Thursday, June 16, 2011

Soil is key...

I write a lot about soil structure and nutrients.  I don't go into great depth; one: because I myself am an amateur and quite frankly don't have the knowledge to go into great depth and two:  This is a blog about my journey to become a farmer- not biology class.  Although, I believe the best way to learn is to teach, so you could make the argument that I should in order to really learn.  However, at the risk of putting people to sleep OR losing readers, due to them falling asleep and then out of their chairs causing injury, I won't go into great depth about how to build soil structure...If you are really interested in farming on a molecular level, like I am,  I can always recommend resources for you to seek out and use.

Besides, one of the greatest overlooked facts about farming is that it is a competition.  "HUH??" people always say to me when I say this.  Yes, a competition.  Farmers compete against one another for market share, and honestly it is almost like European football (soccer) type of crazy competitiveness.  Anyone familiar with that sport will know what I mean. 

My farmer want's to grow the best looking and most nutritious food in order to gain a bigger share of the market.  He want's people to flock to him at the markets and buy his stuff.  He want's his food to stand out against all others.  How can this happen if I'm giving away all of his secrets here?  So for the sake of competition, I keep a lot of things "general".

Getting back to soil structure I wanted to show people how important having good soil is.  If you could spend a lot of time on just one thing, it has been stressed to me over and over again by Joel that soil structure is that one thing.  Don't blow your cash on a paint job for up that old useless farmall so you can look the part.  Instead, lay down the cabbage (money) for some nutrients or composting animals.   See, not only is screaming good soil important for growing good, nutritious, healthy food it is also important in regards to being able to withstand drastic changes in weather.  If your soil is good and I mean screaming good velvety dark goodness with minerals and organic matter then you should be able to fair better during drought or monsoon.  Good soil stays moist and drains well.  

If you read this blog you'd know that just about every post for the last month has talked about how we've just been getting hammered with rain up here.  Now,  for anyone who knows soil knows most uncovered, bare soil that has been pounded and pounded with rain usually ends up dry and feeling like concrete after it finally dries out.  It gets hard packed from the constant pounding.  If you tried to drive your hand into it you'd probably end up tearing off a few nails and breaking a finger or two.  I have a spot in my garden that I haven't built up yet and right now looks like the salt flats out west, just light, dry and hard..When it rains water will stand on the surface and create a puddle. 

Joel's soil doesn't do this because he has great soil structure.  He realizes the importance of good healthy earth and has taken the time to turn what used to be poor soil into something fantastic.  Think I'm crazy?  Check out the vid below.