https://consciousplanet.org/en/save-soil
Sadhguru rode 30k km on bike across Europe , Asia to spread the message about depleting soil.
Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
101–110 of 147 posts
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#102Humans can figure out a lot given enough time. While all the hype for us is finance, management, machines, electronics and software etc it is not unthinkable a previous civilization went all in on soil. Terra Preta seems to be quite sophisticated. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
>> Terra Preta - literally "black soil" Terra Preta is noble savage fiction [1] created because charcoal stains the soil quite deep. (Similar to how the OP 'spotlight' is mostly fiction) Biochar enthusiasts show the staining in soil cutouts after a few years. I do a lot of biochar (100+ liters a week) but it has mixed results in the scientific journals, meta studies don't show a lot of improvement. [1] The Amazonian…
There is a lot of research showing that terra preta works and that Amazonion tribes create it.
Biochar is just the first step in making Terra preta so it's not a surprise that it doesn't work as well as the final product.
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was originally pretty skeptical of the Lomi as well after seeing this very same video. But my friend got us one and we have been using it for a while now. Sure, it has the same parts as a breadmaker, and it's mostly just drying out and cutting down the organic material into more useful sizes, exactly like he says, but when you put in the enzymes and have it run its dirt cycle it does actually produce meaningfully g…
Just remember that any positive effect you might achieve by a lifetime of composting is grossly negated by the production, usage, and inevitable way to the landfill of this thing. Startups like these are part of the problem, not the solution.
Only if you're using bad math and discounting the impact of the retail compost and fertilizer offset by these devices.
These devices reach impact parity in a few years (2 to 10 depending on the electronics and how much they're used).
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#104Humans can figure out a lot given enough time. While all the hype for us is finance, management, machines, electronics and software etc it is not unthinkable a previous civilization went all in on soil. Terra Preta seems to be quite sophisticated. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
South America was pretty advanced. The oldest evidence we have of widespread metallurgy comes from the tip of South America around approximately 5000 BC. Which predates metallurgy in Eurasia by thousands of years. Copper smelting was particularly important https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallurgy_in_pre-Columbian_Am... On the ecological side, some anthropologists argued that humans actually played a major role in tra…
> The oldest evidence we have of widespread metallurgy comes from the tip of South America around approximately 5000 BC. Which predates metallurgy in Eurasia by thousands of years.
There are archaeological finds in Europe dating smelting in the region back as early as 5500 BC.
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
South America was pretty advanced. The oldest evidence we have of widespread metallurgy comes from the tip of South America around approximately 5000 BC. Which predates metallurgy in Eurasia by thousands of years. Copper smelting was particularly important https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallurgy_in_pre-Columbian_Am... On the ecological side, some anthropologists argued that humans actually played a major role in tra…
you can also say the Saharan desert played a major role on turning what Amazon is... now, wow, calling it a grassland before humans 10,000 years ago is to smoke too much pot before reading/making papers. 5,000,000 AD then yes, maybe... /s but Terra Preta and other indigenous interferences is not even 10% of Amazon territory. various other animals are responsible for spreading diversity be it by shitting seed or just…
This is common knowledge. Even the Wikipedia page states:
> There is evidence that there have been significant changes in the Amazon rainforest vegetation over the last 21,000 years through the last glacial maximum (LGM) and subsequent deglaciation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_rainforest
Also, there's this:
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/10-800-years-a...
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the opposite experience. I had rented a house that had an empty patch of dirt and asked the landlord if we could plant some vegetables there (which I didn't have a lot of experience in). My older neighbor saw me and said that we had great soil in our neighborhood but I didn't really think about it. The vegetables grew amazingly well, we had way too many tomatoes and tons of broccoli that kept growing back and m…
This makes sense as pots require very high precision of soil composition and water management. You need good drainage but a water reservoir under the pots with some kind of wick to keep it watering from the bottom. Also the size of the pot you need is huge compared to your intuition. A single tomato plant requires more than 100L of soil, 30% of which should be perlite, you need some pebbles for better drainage mixed…
A properly selected variety adapted to your climate needs both less soil, less water and and a lot less maintenance (still daily care but nothing crazy).
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#107A connected great article: Junk Food Is Bad For Plants, Too
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just remember that any positive effect you might achieve by a lifetime of composting is grossly negated by the production, usage, and inevitable way to the landfill of this thing. Startups like these are part of the problem, not the solution.
That could be true, but maybe OP's goal isn't making a positive impact on the global scale.
Just throw your scrapes and buy compost then, it'll be cheaper and easier. The city already transforms bio waste in gas and compost anyways, and much more efficiently than what you can do at home given the scale.
This is another "I'm doing my part" gimmick that solves literally nothing when you look under the hood
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
This makes sense as pots require very high precision of soil composition and water management. You need good drainage but a water reservoir under the pots with some kind of wick to keep it watering from the bottom. Also the size of the pot you need is huge compared to your intuition. A single tomato plant requires more than 100L of soil, 30% of which should be perlite, you need some pebbles for better drainage mixed…
A properly selected variety adapted to your climate needs both less soil, less water and and a lot less maintenance (still daily care but nothing crazy).
Yes, variety matters a lot. I've managed to grow tomatoes quite well in pots located outside in Northern European climate, simply by picking a traditional variety that is known to be easy to grow. (In Germany it's known as "Bonner Beste" if anyone is interested). It doesn't even require that much upkeep.
Re: Healthy soil is the hidden ingredient
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had the opposite experience. I had rented a house that had an empty patch of dirt and asked the landlord if we could plant some vegetables there (which I didn't have a lot of experience in). My older neighbor saw me and said that we had great soil in our neighborhood but I didn't really think about it. The vegetables grew amazingly well, we had way too many tomatoes and tons of broccoli that kept growing back and m…
This makes sense as pots require very high precision of soil composition and water management. You need good drainage but a water reservoir under the pots with some kind of wick to keep it watering from the bottom. Also the size of the pot you need is huge compared to your intuition. A single tomato plant requires more than 100L of soil, 30% of which should be perlite, you need some pebbles for better drainage mixed…
I've had tomatoes grown successfully, with decent yield in pots that take maybe 30L of soil, and without any perlite. It isn't that hard if we're talking about hobbyist stuff, where results don't have to be ideal but just "good enough". Picking a variety that is hardy and forgiving, and a place with enough warmth and sunlight (at least in the North) is the most important part.