I told our helper and Mrs. Ichabod, "I just read a book that explains why I am doing everything right."
The book is Teaming with Microbes, The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. Timber Press, Portland. 206pp. $17.
http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131
The next book is Teaming with Nutrients.
The titles are nifty puns, since teeming means "abounding" and they chose to use "teaming" to suggest making a partnership with the natural forces around us. The books are written with a few solemn references to evolution and global warming, but the scientific descriptions are quite useful for the Creation gardener.
I read the book soon after someone said in the doctor's office, "I like roses, but you can have all the labor. We constantly sprayed ours." They had a problem with mildew, I believe. In contrast, I sprayed a bit once for insects once and never again. The roses have been no trouble, producing beautiful flowers and foliage from watering and cutting the blooms for everyone to enjoy.
I marvel that someone could find so many intricate relationships at the chemical and cellular levels and not attribute that to design and the Creation. But there are libraries of Lutheran books that ignore Creation and teach against the efficacy of the Word.
Roots and Bacteria
We all know that bacteria are essential for decomposition, but how they work is fascinating. They have chemical pumps that draw into the cell what they need and pump out waste. Rot is important because this is how God recycles all the chemicals and makes them available for plants.
The authors argue that the expensive gardening chemicals and sprays wreck the natural relationships and halt the decomposition process needed for healthy plants. They make fun of rototilling the soil--as I do--since that genocidal action damages the soil structure and the ocean of life dwelling there.
Bacteria count is quite important, since earthworms graze on them, multiplying the nutrition in the soil while grinding it finer. Some facts are below.
I never realized that plant roots do more that soak up water and minerals from the soil. Plant roots exude nutrients for bacteria, and enormous numbers of bacteria live in the zone around those roots. Bacteria use enzymes to break the bonds that hold complex chemicals together.
Plants are 50% cellulose, which is fairly difficult to break down, but there are bacteria that specialize in turning cellulose into simpler forms.
Tougher than cellulose is lignin - the tough brown part of woody material and bark. Most bacteria cannot do much with lignin, but earthworms feast on it. Newspapers are earthworm food, and earthworms make the garden productive. Most people throw away their newspapers and dose their gardens with inorganic salts that earthworms do not like.
Roots and soil particles have electrical charges that move mineral ions into the plant. Sand is too large to hold a charge, which is one reason pure sand grows almost nothing. Clay holds the most charges but needs to be modified with humus and sand to be an ideal soil instead of pottery.
Earthworm Metrics for the Creation Gardening Growth Movement
I have gathered some metrics from the book, to show how significant the earthworm is for the garden. The authors praise the red wiggler for gardening, the kind I buy from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.
Earthworm casts compared to surrounding soil are:
- Ten times richer in potash.
- Seven times richer in phosphate.
- Five times richer in nitrogen.
- Three times richer in magnesium.
- One and 1/2 times richer in calcium. (p. 98)
Earthworms produce 10 to 15 tons of casts per acre each year. Compare that to hauling in soil amendments by the truckload. The earthworm labors for free and only wants to live in peace.
Application of the Metrics
Below are some steps to take in light of the research outlined above.
- Create a mulch layer in the fall for the spring gardens.
- Leaves should be used as mulch or collected in a bin for composting.
- Give up the tiller - use mulch to open up garden areas and to suppress weeds.
- Newspaper held down by shredded wood mulch will be attractive and effective.
- Collect all garden and vegetable kitchen waste for composting.
- Soak the garden with soaker hoses instead of spraying wastefully. Do not water the lawn.
- Use clippings from bushes as mulch for those bushes, making them more productive.
Portrait of the Soil Below
A Creation gardener will have soil that is covered with organic mulch to decrease wind erosion and loss of moisture. Earthworms, soil creatures, and bacteria will thrive in this moist and dark zone, increasing the biomass and the tunnels for aeration and watering of the plant roots.
Healthy bacteria will kill pathogens and block attacks on the roots of plants. The presence of soil creatures will invite predators from below (moles) and above (birds) to move the soil and the mulch.
