Why are biodiversity and human longevity hotspots clustered around volcanic areas with high atmospheric and groundwater sulfur? Rio Agria in Costa Rica has a pH of around 3.1, primarily due to sulfuric acid. Sulfur certainly kills some fungi, and can leach from certain soils. But it is bound tightly by clay subsoils, where it is most often used to benefit plants in calcarious soils. I'm not so sure this premise of sulfur being a major detriment to soils is so black & white.
Appreciative for info Dr. Elaine. A question as well. When adding compost to soil, what is the best method to apply compost to badly depleted soil ? Is it ; a) ‘Mix in’ method (I.e inch layers) of compost sprayed on top soil layer, then thoroughly mixed into soil with pitch fork, or b) Top layering top soil with compost and leaving compost to leach into soil and or microbes take it further down. If answer is ‘a’, would you kindly elaborate on how you would mix compost on a large scale of depleted soil on Farmland acreage - would this involve having to retill soil using industrial scale machinery? Thankyou so much for uncanny advice.
Thank you for sharing. I can relate 100% My grandparents came from Sicily moved to Brooklyn NY And I learned to garden as a kid in a garden similar to your Nonnos. What part of Italy are they from?
Burning piles of timber produces woodash. If these piles are leftovers from clearing a patch for say fruit trees then the woodash, which is rich in potassium can be used as a fertilizer. But yes burning grass I don't agree with, better to graze it with animals.
I've always had a niggling issue with work that is animal first, vegetation second. I now know why (27 minutes). Plants evolved to land long before animals.
Had to laugh! At 31:00 you have a slide that says something like Our soils are thin, only have 2 to 3 ft of soil before bedrock. I would kill to have a soil that deep. We had 4 inches over much of our 5 acres. I've managed to bring in another 4 inches over half of the property.
I'm against everything mono crop. People have no idea how bad things have become. We are part of nature and we all require diversity and symbiosis with all lifeforms. Mono cropping now consumes around 3/4 of the planets farm-able land. In every field we have lost trillions of bacteria, fungi and insects, thousands of plants trees and animals. We have destroyed micro climates across the planet by removing diversity, shading, organic material and root mass. This death will happen in slow motion, it will be accelerated by the developing world now becoming mass consumers, development and the constant addition of infrastructure. Population continues to approach 10 billion and consumption continues to increase. The next 160 years will turn into pure hell and natural systems will fall to pieces. People are starting to worry now yet we have not even touched on the damage and most of the damage that has already taken place is effecting everyone in slow motion, thus people fail to notice. It can take several generations to really see the big issue and it can take several more generation if not millennia to repair them. there is far too much focus on carbon footprints and not enough on diversity and symbiosis. All these debates over how to approach the situation or how to argue with others who make personal sacrifices, people forget they need to adapt to the current situation and the current situation is far more serious than 99% realise! I have been vegan over 20 years and gave up cereals / grains and all associated products over the last 2 years with around 95% success. Problem industries include farming for clothing production, bio fuels, tree farming and general mono crop farming. If only we could convert 100% of the farmlands into permaculture installations over the next 20 years we might stand a chance however this will never happen. Very sad!
I made an experiment last year with my lawn during summer: when I knew the heat was coming, I stopped mowing the lawn and let it grow long. This way a) the grass shadowed its own roots and STAYED GREEN all through the season. b) zero weeds c) more big worms in the ground due to increased moisture. The ground stayed soft d) as soon as I cut half the length of the grass, it dried and turned yellow. BIG mistake e) more hunting for murder slugs because of the long grass and more moisture. About 10 times more than usual; 20/2 (normal). But the lawn survived 👍 I noticed that you use NATIVE grass sorts: I heard from a Danish beekeeper:"Danish bees want Danish flowers." I realized just how delicate the balance is in nature. I have kept climbing roses for the pollinators for 19 years. I met a beekeeper who keeps his hives in my neighbourhood, so now I have my own honey 😊.
Looks like we've known about this for at least a decade or so. Y T F are there still monocrops and chemicals and barbaric tilling practices that continue to massacre the microbiome? Oh - oops - too many farmers either have no clue or worse - they don't want to change. Seems they care more about being right than doing right - they'd rather keep the status quo than understand how incorrect agricultural practices have systematically destroyed soil for centuries (Look at the desert lands around the world). Time to restore the soil people! No more chemical fertilizers and additives that kill beneficial lifeforms. Let's help nature do the job it has been doing.
