PREPARING THE SOIL

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Double-digging, obviously, loosens soil to the greatest depth . . . but it also takes the greatest amount of labor. For a "middle ground" alternative, divide your tilled garden into pathways and raised beds, and rake the loosened pathway earth onto the beds: That'll help increase the depth of texturized soil for your crops, no matter how you initially break the ground! (Our 1984 Eco-Village minigar-experiment-reported in our last issue showed that crop yields in either a doubledug or rotary-tilled raised-bed garden are superior to those in standard row culture gardens.)

PART II: SOIL LIFE

So far we've covered mechanical and manual methods of soil conditioning. This loosening can be likened to an inhalation: The soil has fluffed and expanded as a chest does when the lungs are filled. But just as our lungs are not simply inert balloons but are alive with blood that moves and uses this air, so the life in the soil responds to the increased air flow, leading to fertility.

And the organisms that make up a living soil must be carefully nurtured. They form an intricate system that is by no means completely understood. According to one estimate, a single teaspoonful of fertile soil contains 4,000,000,000 bacteria, 40 to 100 meters of mold filament, 144,000,000 actinomycetes, and large quantities of algae and other microorganisms. All of these, along with the organic matter that sustains them, transform inert, mineral dirt into healthy, living soil..

Such life-forms are important for a number of reasons. Like some intestinal bacteria in animals, they digest nutrients and change them into a form that higher organisms (in this case, plants) are able to use. Also, by tying up nutrients in their bodies as they grow and then dying and releasing them, these organisms regulate the flow of food to the plants and create a sustained fertility. In addition, their excretions, sometimes called soil glue, bind earthen particles into small aggregates, helping to build a loose, friable soil.

These beneficial microorganisms will not live in a soil that is fertilized only with chemicals. They rely, instead, upon a steady sup ply of actively decomposing organic matter for their food and energy. (Note the word steady: Organic matter needs to be supplied on an on-going basis.)

And important as its role of supporting microorganisms is, organic matter does even more. It helps aerate the soil (aha, more texture building!), retains water through dry periods, holds nutrients that would otherwise be leached out by rains, and—unlike chemical fertilizers—releases these nutrients slowly as its decomposition proceeds.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print