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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: Emery Mitchamore <emitch@att.net>
  • To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] TWO AGRICULTURES, NOT ONE, By John Michael Greer
  • Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 06:17:34 -0500

Harvey, that reply is a gem. I guess that's why you're a writer - you have
the ability to distill issues to the important elements.

Studying and working on Forest Gardens has given me a more comprehensive
perspective on my efforts. We often speak of the vegetative "levels" of a
forest ( canopy, small trees & large shrubs, small shrubs and so forth),
above ground, but I've added another one or two to address the underground
"layer". Not only do you need to be concerned about roots and root crops,
but also the billions of microbes and larger critters living there. What
happens beneath the surface determines above-ground results.

E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
www.hillcountrynatives.net



On Sep 30, 2010, at 8:55 AM, Harvey Ussery 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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  • Re: [Livingontheland] TWO AGRICULTURES, NOT ONE, By John Michael Greer, Emery Mitchamore, 10/01/2010

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