Welcome
back to another episode of Lost in the Farmers Market. Today’s episode is an expansion of the topic
we discussed at the Sustainable Neighbors meeting this week (February the 13th).
Obviously, there are certain things that
I didn’t cover due to time and conversational constraints that I can touch upon
here at LITFM to color the picture far better than I could at the meeting. So
the first thing is the most well-known definition pertaining to soil.
Dirt
– Dirt is soil that is out of place.
This
is a nice human-centric view of soil that has been misplaced, but realistically
dirt and soil are largely identical and the highbrow definition just muddies
the waters (pun alert). In reality the soil you find in nature is a mixture of
four potential ingredients, Organic matter, Sand, Silt and Clay. The ratio of
these ingredients determines the soil’s overall properties and its ability to
support life in general. The mineral
components of soil are just as important as the organic matter however as you
can see below, Sand, Silt and Clay are all defined by the average diameter of
their given particles.
=================================================
| Very Coarse Sand | 2.00 - 1.00mm diameter |
| Coarse Sand | 1.00 -
0.50mm diameter |
| Medium Sand | 0.50 - 1.25mm diameter |
| Fine Sand | 0.25 –
0.10mm diameter |
| Very Fine Sand | 0.10 – 0.05mm diameter |
| Silt | 0.05 – 0.002mm diameter |
| Clay | less
than 0.002mm diameter |
=================================================
As
I noted in the meeting, the mineral-based aspects of the soil all originally
came from solid rock that has been broken down by weather, temperature,
chemical factors or, physical factors to eventually become one of the above
soil components. You need some of the above mineral ingredients to have a good fertile
soil because they each play a role in maintaining the soil structure and aiding
in defining the differences in the various horizons or depths of the soil. As hard
as this might be to believe, Soil as a whole is a three-dimensional structure
with definable levels or ‘Horizons’ that are marked by their increasing
similarity to the parent materials in the bedrock below. The area we often work
with is the A horizon and sometimes the beginning of the B Horizon, given that
there is no absolute standard for the depths of these soil horizons, you can
literally dig down into the B-horizons and not even know it.
==============================================================
| A1 Horizon | Topsoil | Zone of Organic Matter Accumulation |
| A2 Horizon | Subsoil | Zone of maximum loss |
| B1 Horizon | Subsoil | Transition Zone, more like A than B |
| B2 Horizon | Subsoil | Zone of maximum Accumulation |
| B3 Horizon | Subsoil | Transition Zone, more like B than C |
| C Horizon | Bedrock | Parent
materials that make A&B |
==============================================================
The
above chart is important because everything we do to improve the soil is done
to the A1 horizon. A1 is also called Topsoil because it represents (ideally)
the very dark first few inches of soil sitting where your crops can get at the
nutrients readily. Unfortunately in the soil products industry the topsoil is
more loosely defined as the first inches of the soil regardless of how good or
bad those inches might be. Everything you do to improve the soil when you
garden is ultimately aimed at making the top soil nutrient-dense and able to
hold moisture longer for the benefit of whatever you grow. This is because, the
A2 horizon is quite the opposite in character, since it is where your nutrients
drain away with the movement of water never to be seen again as they follow
gravity and go deeper into the soil until they accumulate in the B2 zone. The
B2 horizon might just be several feet down and out of reach for normal food
crops which is why we focus on replenishing the Topsoil.
In
an ideal situation you want a soil mixture that is defined by the word ‘Loam’
which means that all of the soil’s ingredients are in roughly equal
proportions. As those of you who cook
know, a finished dish (in this case the loam soil) is an amalgam of its parts
and each of those parts plays a critical role in making the soil you desire.
The first ingredient to a Loam soil is Organic matter. Organic matter is best
defined as any organic material such as leaves, compost, manure, grass clippings
and/or mulch that is actively decomposing into what is called Topsoil. As noted
before Topsoil is that dark rich layer that your plants put out most of their
roots in and it determines how bountiful your harvests are. Good topsoil traps
moisture and has countless organisms living in it making more than just the sum
of its parts. When it comes to improving your topsoil I will always say compost
of some sort is critical, as that is literally concentrated decomposing organic
matter which can help enrich your soil. I do not recommend the wholesale use of
Peat moss or Coconut Fiber (Coir), because peat moss can dry out and repel
water, and coconut fiber is just coarse lumps of a plant material called Lignin.
Lignin is defined as the following;
Lignin
– A complex organic Polymer deposited in
the cell walls of many plants making them rigid and woody.
