Be joyful though you have considered all the facts
A Fugue. I’m reading the newly arrived Life in the Soil. Actually, I’m devouring it. And it’s not even that particularly well or passionately written. I started wondering about this as I marveled over acellular slime molds and trichomycetes and realized that I often take refuge in books about soil and geology when I am down …
Continue reading “Perspective from the Creatures of the Soil”
closer look (notice also the creepy crawly at the bottom – and the weeds):
Happy Summer! On this hot sunny day what did I do but seek out the two hottest areas of my garden. First, the compost bins. They looked pretty tame, on the surface. Then I stuck in my fork and woosh, the temperature rise was immediately apparent. I persisted, turning, consolidating and sifting out the finished …
You guessed it: it’s time for another episode in the Calcium in the Soil and Plant series! Take heart: we’re getting close to the end (maybe only one more part to go?). Actually, it took me so long to post on this again because this one took me a long time to figure out. If …
Continue reading “Of Calcium in the Soil and Plants – Part 8”
O, that egg again! We’ve arrived at Part 6 if this extraordinary saga of how calcium arrives and behaves in the soil (if I’ve occasionally typed “soul” instead of “soil”, is it really a typo?). Click to catch up on part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 and part 5. ~ 6. Soil …
This is part 5 of a series on how nutrients, mainly calcium, get into our soil and vegetables (click for part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4). It is the longest and most difficult part of my expose, and the least “popular” one, judging by the fact that the issues discussed will not …
We’ve reached part 4 of this riveting story of how calcium and other nutrients make it into into the soil and thence into our vegetables and thence into our own bodies (and into chicken eggs). We’ve had some cliffhangers already, so be sure to check out parts one, two and three. ~ 4. Solubility, carbonation …
This is the third article in a series on how calcium and other nutrients end up inside our vegetables, and on how to interpret certain soil test results. It is preceded by part 1 and part 2. ~ 3. Water and pH Let’s investigate the water in the soil. For one, water brings the minerals …
This is the second article in a series on how calcium and other nutrients end up inside our vegetables, and on how to interpret certain soil test results. You can read the first part here. ~ 2. The soil’s ability to hold on to this calcium: colloids and cation exchange capacity The soil needs to …
It was the combination of finding an eggshell in the compost and staring at our soil test results that did it. I started researching and one thing led to another. But I figured it out, the basics of it, anyway. The result is a long text, so I’m serializing it over the next couple of …
Continue reading “Of Eggshells and Calcium in Soil, Compost – Part 1”