2015 is NRCS year of the Soil.
I was able to attend one of the lectures about soil recently.
Some things I actually did know about were companion planting, cover crops, and scavenger crops
Some things I did not know. What happens when you drop a clump rich organic soil in a container of water vs what happens when you drop an organically poor clump of soil (from the same area, but farmed conventionally), in a beaker of water. The organically poor soil literally falls apart dramatically since there is little to bind it.
Cover crops protect the soil from erosion, provide shading and weed control, some attract beneficial insects when they are in flower, legumes sometimes need to be inoculated to promote nitrogen fixation unless the soil has resident bacteria and overall contribute to a healthy soil web. Cover crops grow fast and are tilled in at flowering but before they mature and provide biomass and legumes may return more nitrogen if they have nodules. Organically rich soils bind the soil particles to hold more water and not "fall apart" Annual rye, alfalfa, buckwheat, marigolds, cowpeas, vetch, sun hemp, sorghum, clover, and field peas are
examples. They need to be killed before they go to seed as many of them can become weeds and the maximum benefit peaks at flowering.
Scavenger crops are planted after a main crop to scavenge leftover nitrogen. Applying too much fertilizer is usually the cause and the main reason to get soil tests. The excess fertilizer will eventually leach into the waterways and pollute the environment somewhere down the line. Synthetic and organic fertilizers can both be culprits. Planting the same crop repeatedly may use some elements more than others, scavenger crops take out the excess. Small grains like oats and rye are the most common.
Something I have been using as a scavenger crop was Chinese Mustard cabbage and India mustard. Brassica Juncea are one of the biocidal plants along with sun hemp and certain cultivars of French and African marigolds that are toxic to harmful nematodes. Something which is prevalent in my soil. And I can eat it too. I also plant Kale as a scavenger crop. I try to plant a few sunflowers in the herb garden every year, but I did not know what a good thing it was as the deep roots mine 'mobile' nutrients deep in the soil profile.
https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Boo ... nd-Mustard
https://nofavt.org/sites/default/files/c ... -chart.pdf
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrc ... onal/home/
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Anything with a deep tap root helps mine the subsurface nutrients and bring them to the surface. Comfrey is a classic example; one of the reasons why it is so good for your compost pile. Other examples include dill, parsley, oriental poppy, baptisia, alfalfa (a good cover crop), plantain and dandelion.
I also have comfrey and borage part of the year along with the Chinese cabbages and kale. I plant them specifically for them to mine calcium out. These plants are high in calcium and mineralize the calcium from the soil making it more available for them to take it in. The calcium leaves with the plants as I usually give them away. I want to achieve a net loss of calcium from the soil.
This is the Soil Centric year, and that is good! Yesterday I went to our regional Farm to Table Conference. One main speaker was Ellen Polishuk talking SOIL among other things. She's from VA, has tilled acreage for truck farming vegetables.
She broke down the basics of soil, the physical, chemistry and biology, and none can be separated from another. We have to think of it as a living mass if you will, and work with it.
In my mind trying to translate the information, and how soil works to containers and small raised beds which is especially important for urban gardeners with limited space. As for me, most of my large containers are perennial herbs. Working a good mix from the start, and adding appropriate organic matter and nutrients, thinking it does become a living working mass. I'm not too proud to use Miracle Grow potting mix in some situations, especially in a smaller pot with annual flowers, or annual herbs that may be brought in (basil, parsley etc).
It is important to learn more about the soil, and take advantage of information coming your way. As this speaker Ellen prefaced, she is not strictly 'organic' but uses the principles which I think is what most here lean towards.
She broke down the basics of soil, the physical, chemistry and biology, and none can be separated from another. We have to think of it as a living mass if you will, and work with it.
In my mind trying to translate the information, and how soil works to containers and small raised beds which is especially important for urban gardeners with limited space. As for me, most of my large containers are perennial herbs. Working a good mix from the start, and adding appropriate organic matter and nutrients, thinking it does become a living working mass. I'm not too proud to use Miracle Grow potting mix in some situations, especially in a smaller pot with annual flowers, or annual herbs that may be brought in (basil, parsley etc).
It is important to learn more about the soil, and take advantage of information coming your way. As this speaker Ellen prefaced, she is not strictly 'organic' but uses the principles which I think is what most here lean towards.
Soil, not dirt is something people often take for granted. I doubt that realize that every living thing large and small impacts everything else. People are talking about the global economy, global warming, and probably still ignore the world that exists under their feet.
So many creatures depend on the soil from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Like the world around us, it is always changing and one of the biggest factors in the change has been the influence of man. Man's intervention by concentrated farming, organic,s conventional, pesticide use, global warming, green house gasses, pollution, algae blooms, species extinctions, and probably a lot of other things I haven't thought of has affected the balance of nature, not always for the good, not always understood. There are so many complex relationships between the flora and fauna of the soil and land and the atmosphere in the world we all live in. Each group has a specific function in a part of the cycle. Now, if only humans could just stay in their place, the world would probably be better for it.
So many creatures depend on the soil from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Like the world around us, it is always changing and one of the biggest factors in the change has been the influence of man. Man's intervention by concentrated farming, organic,s conventional, pesticide use, global warming, green house gasses, pollution, algae blooms, species extinctions, and probably a lot of other things I haven't thought of has affected the balance of nature, not always for the good, not always understood. There are so many complex relationships between the flora and fauna of the soil and land and the atmosphere in the world we all live in. Each group has a specific function in a part of the cycle. Now, if only humans could just stay in their place, the world would probably be better for it.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Nice post! We are only just starting to understand the incredibly complex web of life within which we live-- as we destroy it. Plants send all kinds of signals through the air and soil that help modulate the behaviors of other plants around them. The soil is full of life from macro to micro on which all other creatures depend. Our bodies are full of microbes - ten times as many of them as human cells in our body. Imbalance in our digestive bacterial flora may contribute to obesity and an number of other condition, etc etc.
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations by David Montgomery is a really interesting book. I heard him lecture when he came to town. He talks about the destruction of topsoil and proposes that the downfall of various ancient civilizations came when they used up and destroyed their topsoil. We are now doing the same thing and putting ourselves at risk.
Brazil, where the Summer Olympics will be next year, is suffering its worst drought in 80 years, with extreme water rationing being imposed.
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/02 ... 7a3142.jpg
They had the hottest January on record and have been in heat and drought for a long time. Part of what is driving this, along with general climate change, is the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. The trees help regulate the water cycle. shield the soil from drying out, give off water to the atmosphere. Trees absorb moisture from the soil and then give it off into the atmosphere by transpiration. ONE large tree can give 100 gallons of water a day to the atmosphere, which helps maintain humidity and promote rain. But transpiration can shut down when it gets too hot, and of course disappears when the tree is gone. The rainforest helps create its own climate and when it is gone, the local climate changes, getting hotter and dryer.
We are blithely breaking stuff with no idea what we are doing, like a two year old in an antique china shop.
All those people in Brazil (and of course all of us - destruction of the rainforest also has consequences for global climate) are suffering because we "decided" that it would be a good idea to cut down the rainforest to grow beef cattle.
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations by David Montgomery is a really interesting book. I heard him lecture when he came to town. He talks about the destruction of topsoil and proposes that the downfall of various ancient civilizations came when they used up and destroyed their topsoil. We are now doing the same thing and putting ourselves at risk.
Brazil, where the Summer Olympics will be next year, is suffering its worst drought in 80 years, with extreme water rationing being imposed.
https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/02 ... 7a3142.jpg
They had the hottest January on record and have been in heat and drought for a long time. Part of what is driving this, along with general climate change, is the destruction of the Amazon rain forest. The trees help regulate the water cycle. shield the soil from drying out, give off water to the atmosphere. Trees absorb moisture from the soil and then give it off into the atmosphere by transpiration. ONE large tree can give 100 gallons of water a day to the atmosphere, which helps maintain humidity and promote rain. But transpiration can shut down when it gets too hot, and of course disappears when the tree is gone. The rainforest helps create its own climate and when it is gone, the local climate changes, getting hotter and dryer.
We are blithely breaking stuff with no idea what we are doing, like a two year old in an antique china shop.
All those people in Brazil (and of course all of us - destruction of the rainforest also has consequences for global climate) are suffering because we "decided" that it would be a good idea to cut down the rainforest to grow beef cattle.