Looking for quality videos on what makes healthy soil

I have collected a few gems for myself. I'm looking for really practical videos that shows the nuts and bolts of what makes good soil. For those of us on Permies.com we have Dr. Redhawk's resources to read through. But I'm looking particularly for video that I can use to demonstrate to others why permaculture matters in the most fundamental ways. My four faves right now are:





I am lacking something really solid and succinct on garden soil. Also, it would be nice to have something like "Intro To Soil Biology" that just illustrates the composing elements and how they create soil. Everything I see so far is more about people excited about their gardens then they are explaining the science of it. Solid animation would be helpful. Any ideas?

Dr. Elaine Ingham's presentation is one of my favorites:

Hi Adriaan,

Go to Living Web Farms, YouTube channel, and look through the videos they have posted. They have several series on the very topics your after. One series is on Mixed Annual Cover Crops for Soil Fertility. Start with that series, and look around, they have other videos that are good as well, in the topics your after.

Hope that helps!

Adriaan van Roosmalen wrote:Dr. Elaine Ingham's presentation is one of my favorites

Wow that's great, thanks! Loved this quote: "Until the day your field runs out of rock, sand or clay, there is no reason to add inorganic fertilizer or manures." Perfect.

R. Steele wrote:Hi Adriaan,

Go to Living Web Farms, YouTube channel, and look through the videos they have posted. They have several series on the very topics your after. One series is on Mixed Annual Cover Crops for Soil Fertility. Start with that series, and look around, they have other videos that are good as well, in the topics your after.

Hope that helps!

Yes it does help! Those are some awesome videos on some great techniques.

Now, looking through my little repertoire of films, what I'm lacking is a real basic, simple and short presentation of what is soil? I mean something like 5 minutes. A diagram, maybe an animation  and a couple examples of what composes soil and what keeps it healthy. To reach a broad audience I think pithy is real important.

Permaculture Soils, by Geoff Lawton & EcoFilms.com.au

"The DVD starts with a short introduction to modern industrial chemical fertilisers (NPK) and how monoculture has destroyed the bio-diversity of of many living soils.

Geoff seeks to redress this problem through adopting Permaculture management systems, showing you a number of techniques you can use to redress this in-balance.

With probably the most comprehensive instruction on compost creation, using animation and various manures and inoculums, Geoff spends the first 30 minutes explaining the composting process and shows you ways to reintroduce  rich bio-diverse organisms back into your soil that feed the plants and actively help build soil. Whether you want to favour tree plantations like food forest systems or green leafy vegetable crops, Geoff will show ways to create the right kind of compost.

Part 2 of the DVD focuses on building a Permaculture Kitchen garden  using small animal systems like worms, ducks and chickens to return nutrients back to the soil.

Part 3 takes us into broader pasture management techniques from using cattle and chickens together, cell grazing techniques and re-mineralization strategies for pasture management.

The DVD also explains ways to turbo charge larger main crop gardens using biological compost teas. Every step is explained in Geoff’s unique hands-on approach right in the field.

“It’s not the soil itself – it’s the soil life that is the most important element.” – Geoff Lawton

We’ve all seen environmental problems highlighted everyday on the media. Now comes the solution. From the man who said, “You can solve all the world’s problems in a garden” comes Geoff Lawton’s Permaculture Soils DVD. 137 minutes of Permaculture soil creation strategies that really work! Even if you have never built a garden or got your hands dirty before, you will learn the secrets of real soil creation – partnering with the life in the Soil! Geoff will take you through every step of the process and explain in detail how to do it yourself. From Compost creation to larger Kitchen Gardens and then to broad acre farming – this is the future of biological agriculture.

Subjects covered:

   Biodiversity and Compost

   Designing a Kitchen Garden

   Worm Farms

   Duck Ponds

   Using Chickens in a Food Forest

   Pasture Management

   Cell Grazing

   Fungi

   Soil Re-mineralization Strategies

   Compost Teas

   Soil Tests you can do yourself

   Ripping the Soil

   How to build an Instant Garden

and many more Permaculture design techniques are revealed in this unique DVD.

Plus Bonus extras:

“A Couple of Rough Types” – Permaculture cofounder Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton in a very revealing discussion.

Plus Permaculture Trailers"

www.ecofilms.com.au/permaculture-soils-dvd-now-shipping/

Free Screening – Permaculture Soils by Geoff Lawton, The Permaculture Research Institute.