permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 1/6/2011 2:17 AM, sam bucus wrote:

> The fine rock he is talking about, can it be anything? I have access
> to granite dust, and basalt sand, but I don't know if its 200 mesh. I

Yes to the above, basalt sand and especially the granite dust. Siltation 
pond fines are what you want, every quarry has them and they are EPA 
regulated and the fines are clean. Screenings are a commercial product 
and use in the manufacture of asphalt; they are larger particle size 
then most sand. It does not have to be 200 mesh but obviously the finer 
it is the quicker it will break down through natural action.

> am a potter too and mixing glazes we dont usually go below 100 mesh,
> 200 is pretty small. That seems to be the point though. Any
> suggestions finding rock powder that particle size?

Thats it, that is the point. Smallest possible fines. Dust or larger.

> I also feel pretty bad about our plans to till now. Double digging is

The thing about rototilling is that it destroys life in the soil by 
disrupting the habitat of beneficial microorganisms such as bacteria, 
fungi, protozoa, nematodes, microarthropods, and earthworms. Also, 
regarding soil pH, Elaine Ingham of Soil Foodweb, Inc writes:
"It is the biology in the soil that determines soil pH.
<...>
Until the habitat in the soil is changed so that beneficial bacteria
and fungi are selected for by the soil environment, low pH problems
will eternally haunt you. Constructing your beds using a spade or 
digging fork and a digging spade will allow you to retain a much higher 
percentage of the established colonies of these organisms."
<>
categories of soil inhabitants
(unicellular and multicellular)
Bacteria
Fungi
Algae
Protozoa
Nematodes
Microarthropods
Enchytraeids
Earthworms
Ants, termites, spiders
Mollusks
Others: rodents, snakes, voles, amphibians, dung beetles, fire ants, 
moles, armadillos,
gophers
Actinomycetes:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/4401/actinomycete
"any member of a heterogeneous group of gram-positive, generally 
anaerobic bacteria noted for a filamentous and branching growth pattern 
that results, in most forms, in an extensive colony, or mycelium. The 
mycelium in some species may break apart to form rod- or coccoid-shaped 
forms. Many genera also form spores; the sporangia, or spore cases, may 
be found on aerial hyphae, on the colony surface, or free within the 
environment. Motility, when present, is conferred by flagella.
Many species of actinomycetes occur in soil and are harmless to animals 
and higher plants, while some are important pathogens, and many others 
are beneficial sources of antibiotics.
-
What do bacteria do in soil:
Colonize aerobic and anaerobic environments
Decompose labile substrates
Mediate redox transformations
Nourish bacterivores
Fix N
-
What Fungi Do in the Soil:
Decompose recalcitrant organic compounds
Penetrate residues
Stabilize soil structure
Nourish fungivores
Form symbioses with plant roots and soil fauna
Compete with plant pathogens
Parasitize plants and soil animals
Produce toxins e.g.  aflatoxin produced by Aspergillus flavus on peanut"
-
And there's more to this, obviously - I will add new info I have found
as soon as I have edited it. LL
<>
The kind of fine tillage that a rototiller does is very disrupting and 
since you're working on small scale, incrementing preparation of small 
areas toward completion of large areas using a careful, gradual process 
you will gain much more in the realm of soil tilth, soil life and long 
and short term fertility and productive capacity in your garden by 
completing the construction process slowly and carefully. Its the 
tortoise and hare thing.

1) Adding rock fines will add significant tilth to your soil and will 
prevent it from becoming compacted thereafter. If you're going to hand 
dig your beds then start with Step One and compost the turf as you 
excavate the soil. Remove the living turf in slabs, invert (or don't 
invert) it onto shallow piles so it can decompose aerobically; add 
compost to it to speed this process up. Then get on with the business of 
hand digging, tilthing and amending the remaining soil in your beds to 
the depth you want.

It all a logical process. Have your pile(s) of quarry fines (rock dust)
(get a tandem load, triaxle load or dump trailer 36 yard load; its free 
usually, just pay for trucking to your site), manure(s), any aged 
materials to use as compost, i.e. rotted sawdust or bark or leaves or 
spoiled hay and specialized NPK/mineral/trace mineral commercial 
amendments on hand ready to add to your excavated soil on hand before 
you start work. This will make the work go more rapidly and will be more 
interesting.

> serious work. I'll start there. I had thought maybe after turning
> under the sod, I could U-bar my way down. We will have to see.

You don't just turn under the sod, you remove it from the garden 
completely to rot, with extra compost, aerobically. Also read about 
Huegelkulture and how that can be used to make big, sometimes above 
grade, growing beds and how turf is incorporated into them. Permies.com
has documents on this as well as ongoing discussion threads with 
pictures. Read both. This is an alternate way to create growing beds
but, in your case, you need to stick with conventional double digging to 
convert your pasture to production gardens as that is orderly and 
efficient and the definitive method you can use for bed maintenance and 
expansion on a permanent basis.

You use the UBar to loosen soil below the depth you have excavated with 
your digging spade and spade fork, i.e. loosened/tilthed in situ but not 
inverted, left in place. This is the process followed periodically after 
the beds are done and you need to tilth them seasonally or between 
crops; inverting the soil is not done then or ever after initial bed 
construction. The UBar can be used from the start to make double digging 
go faster and it is generally a good idea to use it throughout as long 
as you do not compromise the double digging process,
which is orderly for a reason, efficiency and thoroughness of tilthing.

I think I will add this thread to my online how to document.