Re: [compost_tea] basic questions

From: butch ragland <wilddog_202_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 08:51:34 -0800 (PST)
Yes, this answers part of the question. here is the
unanswered part. Use a field of corn which is produced
for cattle feed. The field is harvested for the ears
of corn and stalks are harvested for silage. In this
case there is very little left for the good organisms
to act on.

Is there enough left if we only harvest the ears of
corn for this field to be self-sustaining. Don't go
into cover crops because in Indiana most corn fields
have little if any cover crops added. So compost tea
cannot build soil by itself. This takes nothing away
from the value of ACT.

Now I'm going to a huge source of organic matter that
is wasted. We produce a great deal of material that
could returned to the soil but instead we dig an
expensive hole and bury it. Society pays for these
landfills and if we understood that we could pay to
have it returned to the soil and maybe be even on
garbage disposal cost.

One problem is the earth has very few lobbyist and
those precious few have very little money.

In my naive idealistic world a "you-pick" farm would
accept as partial payment kitchen compost. Come and
pick corn and spread your little bag of compost. The
farmer could even charge less because the farmers
yield would increase in volume and quality. Or charge
the same, get rich, then pay for his grandson to run
for president. Think about it, an organic farmers son
for president. Instead of wars over oil we would only
fight if you don't return something to the soil that
sustains us.

--- soilfoodweb_at_aol.com wrote:

>
> Butch wrote:
> Now the question; after harvest will that area be
> improved, stay the same or be depleted in some way.
>
> If the proper set of organisms became established on
> the leaf surfaces during the summer, likely because
> compost tea was sprayed, then there will be an
> on-going benefit to the system because the
> beneficial biology is present.
>
> With a more beneficial set of organisms on the leaf
> surfaces, those leaf surfaces will not be colonized
> by disease-causing fungi and/or bacteria once the
> leaves fall to the soil surface.  The leaf material
> will decompose faster, because the beneficial
> organisms are present, and will be turned into soil
> faster.  This means next spring there will be soil,
> instead of disease-ridden detritus under the trees.
>
>
> This soil is beneficial to the plants, as the
> bacteria and fungi using the dead leaf material have
> tied-up and retained nutrients.  Less leaching and
> loss of nutrients will occur.  The need for
> inorganic fertilizer will be reduced. 
>
> Protozoa and nematodes were added into the system
> with the compost tea, and so if the protozoa and
> nematodes survive, by eating bacteria and fungi
> (which they should, given that the tea has improved
> beneficial bacteria and fungi), then nutrients will
> be made available to the plant, when the plants
> need, during the rapid growth period in the spring.
> Nutrient cycling decreases as the plant fulfills
> it's nutrient uptake requirements, so leaching is
> once again minimized into the late summer.  
>
> Thus, it is important to know what organisms are
> missing from the soil when you start trying to get
> the right biology back into your soil.  Then it is
> useful to monitor on occasion to determine if the
> beneficials are surviving, and if the protozoa and
> nematodes are increasing so the needs of the plant
> are actually met, without you doing any more work
> than applying compost, or compost tea, or a green
> cover crop (which should be a perennial herb in an
> orchard system). 
>
> Did that answer your question?
>
> --
> Elaine Ingham
> President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
> SFI Corvallis, OR
> SFI Port Jefferson, NY
> SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
> SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
> SFI Culiacan, Mexico
> SFI Jerome, Idaho
> SFI South Africa
> http://www.soilfoodweb.com
>
>

=====
Butch Ragland
Conflict is as addictive as
cocaine, alcohol, cigarettes,etc
I'm sorry to report that
cooperation is not


           
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Send a seasonal email greeting and help others. Do good.
http://celebrity.mail.yahoo.com

Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
click here


Yahoo! Groups Links

Received on Fri Dec 31 2004 - 13:22:11 EST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:15:41 EST