Posts Categorized: Soil

Books

Posted by

From Soil to Stomach, and the contents therein… Updated October 2022. While working at the farm, I’ve listened to a handful of books that link up well together and wanted to share here. It may seem a little curious to have the first book on a recommended list for farmers to be about systems thinking,… Read more »

Compost powered Root zone heating references

Posted by

We’re just about to implement some compost-powered root-zone heat systems for a small, indoor plant nursery and the new high tunnel.  These are the best references I came up with on researching the implementation of  compost powered root-zone heating systems for greenhouses or other closed growing environments. Hope you find them helpful! pb All of… Read more »

Biochar, The Slow Burn

Posted by

We’ve started producing biochar at the farm, primarily for our own use, but if you twist my arm hard enough I’ll sell some as well.  You can see our ‘how to’ video produced in October 2020 here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBx5ngn9Dpk I wanted an easy place to refer back to when I forget the recommended ratio to mix with… Read more »

Spongy Soils to the Rescue!

Posted by

In a publication by the Union of Concerned Scientists, many papers were reviewed to come up with recommendations for  improving water retention, reducing the need for irrigation, slowing runoff, and improving soil fertility. Continuous living Cover Crops in between commodity crops and no-till agriculture were among several methods to achieve these improvements. The ‘Executive Summary’… Read more »

Cover crops and soil health.

Posted by

  This youtube video put up by NCATATTRA demonstrates many of the benefits of cover crops on large scale farms:   It’s long and a little technical.  Bottom line, well managed cover crops increase soil health by adding organic matter, retaining water, strengthening soil structure, supporting soil micro organism diversity, providing nutrients for cash crops… Read more »