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Contents 1 Soil is made up of 2 Things to consider above the soil 3 Things to consider below the soil 4 Observing soil 4.1 Colour 4.2 Vegetation 4.3 Parent Material 4.4 Smell 4.5 Taste 4.6 Life 4.7 Water 4.8 History 4.9 Plants and soil minerals 5 How do we balance the minerals of soil? 6 Dynamic Accumulators of Nutrients for Composting 7 Some Ways to Improve Your Soils 8 Notes on soil 8.1 Things to do

[edit] Soil is made up of

• Water and Air 50%
• Minerals 40%
• Biology 5%

[edit] Things to consider above the soil

• Sun
• Water
• Temperature (Right plant for conditions or build micro climates)
• Shelter design (you should be able to see through your shelter belt)
• Soil compaction
• Breakages (human and animal movement, incorrect pruning, wind fall)
• Competition and companion plants
• Diversity
• Pests and predators

[edit] Things to consider below the soil

• Balance the mineral content (Physical, clay, sand, salt and all elements)
• Ensure correct soil biology organisms
• Feed soil biology

[edit] Observing soil

[edit] Colour

• Colourless/white: high silica content
• Light/white: lack of oxygen; leached; high calcium; alkaline ph
• Yellow: lack of oxygen; high clay content; aluminium & iron
• Red: iron oxide
• Red/brown: volcanic basalt origin; iron & magnesium
• Black: rich in organic matter & nutrients; holds moisture

[edit] Vegetation

• Azalea, dandelion: acid soils; usually leached; often compacted.
• Berries, conifers, dock: Poor drainage
• Saltbush, spinifex: alkaline; saline; dry soils
• clovers, vetch, nettles: excess nitrogen; low humus content; low micr-organism content
• blackberries: open disturbed soil, possibly acid
• bracken: recent fire; general decline in soil fertility.
• buttercup: poor drainage, acid.
• thistles: low calcium & iron content; hard soils.
• chicory, chickweed: good fertility

[edit] Parent Material

Eg soils derived from:

• Sandstone: sandy, high silica.
• Shale: clay; high silica & iron.
• Basalt: high iron & magnesium.

[edit] Smell

• Sour: Lacks oxygen, acidic, sulphur dioxide
• Sweet & earthy: high oxygen, good soil life & OM
• Garlic: arsenic in soil (or maybe theres some onion weed nearby!)

[edit] Taste

• Smooth & slippery: acidic, soil water lathers easily
• Weak soda: alkaline/mineral; won’t lather easily

[edit] Life

• Worms: good moisture, OM, low pesticide residues
• Ants: drier, sandy
• Slugs & snails: damp, decomposing plant & animal material.
• Skinks & lizards: warm sunny, dry spots, good insect populations

[edit] Water

• Run –off: is increased by bare ground, compaction, steep slopes
• Repels water: compacted, eroded, excessive use of dolomite, very little OM, sandy & allowed to dry out & has formed a moisture resistant barrier
• Shrinks & swells: high clay, holds water, cracks.
• Fast draining ( hole filled with water, drains within 10mins: erodes easily, collapses easily, few fungal diseases, good movement of water & soil life. Not good for dams.

[edit] History

• Bare ground: agricultural or industrial contamination.
• Growth in poor soils: previous structures, compaction, old poultry or animal pen site
• No topsoil: quarry or fill site, erosion.
• Bad cracks & rubbish: old tip or landfill site

[edit] Plants and soil minerals

Often plants which grow in deficient soils have the ability to concentrate those missing elements in their structure.

• Potassium present: marshmallow, knapweed, wormwood, opium poppy, fumitory, tansy & borage.
• Deficient: red clover. Celery & leek like potassium. Chicory is pot. rich.
• Calcium: buckwheat grown as a green manure or composted adds. Melon leaves are a source of it & oak bark is especially rich all thistles & willow. Dandelion “mines” it . Peas, beans, brassicas & turnips need it.
• Phosphorous: bracken indicates a lack of & accumulates it. Burn it & spread the ashes. Valerian & comfrey are rich sources. Whitefly indicates a deficiency along with magnesium. Brassicas need it to head well.
• Iron: blackberry is a rich source.
• Magnesium & sulphur: broom, salad burnett, plantain, & sheep sorrel (for magnesium)
• Ragwort: copper
• Thistles: nitrogen, copper & silicon.

[edit] How do we balance the minerals of soil?

• Look for indicator plants which will tell things about Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potasium
• Look at leaves for signs of deficiencies or excesses (Permaculture Designers Manual has a simple key to follow)
• Get a soil test done
• Book - The Soul of Soil
• DCC Website has soil analysis maps
• Talk to people
• Don't rely on simple 'acid' or 'alkaline' measures. The treatment for these can be too simplistic and might not balance the soil.

