Managing microbes in your soil.

Conventional gardening is an input driven system. The accepted wisdom is to apply an unbalanced fertiliser to an unbalanced soil to help sustain a state of imbalance, which will then require constant chemical intervention. This serves no one except the chemical companies.

Success in gardening is more knowledge driven than input driven. Once we accept that there is a direct relationship between nutrition and pest and disease pressure, then we can look to the causes rather than just treating symptoms.

Pride, satisfaction, purpose and passion is what makes gardening a pleasure. Gardening with nature is exciting, and rewarding.  It is simply fascinating!

The most basic requirement for a healthy garden is to have healthy soil.  Healthy HUMUS! If organic carbon (humus) is declining then your garden and its plants will struggle as well.

So what is organic matter, this humus? Soil tests measure organic matter, and a rough organic carbon equivalent is derived by dividing the organic matter figure by 1.7.  In actual fact, the organic matter, as measured on most soil tests, is actually a combination of three different materials – raw organic matter, effective humus and stable humus.

Raw organic matter consists of plant or crop residues, manures and a variety of decomposing  organisms. It has a valuable function and it provides food for microorganisms  but it can create nitrogen lock-ups, as the nitrogen is tied up as protein in the bodies of the microbes doing the work.

Effective humus is the next stage in the decomposition process. This material contains a large percentage of fulvic acid. It is a dark brown, colloidal material which increases cation exchange capacity and reduces the loss of leachable anions. Effective humus provides nutrients to microbes  as it decomposes and it is a storehouse of beneficial microbial metabolites including hormones, vitamins and antibiotic substances. At this point though, it is not a stable habitat for microorganisms.

Stable humus is the completed product. It consists mostly of long-chained humic acids or humans bonded to clay particles. It is now a homogenous material which is resistant to chemical action. The dark brown colour improves heat retention by the seed and it acts like a carbon filter, protecting plants and microbes (and eventually humans) from toxic substances. Stable humus provides long-term nutrient storage and it is the principal of microbial habitat. 

Link : Life Force Home Range 

The Dirty Life - good enough to eat!

Food, a French man told me once, is the first wealth. Grow it right, and you feel insanely rich, no matter what you own.

Kristin Kimball, The Dirty Life, p 16.

Last night, with The Agronomist away visiting farmers in the north of the state, I crawled into bed early with a copy of The Dirty Life, by Kristin Kimball and a large cup of tea! Sheer bliss!

The Dirty Life is a memoir of "farming, food and love". It is the story of a love affair between a city girl and a man who wants to farm organically. Organically for this man means shunning mechanical tools such as tractors; it is draft horses for this man! It is also the story of the farm that they rescue and turn into a flourishing business where they supply the food needs of over one hundred local families. This is a cause that is becoming very dear to my heart, and of course the use of draft horses hit a sentimental note for me, as I recalled my Dad’s love for the heavy work horses (the man in my banner is my Dad!).

Essex Farm near Lake Champlain (USA) is crafted into a “whole farm”  where for an annual fee members can each week collect their share of beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, maple syrup, grains, flours, dried beans, fruits and forty different vegetables that are seasonal.

Kristin Kimball reminds us of something that many of our grandparents knew all too well, and that is that there is happiness and great rewards to be gained from hard physical work, best agricultural practices, good food, a small footprint, and pursuing our dreams and passions.

This is a book not just for those of thinking of a tree change, but more so a book for those people wanting to change the way they eat and the way they view the world around them.

As I wrote, this is something that is a growing passion for me. It has always been for  The Agronomist. We have always gardened as organically as possible, and The Agronomist has always maintained that he would never, ever work for a chemical company, only too aware of what these global companies have been doing to our food and land. I have no doubt that he would allow us to be homeless before he would take that path. So, time to put our actions to our words.

We have a business, Plant Health Solutions and we are making available to gardeners, nurseries and farmers pure, organic nutrient products that will feed that lovely soil that gifts us with our wonderful food. There is also a range of human and animal health products as well. The Agronomist is happy to provide agronomic advice as well.

 The Agronomist has been toiling away on the website for weeks and weeks, and it still needs some tweaking, so if you visit right now, just be prepared for a work in progress sign. Our clients will be able to buy online, from anywhere in the world.

Our growing excitement about this project is indeed making me feel insanely rich, despite being insanely poor right now, if you catch my meaning! It feels good to have a real passion again, and something that The Agronomist and I can pursue together – soil good enough to eat!

gently does it

I read the following quote recently on Martha's Whole living site and for once couldn't argue. Healthy soils simply means healthy plants and food. What is good for the earth is good for us! No brainer!

Good fertilisers help ensure that your soil stays healthy. Yet applying too much, especially at the wrong time of year, will cause runoff, leading to groundwater pollution. Additionally, nitrate-based fertilisers (which are synthetic) often contain a high salt index that can cause root burning and dehydration. The alternative is to use organic gardening products judiciously. (To gardeners, the terms "organic" and "natural" mean products derived from a plant, animal, or mineral source, not those containing USDA-certified organic materials.) Organic fertilisers won't dry or burn your soil; they will rehabilitate soil quality and improve the general health of your garden.