Lignin
is pretty much what Peat Moss and Coco-fiber are made of, but you can also see
it when you find decomposed leaves where only the leaf ribs remain. It is part
of why leaves for hardwood trees take longer to fully break down. In the
environment Lignin is useful because it can be used to prevent erosion by
providing a temporary rigid structure within leaf mulch that prevents the loss
of soil and slows the movement of wind and or water. But it isn’t the only
component we need to consider as Cellulose is very important to building good
topsoil.
Cellulose
– An insoluble substance that is the main
component of plant cell walls and of vegetable fibers such as cotton and wood.
It is a polysaccharide consisting of chains of glucose monomers.
Cellulose
is commonly thought of as being something found in wood; however it is also
very present in Pine Straw. In the case of mulches cellulose is critical
because it can delay decomposition and create a protected environment where the
actual soil beneath it isn’t going anywhere because the coarse textures of the
mulch are reducing the effects of erosion all the while providing something for
decomposers to eat. A combination of mulch and compost is the best way to
improve your topsoil over time. However you should be wary of most bagged ‘Compost’
products as the quality and what they define as ‘compost’ varies as much as the
loose definition of ‘topsoil’ does in the bagged soil products industry.
 |
| I found this nice color version of the soil triangle online. |
There
is a fast way to test your soil to determine what its core components are made
of so you can enact a plan to improve your situation. Here is how you perform a
saturation test of your soil; get a mason jar, and put a few inches of soil in the jar then fill
it up with water, put the lid on tightly and shake it. Let the jar sit
undisturbed for a few days and come back and check it. Since we know that the
particles of the soil are different sizes this means that they will settle out
of solution at differing speeds. Sand will settle first, followed by silt then
clay and organic matter will either be floating or settle last. Using a ruler
to measure the layers you can get a rough idea of their proportions. With that
information you can use the Soil Triangle below to figure out what type of soil
you have and what you have to add to change it to another type if you desire. Pure
loam is the objective, but you can work with any of the alternative loam style
soils as well. With the varied types of loam soil you will also find that certain nutrient's availability change relative to the overall soil pH. The chart below demonstrates this in full color.
 |
| I also found this online with a google search, not sure who created it but all credit goes to them. |
There
is one thing I should mention here, and this is a cautionary detail; there is a
old Roman saying that goes something like ‘Nothing To Excess’ and this is true
of soils and particularly so of organic matter. Too much organic matter at any
given time is a bad thing, because soils that are awash in organic matter can
turn abiotic. The term abiotic is pretty serious in relation to soil as it
means your soil is not turning into anything by the actions of living
organisms, it is changing by physical or chemical means. Worse yet if a soil
that is heavy on organic matter is constantly wet it’s often called Sapric or
sometimes ‘Muck’ and you will see situations like this in isolated bogs where
you can see a film of oils on the surface of standing stagnant water. This is not to say you cannot work with such
soils as such soils when properly managed are idea for growing specialty crops
like onions, carrots, celery and potatoes. However, the problems with agriculture on muck-type
soils are numerous; there is the issue of wind-erosion and the constant loss of
soil due to oxidation from exposure. Agricultural operations on such soils have
to be very soil conservation focused and it is a specific expertise that isn’t
common in the United States.
The
last detail in the topic at hand is the comparison between natural soils and
artificial soils. As noted earlier, a natural soil is anything you’d find in
your yard. However, an artificial soil is something like ‘garden soil’, ‘potting
soil’, ‘propagation mix’ and other similar artificial soils blended in a way
that unlikely to be naturally occurring. These artificial soils often contain
components that are not found in nature such as perlite, vermiculite, wetting
agents, artificially introduced fungi, encapsulated or slow-release fertilizers
and other features that sound great but realistically are just there to drive
up the selling price. Below is a short set of definitions regarding common
things you will find in artificial soils.
Perlite – A amorphous volcanic glass that has a high
water content, it is typically formed by hydrating obsidian, it is used to
improve water-holding capacity in soil and it also lightens the weight of the
soil by creating airspaces.
Vermiculite – Is an aluminum-iron-magnesium silicate
similar to mica, it us used to increase the water-holding capacity of soil
while adding mineral based nutrients to the soil.
Osmocote – A brand of slow-release encapsulated
fertilizers typical of the kind found in some bagged soil products. Osmocote
was developed by Scotts, and is a controlled release fertilizer product that is
active at certain temperatures and moisture levels. At 70 degrees osmocote will
last roughly four months in the soil before becoming depleted.
