Webs and scales Book

I really enjoyed this book and will work to implement many of the ideas in this book into my own yard.

Here are a few things I wrote down to remember:

A mere teaspoon of good garden soil contains a billion invisible bacteria, several yards of equally invisible fungal hyphae, several thousand protozoa and a few dozen nematodes. Pg. 19

Root exudates are in the form of carbohydrates (including sugars) and proteins. Amazingly, their presence wakes up, attracts and grows specific beneficial bacteria and fungi living in the soil that subsist on these exudates and the cellular material sloughed off as the plant’s root tips grow. Pg. 21

Soil life provides the nutrients needed for plant life, and plants initiate and fuel the cycle by producing exudates. Pg. 22

The nets or webs fungi form around roots act as physical barriers to invasion and protect plants from pathogenic fungi and bacteria. Bacteria coats surfaces so thoroughly, there is no room for others to attach themselves. If something impacts these fungi or bacteria [chemical fertilizers] and their numbers drop or they disappear, the plant can easily be attacked. Pg. 24

In general, the least disturbed soils had far more fungi than bacteria while disturbed soils (rototilled) had far more bacteria than fungi. Agricultural soils have fungal to bacterial biomass of 1:1 or less. Forest soils have ten times more fungi than bacteria. Pg. 25

Soil structure is a key characteristic of good growing conditions. If there is adequate soil structure, there is ample drainage between aggregates, but also plenty of plant available capillary water. The air circulation necessary for biological activity is sufficient. And perhaps most important, if there is adequate soil structure, this is space for soil biology to live. Good soil structure withstands torrential rains, the drying of desert-like droughts, herbs of animal traffic and deep freezes. Water and nutrient retention is high. Life in and on it thrives. Pg. 39

Vermicastings- The worms digestive enzymes unlock many of the chemical bonds that otherwise tie up nutrients and prevent their being plant available. Thus, vermicastings are as much as seven times richer in phosphate than soil that has not had been through an earthworm. They have ten times the available potash; five times the nitrogen; three times the useable magnesium and they are one and a half times higher in calcium. All these nutrients bind onto organic matter in the fecal pellets. Pg. 98

Look at the benefits of earthworms. They shred debris so other organisms can more readily digest them. They increase the porosity, water-holding capacity, fertility, and organic matter of soils. They break up hard soils, create root paths and help bind soil particles together. They cycle nutrients and microbes to new locations as they work their way through soil in search of food. With all these benefits, isn’t it strange to count the gardener as one of the predators of the earthworm? Rototilling destroy worm borrows and reduce or even destroy earthworm populations by cutting them up into pieces that don’t regenerate. And the gardener who uses chemical fertilizers is literally throwing salt on the wound; these chemicals are salts that irritate worms and chase them out of garden soils. A noticeable worm population is a clear sign of a healthy food web community. Pg. 101

Another way to figure out what kind of nitrogen a given plant will prefer is to consider how long it lives. If it is only going to be in the ground for a season (vegetables and annuals), then you know the preferred form of nitrogen is nitrate and more bacteria in the soil. Green mulches promote bacteria (like grass clippings). Anything in the ground for more than a year (trees, shrubs, perennials) prefer ammonium and higher numbers of fungi. Brown, dry leaves bring more fungi.

Lawns- Aerate every 3-4 years in the early spring, then put down a thin layer of compost or compost tea.