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home > programs, classes and activities > > soil & composting >
Soil Nutrition Excerpt from the West Coast Seeds Gardening Guide Catalogue - 2002 edition. The building materials of our plants are made available by microscopic flora and fauna found in healthy soils. These miniature creatures are the key to "organic" soil. Knowing that the health of the soil depends on these microscopic creatures, we take every care that what we add to the soil does not harm them but nourishes them. Organic growers rely primarily on composted plant and animal products, natural minerals and cover crops. These materials contain varying levels of all plant nutrients but there is no single material that can offer a balance. Composted vegetation (compost) usually contains low levels of the major plant nutrients. The great value of this type of material is as a soil conditioner, providing organic matter, or humus, and a beneficial microbial mix. Soil microlife depends on compost. Composted animal manures contain small amounts of the nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and are popular with organic growers. Composting this material has raised the temperature so high that disease-causing microorganisms have been eliminated. Another useful source of nutrients is natural mined minerals. Rock phosphate is one example. This mineral is totally passive in the soil and is not washed away by rains. Nitrogen is the most difficult material to maintain in the soil because all plants use it and all the soil microorganisms depend on it but some forms wash out of the soil with rain. Yet nitrogen can be "grown" by using nitrogen-fixing cover crops to provide this vital nutrient to the subsequent garden crops. Ground seed meals are another nitrogen source. They will be utilized by soil microorganisms and in the process will make nitrogen available to plants. Using combinations of materials will provide you with a productive soil. |
Related links: - Gardening Locations - Newsletter - Planting Guide - Registration - Resources - Rules & Regulations - Soil & Composting - Volunteers |
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