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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] permaculture Digest, Vol 96, Issue 9

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] permaculture Digest, Vol 96, Issue 9
  • Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:23:09 -0500

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.




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