Thoughts on Dirt

There are two broad categories for soil amenities, "organic" and synthetic. For the proposes of this post I will focus on the "organic" methods. The synthetic methods for increasing yield from soils are harmful to the land its self and everything down stream of it. People often compare Fritz Haber's contributions to chemical warfare and chemical fertalizer. They will say on the one hand he made it possible for our worlds population to balloon from just over one billion people to just over 7 billion people in less than a century. On the other hand he gave germany the means to kill millions through chemical warfare. In my mind neither of these things are good. Therefore, and because I have no interest in it I am not going to talk about the synthetic fertilizer industry. 
 Compost is perhaps the most ancient form of soil amenities. In it's most basic form it requires depositing waste matter on the soil to break down and be reabsorbed. This process also has the benefit of being free. All I have to do is take the unused parts of the plants I grow, greens, stems, roots and more and put them in a pile. By next spring these things have become rich soft dirt. Most people don't realize this, but the matter that makes up most of a plant is derived directly from the air, not the soil. This means I am literally turning CO2 a green house gas into soil. I know that is basic elementary school science, but I find that idea almost sexy. I breath in O2 and I eat Carbon based foods, Plants breath in CO2. They use the carbon from that along with sunshine to build their structure. Then they exhale O2. This circle of life has been spinning for 3.5 billion. This ancient system has been modified thousands of times over the ages by humans. Now it includes things like vermi-composting, bio-char, compost tumblers and more. Most of these new methods have the benefit of making the process from waste to soil additive faster. Many of them also have the benefit of making the final product more beneficial for a variety of reasons. 
Over the next several days I will be talking about several of these processes, my own experience and what the leading research has to offer. Let me know if there is something you want me to research. Eddie I have the re-mineralization in mind. Stay tuned. 



http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07235.html