
> fertility from the depths far below the reach of more shallow rooted crops.
> ** Legumes set nitrogen, a major nutrient need, in the soil without
> purchased inputs from elsewhere.
> *** And most important of all, sunlight is constantly being added to the
> equation. While sunlight doesn't create mineral content that's not there
> (other than N), the more stuff it's helping to grow on the site, the
> more fertile it's going to become overall.
>
> And we shouldn't think of fertility as solely chemical "nutrients" you
> can test for in a lab. Fertility is also about how "alive" the soil is.
> So incorporating livestock on most sites should bring a net gain in
> fertility--their manure over time boosts soil microbial populations,
> boosting fertility above and beyond the lab-analysis level of chemicals.
>
> Finally, whether or not some minerals are *available* has a lot to do
> with the soil food web community. Boost those guys and there is more
> *usable* mineral content even if we haven't shipped in amendments from
> elsewhere.
>
> ~Harvey
>
> --
> Harvey in northern Va
> www.themodernhomestead.us
>
> My book, THE MODERN HOMESTEAD POULTRY FLOCK, will be published next year by
> Chelsea Green Publishing.
>
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