“It all starts with the soil”
“Feed the soil. The soil is what feeds your plants”
I have heard these things said several times since I first got into
gardening just two short years ago. So all along the way through my (extremely obsessive) learning process I have been making little mental notes each time I hear something that applies to this subject. If it affects the soil in any imaginable way… I will always try to remember it.
Right now I am feeling this strong urge to regurgitate the information I have learned so far and ask you gurus for more input. I also want to have a quick link to post in other forums when speaking about this subject. Lol God bless the internet and its powers of sharing knowledge at the speed of light.
Anyways, I have broken everything down into different categories/paragraphs to make this easier to read. Hopefully all of you will be able to envision what I see in my mind’s eye about what makes good soil. Then be able to add to it. Please remember I am just regurgitating what others have said to the best of my abilities… and adding my imagination in some areas too. So everyone is going to have their own view different from my own.
1. Cover/Microclimate- It all starts here in this category(to me and others). Soil that is covered is soil that comes to life. In nature you will see this most of the time. Cover comes in so many different forms. Trees, a
polyculture of densely planted items, grasses, rocks, leaves,
wood mulch, etc. Covers create a microclimate that is supportive of life in so many numerous different ways. Covers can accumulate nutrients, hold moisture, keep temperatures at optimal levels, create
carbon pathways, etc. They themselves seem to be… in a way… one of those “edge effects” I keep hearing about that is where most forms of life congregate.
2. Beneficial Fungi & Bacteria- Fungi and Bacteria can thrive in the microclimate created through cover. Even the dappled
canopy from a tree keeps them from baking in the radiation from the Sun. Fungi and Bacteria can apparently do a massive amount of different things. Fungi will form large networks within the soil essentially becoming an extension of a plants
root system. Some will bore into a plants root and some will surround a plants root. The plants they attach to can donate up to 70% (in some species) of the
energy produced through photosynthesis to the fungi. In turn, the Fungi will bring the host plant
water, nutrients, minerals, etc. I even recently read that many bacteria in soil produce antibiotics to win the fight/right to exist. The host plants in their vicinity can actually absorb these antibiotics and use them to fight infection. Just as we humans use penicillin. There was even talk about some orchard in California inoculating their soil with these bacteria and they now use 80% less fungicides. Saving lots of $$$.
3. The Mighty Worm!- They also like good cover. There is just too much to say in a positive manner about worms. I will post a link at the end of this paragraph about worms and hope you will read it. It is full of just plain awesome tidbits of info./research about worms. Even many references for the info. Anyways, worms of
course aerate the soil. Not only eating the bad microbes (fungi, bacteria, etc.)… but eliminating that anaerobic environment in which they thrive at the same time… by again… aerating the soil. Even the guts of a worm have been described as a bio reactor. Their
poop has been shown to have up to 1000 times more microbial density than the surrounding soil. Their poop holds more water than the surrounding soil. The bad nematode population can be decreased by worms. Nutrients get moved around during the “mining” process. When a worm dies it fertilizes. They will neutralize Both acidic soil and alkaline soil. They can break up hardpan clay(under the right conditions aka cover). If 1 square foot were to have 25 worms within the top several feet of soil… then that is 1million worms per acre. A new USA study indicates 1½ million worms per acre would Move 20 tons of earth each year. Talk about free labor. I’m going to stop there. Too much to type. Here is the link…
http://mypeoplepc.com/members/arbra/bbb/id19.html
4. Water- Important on so many levels. It is a very common subject spoken about and an easy one to grasp. I am not going talk about the ways to slow it down through swells and such. How soil cover keeps it from escaping. How worms can keep it from running off of your property too. Or how moist soil enables
roots to punch through hard soil (OK I kind of just did! Lol) However, I did see in that
Geoff Lawton video of how having a 16ft deep saturation in the soil is
enough to keep most trees alive without irrigation. I even heard Paul mention in one of his podcasts about how when the water seeps through the soil it will pull fresh air in behind it! I thought this was astounding because I know nitrogen is in air. So does the nitrogen get pulled into the soil this way too??? Anybody??? I am really curious. Is air fertilizer?
5. Birds- Once you get things kicking and the soil(everything) is coming to life you may see birds. In my case vast amounts of birds. The birds I have in my
yard in vast numbers are continuously eating bugs, slugs, worms, snails, seeds, and even ripping out vegetation for nests(this time of year). All the while pooping and peeing fertilizer… EVERYWHERE. I have seen flocks of several hundred birds a few times a day in my yard during the winter since I am on a migratory route for many species. Right now I have several Robin nests around my house. They are eating the worms and pooping all over the place all the time. I only have a .36acre yard.
6. Rabbits- I do currently have around 7 or so
rabbits that frequent my yard. Over the years they have filled my hardpan yard into a mine field of small dips from which they have their young in. Each of those dips fills with water during rain and helps my yard retain more water in a natural mini swale fashion. There is a pile of rabbit pellets every 5 to 10 ft. Just more fertilizer.
7. Squirrels- When I see them I can’t help but think about the YouTube video I saw about “
The Man Who Planted Trees”. Squirrels are exactly like that to me.
8. Bugs- Micro-poop and fertilize through their being eaten by everything/or deaths by natural causes. Support life in many ways and remove the weaker things that don’t belong… creating carbon pathways from those dead root systems and adding biomass/fertilizer to the soil.
9. Reptiles/ Amphibians- I read once that a single North American Toad can eat up to 15,000 bugs a year. That is some seriously good fertilizer. I had one that once hung out under a light all night-every night. He was so fat that he could not hop anymore by the end of summer.
10.
Perennial Plants- Deep root systems can both harvest and accumulate deep water and nutrients. The deeper root systems will create deeper life within the soil. Think several meters. Increasing the depth/amount of worms, fungi, bacteria, etc. per cubic foot in the
land. Also, most prairie environments typically have warm season grasses, cool season grasses, and legumes. All these things can keep the sun’s energy feeding the land year round(possibly). So… drum roll… Maximizing the land’s ability to absorb the sun in a way that feeds life alllll year is the key to more life supported per square foot on that land.
11. Edge Effect- I have read several times that all life tends to congregate on the borders of two or more edges/environments. By creating as many different edges within an environment you will be simply stacking to the amount of life it can support. All of those functions will feedback into themselves creating a cascade effect for more life. Assuming Nature finds a Balance at some point in there.
I just love Sepp’s calling the neighboring mountainsides around his home as a “pine desert”. Even though there is obviously life there on many small levels, the land is not supportive for the complexity and diversity of life.