> My garden is very small and I don't have enough room to follow a good
> rotating schedule for these crops. Is there any way to shortcut this
> process to kill the fungus, etc that damage them? The only option I know is
> to not plant some of my favorites.
John in the sanet-mg mailing list (now a Google Group) has stated many
times that he has been able to grow potatoes in Ireland without
interference from disease, i.e. blight and that he has accomlished this
through application of good compost on his garden soil, implying that
beneficial microorganisms outnumber and devour the predatory plant
disease-causing ones. Maybe this method will work for tomatoes too. My
thoughts are that application of rock dust soil amendments willbe of great
benefits as they will feed the beneficial microorganisms so they can
establish larger colonies and keep soil healthy.
These sites will probably be the most help:
USDA NRCS
Soil Biology http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/soils/health/biology/
The online Soil Biology Primer is an introduction to the living component
of soil and how it contributes to agricultural productivity and air and
water quality. The Primer includes chapters describing the soil food web
and its relationship to soil health and chapters about soil bacteria,
fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms.
The online Primer includes all of the text of the printed original, but not
all of the images of the soil organisms. The full story of the soil food
web is more easily understood with the help of the illustrations in the
printed version.Printed copies of the Soil Biology Primer may be purchased
from the Soil and Water Conservation Society.
Go to www.swcs.org
<http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/biology/?cid=nrcs142p2_053868>
Soil Food Web
By Elaine R. Ingham http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/biology/?cid=nrcs142p2_053868
Soil Biology Primer Chapters
And then there is soil remineralization for production of "nutrient dense"
foods.
Remineralize the Earth <http://remineralize.org/>
*remineralize*.org/
*Remineralize the Earth* ... Learn what remineralization is all about, and
how to apply rock dust to your garden or farm. ... remineralization
advocates and activists.
John D. Hamaker - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Hamaker
Wikipedia
John D. Hamaker (1914–1994), was an American mechanical engineer,
ecologist, agronomist .... By assuming the task of remineralizing the
Earth's soils, just like glaciers do during an ice age, remineralization
would create fertile soils
How to Remineralize the Earth | OC Digital - Organic Connections
organicconnectmag.com › Food & Nutrition › Farms & Farmers
“We can address this by returning minerals to the soil just as the earth
does. ... Just ask Dan Kittredge, executive director of Remineralize the
Earth
Why Rock Dust Is the Future of Gardening | OC Digital
organicconnectmag.com › Food & Nutrition › Grow It
We talked with Joanna Campe, president of Remineralize the Earth, to get
the dirt on rock dust and how remineralization is the future of gardening
and farming
The compost_tea mailing list has one of the best collections of information
on compost tea making and using and use in aquaponics: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/compost_tea/info run by Jeff Loewenfeld
who has written several world class books on the microbiology of compost
tea - well worth adding to your library - just discovered a new CT list: