Restoration, #1 What if we change

[DoubleDogFarm]

[applestar]

Looks interesting! Watched first 6 min but ran out of time. Will watch tomorrow.

[gixxerific]

thanks for keeping me up till midnight. Now I have to watch another.

[rainbowgardener]

What a wonderful project! I watched the first half of the video so far.

It reminds me of the work of David Montgomery, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. I heard him lecture when he came to town. He makes the case that civilizations have fallen due to the loss of their topsoil. He makes similar points about what happens when protective vegetation is removed and soils are exposed to wind and rain.

Many of the deserts in the world, used to be lush and covered in vegetation, like the area this video describes. Desertification is the process of deserts expanding into more and more crop land. It is a result of human use/abuse of the land. It is amazing to see that it can actually be reversed and inside of one generation. Thanks for sharing this.

[Chinese Gardener]

I live in the area in the video. The agricultural methods are terrible.

They burn all excess OM, they use no composting methods, the soil has a pH of 9.0 and there are no animals, bugs, nor worms in the soil. The soil is often used to make bricks with and is better suited as a construction material. All fields are heavily treated with chemical pesticides and fertilisers and hardpans once any rain falls. Rainfall is less than 20inches a year and calcium and magnesium deficiency is endemic.

The "soil' is just about useless and has been in state of profound depletion for centuries.

It is a result of human use/abuse of the land.

I disagree. Since the last Ice Age the Eurasian continent and Gobi Desert have been dropping dust on this part of China. Human activities have not helped, but this would happen even if no humans were present.

Loess soil is hundred's of metres deep beneath my feet, and I have profound doubts that any trees planted will be left standing. Chinese will cut down trees and trim them to the point where they become a log stuck into the ground.

[rainbowgardener]

but what you are describing is abuse of the land:

They burn all excess OM, they use no composting methods, the soil has a pH of 9.0 and there are no animals, bugs, nor worms in the soil. .... All fields are heavily treated with chemical pesticides and fertilisers and hardpans once any rain falls. ... The "soil' is just about useless and has been in state of profound depletion for centuries. .... they cut down trees.

All of that could be changed, putting the OM back in to the soil, composting, use of composting toilets, stop with all the chemicals, keep the trees, add worms to the soil, plant to attract beneficial insects, cover crops, heavy mulching, etc.

[Chinese Gardener]

but what you are describing is abuse of the land:

What I am describing is Loess soil which has been deposited for millenia in this part of the world. Brick earth is the name in England. This is how this dirt shows up as dust deposits blown into the yards and houses.

Prevailing winds blow this dust from the Gobi Desert and Eurasia and it is several hundred metres thick here.

When it is dug up, there is nothing there for hundred's of metres in depth. I can see the pits where it is dug up to be used in kilns. It'is lifeless, nothing there.

Abuse of the land only extends to the top layer. If the soil is dead and more fit for making bricks at a depth of 10, 20, 50 metres, then it's the soil.

There are no animals or insects in this dirt all the way down to the bedrock.

This soil is at best pre-subsoil, and at worst nearly sand, and it begins its life that way.

Humans had no hand in the last Ice Age, this deposition of Loess would occur whether humans were present or not. The Gobi Desert would be there regardless of human presence or activity.