Well here we are again on a lovely summer day enjoying the peace and tranquility of country living....Well what a misnoma that is....Starting with Nougat, the donkey, who I thnk may have decided he is a werewolf after serenading to the moon last night, the battle with the attack of the hornets last night attracted to the light on the kitchen (i wonder how many other people have strategically placed tennis rackets around the house to defy flight paths for hornets?) and of course the cockerel and the magpies first thing in the morning competing for air space during the morning chorus. Followed swiftly by the dog squeaking that it was time for him to...no not go for pee....go out the door sniff the air, decide it is too early and then come back inside and go back to bed.
Inside the Hornets Nest After Destruction
Back in the day, when our Great,great... Grandparents used to farm this is what they did all the time because it was the only way to farm....with nature and the resources that they had availble to them at the time. Manure, or poop, and naturally occuring plant chemicals found in things like chrysantemums.
Soil is like blood is for humans, it is the pathway for the nutrition of the planet. It has its own delicate cycle to enable it to remain healthy. So if you grow a plant the plant uses up some of the soil blood, if you then take that plant away and eat it and then don't put anything back on that piece of soil (like your poop!) then you are not replacing the bit of soil blood that you have used, so begins the denudation.
Now I am not going to send you to sleep with my rantings,and nor is my soil science good enough to explain all the complex balances that occur in a healthy soil.....
I don't imagine for a minute that this little blog would ever trend on the internet, but if I have managed to interest at least one of you reading this in the importance of good soil health, then I feel that I may have achieved something today.
Have a happy week everyone
Helen