Hello Folks
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
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
So having been alerted to the new day, I decide to turn on Facebook and catch up on a bit of gossip, and the first item on my page is an article from The Guardian talking about how soil is a great place to store carbon. Now when I was at in sixth form we were taught about the destruction of the soils by badly thought out methods of farming etc etc. In college many moons ago we learnt about this and my thesis was based around soils and how if they are covered all/most the time they will help to prevent loss of nutrients/organic matter etc, etc. When I was in Zim Gavin and I read books about farmers who changed the way they farm to prevent soil loss in the states in the 1940s and 1950s. More recently we have listened to lectures about soil protection and mixed farming systems to improve soil mangement which, simply put, leads to improved fertility, better production and a happier environment. Sadly many of these lectures are mocked by people who either don't know what they are talking about, or have some financial interest in denouncing them.
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.....
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.....
It is probably about time people in general caught up with the things that are really important in life, and no, that is not the fact that the latest Iphone does not have an earphone jack.
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
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
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