Soil is the bedrock of any permaculture garden. The quality of your soil will
affect the plants you can grow, how well they thrive and the harvest you can
yield. The soil is also key in the health or otherwise of natural wilderness.
Too often in the modern world, the intricacies and important role soil plays in
the health of the planet and the productivity of an environment is overlooked.
Modern agricultural practices and removal of vegetation and trees has caused
many areas to suffer a complete degradation in the quality of their soil,
meaning that either very little grows there, or any crop requires a lot of
artificial fertilizers and pesticides. These in turn further deplete the soil of
its natural goodness until eventually it becomes barren.
Permaculture seeks to preserve the unique characteristics of soils in
different ecosystems. It also tries to repair damaged soil and protect it from
further degradation. The primary means of doing this is to increase the amount
of organic matter in the soil. Organic matter puts essential nutrients back in
the soil, which in turn promotes healthy plant growth and an increase in the
bacteria and microorganisms that help to transform those nutrients into forms
that are available to plants. On a permaculture site there are several ways that
you can ‘feed’ your soil more organic matter.
Compost
Compost is an excellent way of utilizing
so-called waste material for a useful purpose in your permaculture garden. By
composting food scraps from your kitchen, prunings from your trees and scrubs,
grass cuttings, dead animals and, basically, anything that was once alive, you
can create a rich, fertile compost. There are many different recipes for compost
but as a general ule you want about two-thirds brown matter – the prunings,
animal droppings and so on – and one-third green-matter, such as food scraps,
leaf litter and grass. Water your compost well and make sure it is aerated, and
soon bacteria and microorganisms will colonise your compost pile and turn it
into useable material for adding to your soil. Compost is often a valuable
addition to plantings in zone 1 of your site.
Animal Manure
Animals have an important relationship to
the health of the soil. This stems from the tiny microorganism, beetles and bugs
that break up the soil to give space for plant roots to grow, water to percolate
and air to circulate to the larger livestock animals who can provide manure.
Animal manure is key to getting nitrogen back into the soil. Omnivorous animals
for which meat can form a part of their diet, such as pig and chicken, have more
nitrogen in their droppings than grazers like cows and horses, but all will
benefit the soil if placed around plants. Just be aware that sometimes, animal
manure may contain undigested seeds, which may come from plants that you don’t
want to encourage on your permaculture site.
Organic Mulch
Organic mulches such as straw, grass
clippings, newspaper and woollen clothing break down more slowly than other
forms of organic matter provision, but they offer other benefits that make them
incredibly useful. So, as they slowly break down, releasing nutrients back into
the soil, they provide insulation from extremes of temperature, cooling the soil
in the summer and keeping it warm in the winter. They also ensure that moisture
is retained in the soil and that it is protected from erosion by rain and wind.
And, of course, one of the main functions of mulching is to act as a weed
barrier or to cover existing weeds and break them down into organic matter.
Legumes
Legumes are essential for a healthy soil. They
are the family of plants that have the best nitrogen-fixing ability. Certain
bacteria that live in their roots convert nitrogen into a soluble form of the
element that plant roots can take up and use to grow. Species such as peas,
beans and acacias are legumes and by providing available nitrogen they help
stimulate plant growth and bacterial activity that, in turn, helps develop the
organic matter in the topsoil.
Cover Crops
Permaculturists know that cover crops serve a
lot of functions. They help to minimize water evaporation from the soil, they
provide shade and, importantly, they add organic matter. This is because cover
crops, such as potatoes and pumpkin, have deep roots that open up the soil,
allowing water and nutrients to penetrate into it and stimulating microorganism
activity. These roots also help maintain the integrity of the soil, and the
leaves of cover crops rot in place and return their nutrients to the
topsoil.
Green Manure
Green manure crops are similar to cover crops, but
rather than remaining in the soil and naturally decaying in winter and
revitalizing in spring, they are deliberately cut and then left on the surface
or forked into the soil to add organic matter. Species such as rye grass, barley
and lucerne are commonly used as green manure crops, and are slashed back
several times when growing as they regrow very quickly. Just make sure you slash
before the crop flowers and seeds to retain control over the crop.
Biofertilizers
Biofertilizers have been used among
ancient faming cultures for centuries, but it is only recently that they have
become better known among modern gardeners. Biofertilizers offer an alternative
to artificial fertilizers that are potentially damaging to the soil, crops and
the environment (polluting rivers and so on). They are microorganisms that are
cultivated on natural material in laboratories and then added to the soil in
large numbers. They help increase the biodiversity of microorganisms in a soil,
they reduce pests, and, of course, increase fertility. They can also be used to
heal soil that has been depleted by chemical fertilizers or exhausted by
monoculture practises.
However you choose to do it, adding more organic matter to your soil is
almost always a good thing. The animals in the soil will become more productive,
your plants will flourish and the productivity of your site will increase.
What’s not to like?
source -- https://openpermaculture.com/magazine/ways-feed-soil
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