This chapter really demonstrated the fact that the plants know what they need better than we know what they need.
I found it interesting that not only do different plants prefer more or less fungi, but, in the case of micorrhizal fungi, different plants prefer different fungi. More so, they make their preferences known by their root exudates.
I've been waiting to hear the authors' opinion on soil cultivation and, sure enough, they are for as little of it as possible. I can't say I didn't see this coming, though, as all of the information on organic gardening indicates that the less you disturb the soil, the better. It almost follows, then that we shouldn't be walking around in our gardens, as this causes compaction (which is bad), which, in turn, often leads to tilling (which is bad). I wonder where this leaves shallow cultivation between rows.
It looks like, to be truly soil food web friendly, we should garden with beds that are narrow enough that we can plant, weed, and harvest, without walking in them. However, I wonder where this leaves the gardener that does not have a lot of yard space to utilize? After all, you can fit more plants in a large patch of garden rather than a grid-like arrangement of several beds.
I guess the simple answer is to enjoy healthier soil and crops in several beds or to have more crops with sup-excellent growth and soil in a big single-block of garden. I wonder how you would go about growing vining squash and melons in beds? Probably just use fewer plants and try to keep them all in the bed or let the trail out into the grass, I suppose
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