What Is Soil Becoming?

Last year about this time, I wrote a column about dirt and what it was. It is a complex matter. Soil is composed of various organisms, carbon, minerals, organic matter and so forth. This year I want us to look at ways to improve the soil. Some are conventional, while others are not.

On the Email Robin, a man is adding microorganisms to his soil to see if his soil can be improved. At http://www.soilfoodweb.com is some fantastic information on this new science. An associate professor of biology says that just adding organic matter to the soil is not enough. We will discuss more about this later as we discover what has led to this sad state of affairs.

Organic matter does provide carbon, but it also improves the "tilth" of the soil. Think of the method used to determine when to plow or roto-till. You squeeze a handful of soil. If it crumbles, it is dry enough to till. Coming from Ohio, which has great soil to Tennessee with its heavy clay has been an eye opener for me. Ohio soil grows almost everything well. Clay soil needs a little help. You have to loosen the soil by increasing its tilth. How do you do this?

Critters in the Compost Pile

A compost pile is every gardener's friend. You not only recycle kitchen wastes, but you add humus to the soil. You can't look at compost without considering the critters that help the compost break down. Earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris) are one of the first critters that you notice. Did you know that they could only grow so long (90-300 millimeters) depending on what kind of worm it is, how many segments it has, and how well it has eaten. Check out the http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/worm/facts/... or the Worm Facts site. Did you know that worms tunnel through the compost digesting vegetarian scraps while excreting worm castings that contain minerals and other good stuff? Worms need proper food, moisture, oxygen and a favorable temperature to do their job.

There are other critters in the compost pile. Sow bugs eat plant material, then excreting what it does not need. Its droppings add to the earthworm castings to increase the humus in the pile. Did you know that the sow bug is not a bug, but a crustacean? It is a relative of shrimps and lobsters. And I thought they had no class! All I knew was they were eating the roots of my new seedlings and had to go! Soapy water controls them.

Go To Page: 1 2 3