Wetting Agent – Wetting Agents are sometimes called Emulsions
or Surfactants, wetting agents in artificial soils are used to make the other
components in a soil easier to hydrate and keep hydrated as some ingredients
like peat moss can become hydrophobic.
Peat Moss – Peat or Sphagnum Moss is a semi-sustainable
product comprised of peat which is the decayed remains of plant that decay in
an environment with a lot of water and no oxygen creating an altered process of
decay. When dry Peat moss can become hydrophobic (repels water), which can be a
problem with peat products and the use of peat to enrich garden soils.
Coco Fiber – Coco Fiber or Coir comes from the outer
husks of coconuts making it a sustainable agricultural product. Coir is coarser
than peat moss, and lasts a bit longer in the soil while also being roughly pH
neutral.
Pine Bark Fines –
Pine Bark fines are a waste product of
the lumber industry. While technically semi-sustainable, the common nursery
soil mix in the Carolinas calls for a blend that uses pine bark fines and or
peat moss to provide organic matter content to offset the sand content in the
mix.
Mycorrhizae – Mycorrhizae (Plural) or Mycorrhiza if your
taking about one (pronounced ˌmīkəˈrīzə) is a type of fungi
that is being added to soil mixes a lot these days. This beneficial fungus
often partners with your plants to help their nutrient uptake in exchange for
sugars or other compounds the plant in question produces. Mycorriza is found in
nature however, adding it to soil mixes generally is used as a gimmick to
increase sale prices.
Well,
that was a lot. But you see, artificial soils have a lot of things in them that
require human intervention which makes artificial soils noticeably different
than the stuff in your yard. Given time artificial soils do break down into a
darker more nutrient dense version of natural soil, but in the meanwhile, side
by side potting soils and the like look like a muscle car compared to your natural
soil looking a bit like an AMC Pacer that’s missing one wheel. It can be
tempting to just cheat and go the artificial soil route to skip a few steps in your
journey towards growing all your own veggies and defeating your grocery bill.
As we all know eventually that muscle car becomes less than appropriate and you
have to trade in for something more sensible, and following this metaphor, a
few years down the road that potting soil you spent big bucks on then has
evolved into the soil equivalent of a station wagon, practical useful and an
improvement overall. In the end when it comes to soil, you always have time on
your side so I always urge you to go the compost route, build your soil
naturally.
Benjamin
Franklin Said it best; “The bitterness of
poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten.” Indeed,
this is true because when you buy into the fancy artificial soils, you get some
gains the first year, but after that, diminishing returns kicks in. When you
build your soil naturally, you get consistent output and long term satisfactory
from a job well done.
With
all that garden goodness covered this is the part of the blog where I have to
advertise for the Fayetteville City Market. Now I know you readers probably
don’t much like advertisements, but by booth at the City Market helps to cover
the costs of running the test garden and literally maintains the Research &
Development budget that is used to bring you the information that has made up
the backbone of this blog. Also, as of
the start of 2019, my booth can now process credit or debit cards thanks to the
acquisition of s a Square reader so your payment options have doubled. With
that said, if you want to get some GMO-free, Organic vegetables, herbs and
fruiting shrubs come on down to the Fayetteville City Market on 325 Maxwell
Street in downtown Fayetteville between the Hours of 9:00 am and 1:00 pm on
Saturdays. Even in bad weather the market goes on though you might have to look
for me under the ‘arches’ of the Transportation Museum’s front entryway.
Plants
& Stuff Available Now:
All
the Stuff:
Soup Kits:
$6.00
Seasoning
Packets: $2.00
Ginger,
4oz Packet: $2.00
Wormwood
Packets: $2.00
Lavender
Packets: $2.00
Pepper
Packets: $2.00
Garlic,
Whole Bulb: $1.00
Coming
Soon:
Abutilon
‘Orange Hot Lava’
Cuban
Oregano
These
days I am generally at Leclair’s General Store once a week, for the weekly
Sustainable Neighbors meeting at 5:30pm through 7:00 pm. If you have questions
then I will be there to answer your questions. Since our meetings have an
open-door policy you don’t need to sign up for anything or join anything, you
can come on in ask for us and join the meetings. If not, you can always send me
questions through this blog or visit the farmer’s market or pay attention to
what Sustainable Neighbors is doing at the link below.
https://www.meetup.com/SustainableNeighbors/
This
brings to a close the fourth LITFM post of 2020, stay tuned the next episode
which should be posted on the 6th of March. There will be more
garden updates and other cool stuff.
