Greenenvironmental's Blog

Growing plants is all about the top soil, or rhisosphere.  The roots of plants create an entire universe(sphere) where a huge variety of organisms live in symbiosis, dependent on each other to live- like an underground coral reef.  A Garden’s soil has to be nurtured like a pet, not treated like dirt, it needs air, water, food, and shelter, and a raised bed is a good way to begin, a doghouse for soil.

Fertile top soil ultimately begins with lichen which transform the metals from  rock into biologically active chemicals such as hemoglobin(Fe) and Chlorophyll(Mg).  As lichen die and enter a composting process become soil and then provided to  plants.  A Compost pile mimics this process by turning ‘organic matter’ such as  yard waste and kitchen scraps into compost- food for the rhisosphere.  Making compost also requires air (turning the pile), water(keeping the pile moist- not wet), and the food (organic matter), as wel as shelter(some sort of container and shade).

Nutrients are the chemicals organisms need to live   Plants use Photosynthesis taking water and CO2 from the air to make 90 to 95% of their mass; the other 5-10 % comes from minerals obtained from the soil.  The top three are the Essential nutrients, the “NPK”= Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and potassium.

The second most needed chemicals are the Macro nutrients: calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sulfur(S).

Finally there  are the micornutrients like Zinc, Manganese, Molybdenum, Iron, Copper, Boron (some say all 92  of the elements are needed)

There is never enough good soil, and while  Plants die(nature’s natural selection), as long as there is soil more plants can be always be purchased; planting from seed is about planning to have enough extra plants to replace the ones that die.

DIY nutrients: dilute urine is an excellent nitrogen fertilizer(and lots of micronutreints like iron and calcium); composted manure for Phosphorus, bannana peels for potassium; egg shells for calcium, epsom salt for Sulfur and magneseum….search utube for more, or just make a compost pile

Soil also needs mulch to shelter and insulete the soil, with things like wood chips and leaves(like nature).  Microorganisms break down, or compost, mulch more soil, but uses nitrogen which must be replaced along with adding more  mulch as it disappears.

  The entire planet is now our garden, the ancient megalith builders may have built sites like Machu Picchu as giant roof top gardens