Dirt vs Soil: The Soil Food Web

We got our soil test results back this week and John and I talked a bit in class today about how we might use these tests to better understand what is happening in the soil of our different growing areas. We also talked at length about the limitations of such standard soil tests, which measure the chemical make-up of soil but don't take soil biology into consideration. In this 15 minute video, soil biologist Dr. Elaine Ingham gives a nice, succinct  overview of the role soil biology plays in the health of plants and how agricultural practices affect the life within the soil:

And for more in-depth information about the soil food web, check out the National Resources Conservation Service's "Soil Biology Primer". Here's the soil food web diagram from the primer that we looked at in class:

Tuesday, April 9: Germination experiment

We started a little experiment this week!

Amy designed an experiment that would show us all the things she's been telling us about the best way to plant and germinate seeds indoors for transplanting. Each cross-section of the trays are planted with the same variety of yellow tomato, the Golden Ray. Two of each tray have a soil-less planting mix (A) and the other two have the compost soil mix (B) that we've been using for all the soil blocking. Each of the three separate trays will be placed in locations that receive varying amounts of light.

This is posted on the bulletin board so we remember how we set up the experiment!

This will allow us to see the effects of both soil quality and light on the germination of seeds of the same plant variety. We'll be able to observe the results over the coming weeks. Cool, huh?

Week 1 at Harvest of Joy Farm LLC

Weather Forecast: highs in the mid-30s, chance of snow and/or rain.

I'm looking forward to introducing all of you to the farm this week, though I wish I had some nicer weather to do it in. We had some lovely sunshine here this afternoon, but already tonight the wind has picked up and temperatures are dropping quickly.

I still hope to be able to take you on a hike around the property, so please dress warmly. I'd like to give you a sense of the land and its history, since the ecology of the surrounding landscape affects how and what we're able to grow. I also want to share the history of my business with you and to go over our plans for the coming year so that you can get a sense of how your few hours of work here each week fit in with the bigger picture of what we're creating.

I shared our field maps and production planning spreadsheets in previous blog posts. We'll take a look at them together this week so that you can ask any questions you may have about how we plan our planting schedule for the CSA. If you've looked at the spreadsheets, you can probably tell that it's pretty intensive! I'm also going to post a copy of our business plan. I hope that you'll take the time to read it through, as it will give you a sense of our both our mission and vision and the actions we're taking to make those manifest.

Weather permitting, I'd like us to collect soil samples this week as well. We'll sample four or five different growing areas and send the dirt off to MSU for testing. In a couple of weeks, the soil lab will send us reports which detail the soil nutrient levels and pH in each plot. We can then talk about what actions might be necessary to create more optimal growing conditions in these plots. There may be certain soil amendments that we'll choose to add based on these results. Unless any of the nutrient levels are way off, though, it's more likely that we'll just continue to add compost and to use cover crops to build up the organic matter in the soil and to support the growth of beneficial soil microorganisms.

The longer I grow vegetables, the more convinced I become that encouraging diverse and healthy soil ecology is the key to everything. So I want to help you get a sense of how to assess and work with soils. Here's a chart that shows you the basic make-up of healthy garden soil: Soil Composition Chart. Note that 50% of this soil area contains air and water! This fact sheet from Penn State Extension goes into more detail regarding soil composition, including why that air and water space is important and how to create it: Soil Quality - Introduction to Soils.

I wrote a blog post a little over a year ago on soil health entitled Ground Work. When I re-read it tonight, I was surprised to see that I mentioned the 2012 Farm Bill near the end of the article. At that time, the Senate Agriculture Committee was drafting the 2012 Farm Bill, since the 2008 Farm Bill was due to expire in the fall of 2012. Well, last fall came and went and now in April of 2013 we still don't have a new Farm Bill. The fiscal cliff negotiations at the beginning of this year didn't help matters, as agricultural funding was tied up in that as well. The National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition has an article on the affects of the fiscal cliff deal on ag. funding: Congress Includes Awful 2008 Farm Bill Extension in Fiscal Cliff Deal. If you don't know what the Farm Bill is, check out What is the Farm Bill? And if you don't know why I'm concerned about it, read this article by Tonya Tolchin: The Farm Bill: Why Farmers Need to Be Activists Too.

See you all soon!!