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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 2, 2010 8:40:38 GMT -5
As mentioned in my interview thread with Hida Manns, I just attended a talk given to her about how maintaining moisture in the soil helps to buffer the effects of climate extremes such as what are expected with climate change.
The gist of it was that maintaining constant soil coverage in the form of mulch, plant residue or active vegetation helps retain moisture, especially in drought conditions, thereby maintaining soil communities and ultimately soil tilth/health allowing for good plant growth and so the cycle continues. Maintaining soil moisture means that there will be a steadier turning of the water cycle meaning more even air moisture and therefore less fluctuations in diurnal air temperatures. Ultimately moderating the local / perhaps global climate.
I have to admit to feeling like the earth is scarred when I see bare soils so this appeals to me so it's great to see various aspects charted and graphed.
Thoughts?
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Post by raymondo on Jun 26, 2010 4:19:00 GMT -5
Here are two stories which I think support Hida Manns' view. Of course only anecdotal evidence but compelling nevertheless.
I live in grazing country (sheep and cattle) and most farmers in this area know the value of soil coverage. Most aim for 100% cover 100% of the time. But not all.
I've visited some friends' farm where they practice rotational grazing aiming for full cover, and pretty much achieve it. Their neighbour does not. Over the recent drought years the friends' pastures mostly remained green and healthy, with good growth. They only had to reduce stock numbers a small amount. The neighbour had to cut his stocking rates drastically, only able to increase them over the last few years since the drought officially ended.
Another farmer, who also practices rotational grazing, aiming for 100%/100%, has a field alongside his neighbour who practices conventional grazing, with quite poor cover in places. Both have dams at the bottom of the hill. When it rains, the dams at the bottom of the neighbour's field fill. The other farmer's dams often remain at the same level for weeks after the rain, then fill slowly and only a little. He reckons that because of his good ground cover, when water falls on his field the moisture soaks in and only gradually finds its way underground down to his dams while his neighbour's field has little capacity for water holding so the water just skates over the surface filling his dams immediately. Better, in my opinion, for the water to be in the field rather than the dam.
I think the same holds for cropping farmers and home gardeners. I don't have bare garden. I only pull weeds when I need the space, and even then I prefer to cut them off just below the surface so their roots stay put. And the weed gets left on the surface to become mulch.
I am a most untidy gardener!
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Post by castanea on Jun 26, 2010 9:37:05 GMT -5
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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 27, 2010 8:06:51 GMT -5
The more that I think about the integral relationship between plants and good dirt (not martian sand type soil), the more I understand the value, even imperative, of maintaining this symbiotic system.
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Post by castanea on Jun 27, 2010 10:29:19 GMT -5
The more that I think about the integral relationship between plants and good dirt (not martian sand type soil), the more I understand the value, even imperative, of maintaining this symbiotic system. I've know intellectually about the importance of dirt for over 20 years, but it's only in the last 5 years that I have understood it emotionally. Soil is not separate from the plant nor is it separate from the organisms that live in that soil. Conventional agriculture is based largely on practices that kill the soil. It is not in any sense sustainable. One of the first books I ever read that touched on this was Secrets of the Soil, a great book: www.amazon.com/Secrets-Soil-Solutions-Restoring-Planet/dp/1890693243 |
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Post by synergy on Nov 3, 2010 23:31:47 GMT -5
I have not tilled in 15 plus years on my small plot and have added manure, and definitely see richer soil, this year noting a lot of different forms of fungi that never existed before. I can see how tilling makes monocultures possible but that is not my goal. I will be running animals in a small plot to kill the pasture enough to plant a perenial grain area. I am not very experienced or sophisticated but I still hope it works : )
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Nov 4, 2010 0:28:28 GMT -5
I have not tilled in 15 plus years Can you tell us how that works? I guess what I am really asking is how does one deal with weeds? Is it something that could be done successfully in a 4 acre field? What is the cost in terms of material, tools, and labor compared to tilling? I'm obviously not asking for a scientific response... Just how it works for you and what the general work flow is like. |
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Post by synergy on Nov 4, 2010 12:53:01 GMT -5
I am not a sophisticated gardener in the least, for the most part I might be such a neophyte that I should not be participating in any discussion as I am actually learning to add permaculture in with my small 4 acre horse farm, that includes, barns, houses, different turnout paddocks so very small and intense in scale . So it is evolving . I divided up my grass pasture with a removable hot rope electric fencing system so I can change the configurations of small 60 x 50 foot paddocks to rotate different animals as I want to be set up for more diverse stock and diminish my horse breeding to jsut keeping my stallions. So areas and swales I protect for drainage and future water conservation here tend to be more sloping and those I keep the horses out of now and plant orchard . The perimeter i plant hedgerow , all very small plants now, but accumulating over time. An interior plot I wanted to garden I stacked soiled horse bedding for about three years and let the horses run on it which killed the grass and created lovely soil where previously it was clayish pasture, So that plot now in the fourth year is about 50 x60 feet and I will grow squash, some corn, potatoes and some beans this spring.
This winter i am starting to run the horses in another small grid of 60 x 50 for a another plot , it may be plantable in spring but I will need to run them on it again the next winter to really churn up the soil and kill grass, but I was under some sad misconception I might have a perenial grain bed. Looks like I might have to do some small beds of annual grains for a while. So my system isn't completely evolved, but just evolving as I explore a more balanced lifestyle. In 15 years there has been no spraying or tilling. If I run horses around the mature tree crops the compaction is too hard on the roots so those areas will have to adapt to seasonal geese or turkeys or sheep. But remember this is very small scale , workable for me as single person. I could handle keeping small perenial plots of grain production generally weed free but I am not interested in cultivating big areas or tilling because even though compaction is not good after the horses run hard on an area the freeze thaw cycles loosen up the soil again when you remove them . As mentioned I am now noticing huge changes in the soil, I'd say I have about 10 more kinds of fungi than before even popping up in areas that were fescue monocultures with more trees and organic litter I am sure I will see more changes over the long term.
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Post by synergy on Nov 4, 2010 13:03:12 GMT -5
I was going to add to what you were speaking on, I use to see the soil erode away from the base of grass root on the sloping fields so I hand spread manure from wheelbarrows and now with the rotation I have much more retention of water in the pasture, very little sign of erosion due to run off. I am going to work on my swales to actually not just divert water away but to hold the water for longer and hopefully develop some small pond catchments to retain it in as well. Those are my goals. I see what works and slowly I adapt new ideas. I live in a coastal valley outside of Vancouver British Columbia where we have a lot of fall/winter and spring rain and fairly temperate weather year round zone 7 .This summer we had no rain for 4 months hence my decision that I need to conserve even more water despite our abundant climate.
Previous years my pastures were less intensely managed and never had the small plot configurations of fence and in summer the ground got yellow, barren, a proliferation of weeds , this year it retained a nice green cover, I seeded some flax and oats and wheat and red clover in any exposed areas (like small piles of dirt made by moles or voles) I don't know if that will be a success or not but I will keep adding things, herbs, trees etc which I do research a bit for compatability with my utilization.
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