Soil scientist, Ea Murphy teaches us about whole soil fertility and how to build soil over time for healthier plants and microbial communities. Her book “Whole Soil Fertility” goes into detail giving us ways to measure and track our soil’s progress as we build life. Reap healthy harvests and enjoy the many benefits of cultivating vital and dynamic soils in your garden/farm.
VIDEO: Whole Soil Fertility with Ea Murphy Part 1 Introduction
Soil scientist, Ea Murphy teaches us about whole soil fertility and how to build soil over time for healthier plants and microbial communities. Her book “Whole Soil Fertility” goes into detail giving us ways to measure and track our soil’s progress as we build life. Reap healthy harvests and enjoy the many benefits of cultivating vital and dynamic soils in your garden/farm.
I have that boron deficiency. (i had no soil test done but it's pretty obvious that's what it is) My beets just refuse to grow a decent root. Small, woody, bitter. I've been looking for an organic way to fix it but i guess i will just have to keep adding organic material to that worn out patch until the soil recovers? Some of the soil of my rented plot is just absolutely horrendous. I don't want to be messing with chemical amendments if i don't have to. Does anyone have ideas, please?
Ea Murphy was born to teach. This was very well presented and I learned / relearned some good material.
Great talk, looking forward to part 2. A recent Carbon-14 labelling soil mineralization study suggests a C:N of between 11:1 and 50:1, while above 100:1 appeared to decrease carbon mineralization and was limited at 300:1. Studies adding amendments to the subsoil however suggests 25:1 or lower. C:N appears to be very important for building soil organic carbon, which build soil aggregates, improve soil pH, nitrogen retention, field water capacity, and reduce soil bulk density. A large Australian soil carbon study indicates rainfall, rainfall variability, soil bulk density and pH were the largest contributors to the amount of soil carbon plants sequestered. In Brazil they found that soil organic carbon accounted for 86% of forest nitrogen.
Vermicompost is typically 12-15:1 and depending on what it's made from can include plant growth hormones such as auxins (the largest growth promoter being IAA) and gibberellins.
Soil organic carbon also correlates linearly with fungal and bacterial abundance and bacterial diversity, while fungal diversity plateaus at about 4% SOC. That has implications for soil nutrient cycling and plant nutrient availability as well as their nutrient density. As does plant diversity and the microbes they host such as mycorrhizal fungi that mine different soil elements in the rhizosphere. Think cover crops not cover crop! Above 16 different plant species has been shown to improve water infiltration after floods and is a sweet spot for microbial diversity too!
I love that soil and plant ecology is so complex and fascinating but at the same time, there must be a lot of people who get intimidated by all that complexity when perhaps a simple and visual model of how a healthy, functioning soil should appear to the human eye; ie (the different sphere's of influence that Ray Archuleta talks about, and say five basic principles that facilitate the soils function) would be enough. A term we got taught in the military springs to mind, KISS- Keep It Simple Stupid.
That said, for me personally, i'm addicted to soil health so keep churnin' out these amazing films will ya!
Great delivery by the way, full of optimism and energy too. Thankyou.
Please suggest me some books and tutorials for organic farming 🙂
Mycorrhizae mines phosphorous. Too much phosphorous (manure) reduces Mycorrhizae function. Compost does not add that much nitrogen. All fertilizers are salts.
because of the enthusiasm and passion she gives off, this woman reminds me of Elaine Ingham
thank you for your teachings, i am very interested in building the soil, please help us with simpler ways to build it. for example making a mix of soil or making bokashi from scratch. The Bokashi I make is turned twice a day the once a day, add top soil, earthworm castings &/or chicken manure, rock dusts, rice hulls, yeast, molasses with water, charcoal/biochar, wood ash for 10 to 15 days. What else can I do? Or change? Thank you. Tha recipe was taken from here.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU3w-jpJcfo .
We have had phytotoxic plants (and forest) for years now. The whole region is affected and we are struggling to keep our vegetables healthy. Is there any way to alleviate this in our garden?
Iron is only immobile if not made soluble by the fungi in the mycelium.
Iron reducing and sulphur reducing bacteria make these available and are vital for metal absorbation.
Some microorganisms make precipitation which bind the soil and remove some metals.
No country is going to feed 9 billion people, the earth is and since half the population exists in a seventh of the world you don't need to worry. You just need to feed your people if some countries can't feed their people than they should have figured it out before it became a problem.
I m reading building soil and l love it thanks for the great work