City Farming by Kari Spencer

Author:Kari Spencer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 5m Publishing

Surprisingly Harmful Gardening Practices

All five soil components must be in balance to create healthy soil. But two of the most common gardening practices that are intended to improve a garden are actually damaging to the soil. These practices are firstly, repeated tilling, and secondly, the use of chemicals, including herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers and pesticides. Though tillage and the application of industrial chemical concoctions promise a quick remedy to a troubled garden, repeated use dampers the activity of soil life that is necessary for the garden’s long-term health. In effect, the productivity of the garden becomes dependent upon commercial products, labor and fossil fuels rather than the free energy of the sun and the soil food web. This is costly to the overall health of the plants, to the planet and to the gardener’s budget.

When starting a brand new garden, tilling with a shovel or rototiller may be necessary in order to remove weeds, loosen soil and incorporate organic matter into the garden bed. But once the garden is established, repeated tilling can cause the ground to become quickly compacted, necessitating repeated tilling to keep the soil texture loose enough to allow air and water flow. This can become a never-ending cycle that disrupts the soil food web. Initially, when you add organic material to a garden bed and begin to water it, the soil comes alive with macro- and microorganisms that feed on the materials. These organisms begin to multiply rapidly, aerating and enriching the garden soil. Undisturbed soil teems with microorganisms and larger creatures, such as earthworms, which aerate and enrich the soil. Once your garden is established, tilling can disturb or even destroy this complex ecosystem, collapsing tunnels and damaging the structure of the soil. Additionally, tilling disrupts the immense networks created by bacteria and fungi that enable beneficial, symbiotic relationships with plant roots. Read my tips for soil building at the link in Figure QR 6.1.

QR 6.1

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.