[edit] Dynamic Accumulators of Nutrients for Composting

Name

Botanical Name

Na

I

Fl

B

Si

S

N

Mg

Ca

K

P

Mn

Fe

Cu

Co

Alfalfa

Medicago sativa

x

x

Arrowroot

x

Bladder wrack

x

x

x

Borage

Borago officinalis

x

x

Bracken, eastern

Pteridium aquifolium

x

x

x

x

x

x

Bridal bower

x

Buckwheat

Fagopyrum esculentums

x

Burdock

Arctium minus

x

Calamus

x

x

x

Carageen

x

x

x

Caraway

Carum carvi

x

Carrot leaves

Daucus carota

x

x

Cattail

Typha latifolia

x

Chamomile, corn

Anthemis arvensis

x

x

Chamomile, German

Chamomilla recutita

x

x

x

Chickweed

Stellaria media

x

x

x

 

Name

Botanical Name

Na

I

Fl

B

Si

S

N

Mg

Ca

K

P

Mn

Fe

Cu

Co

Chicory

Cichorium intybus

x

x

Chives

Allium sp.

x

x

Cleavers

Galium aparine

x

x

Clovers

Trifolium sp.

x

x

Clover, hop

Medicago lupulina

x

x

Clover, rabbit foot

x

x

Clover, red

Trifolium protense

x

x

Clover, white

Trifolium repens

x

x

Coltsfoot

x

x

x

x

x

x

Comfrey

Symphytum officinale

x

x

x

x

x

x

Dandelion

Taraxacum vulgare

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Dock, broad leaved

Rumex obtusifolias

x

x

x

x

Dulse

x

x

x

x

x

Fat hen

Atriplex hastata

x

x

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

x

x

x

Flax, seed

Linum usitatissimum

x

 

Name

Botanical Name

Na

I

Fl

B

Si

S

N

Mg

Ca

K

P

Mn

Fe

Cu

Co

Garlic

Allium sativum

x

x

x

Groundsel

Senecio vulgaris

x

Horsetails

Equisetum sp.

x

x

x

x

x

Kelp

x

x

x

x

x

x

Lamb’s quarters

Chenopodsum album

x

x

x

x

x

Lemon Balm

Melissa offcinalis

x

Lupine

Lupinus sp.

x

x

Marigold, flowers

Tagetes sp.

x

Meadow sweet

Astilbe sp.

x

x

x

x

x

x

Mistletoe

x

Mullein, common

Verbascum sp.

x

x

x

x

Mustards

Brassica sp.

x

x

Nettles, stinging

Urtica urens

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Oak, bark

Quercus sp.

x

Oat Straw

x

Parsley

x

x

x

x

Peppermint

Mentha piperita

x

x

 

Name

Botanical Name

Na

I

Fl

B

Si

S

N

Mg

Ca

K

P

Mn

Fe

Cu

Co

Pigweed, red root

Amaranthus retroflexus .

x

x

x

x

Plantains

Plantago sp.

x

x

x

x

x

x

Primrose

Oenothera biennis

x

Purslane

Portulaca oleracea

x

x

x

Salad burnet

Poterium sanguisorba

x

x

x

x

x

Savory

Satureja sp.

x

Scarlet Pimpernel

Anagallis arvensis

x

Shepherd’s purse

Capsella bursa-pastoris

x

x

x

Skunk cabbage

Navarretia squanosa

x

Sorrel, sheep

Rumex acetosella

x

x

x

Sow thistle

Sonchus arvensis

x

x

x

Spurges

Euphorbia sp.

x

Strawberry, leaves

Fragaria sp.

x

Tansy

Tanacetum vulgare

x

Thistle, Canada

Cirsium arvense

x

Thistle, creeping

Sonchus arvensis

x

x

x

 

Name

Botanical Name

Na

I

Fl

B

Si

S

N

Mg

Ca

K

P

Mn

Fe

Cu

Co

Thistle, nodding

Carduus nutans

x

Thistle, Russian

Salsola pestifer

x

Toadflax

Linaria vulgaris

x

x

x

Tobacco, stems/stalk

Nicotiana sp.

x

Valerian

Valeriana ofjicinalis

x

Vetches

Vicia sp.

x

x

x

x

x

Watercress

Nasturtium ofpcinale

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Willow, bark

Salix sp.

x

Yarrow

Achilea millefolium

x

x

x

x

[edit] Some Ways to Improve Your Soils

• Plant mulch making plants ~ comfrey, tree lucerne, grasses for hay, weeds such as dandelion, plantain, nettles, borage, deciduous trees.
• Use small prunings as part of the mulch around your trees. Place them over soil that you need to add organic matter to & put grass clippings, weeds, & manure on top & let nature do the rest. Once its reasonably broken down sow seeds/plant. Good way to establish an orchard/food forest.
• Harvest local resources ~ bracken & chicory are high in potassium, add it to your compost, burn it & use the ashes around plants such as, celery & leeks. The brassicas (cabbage, cauli, brocoli) need phosphorous to head up well, comfrey & bracken supply it. Ragwort concentrates copper. Broom is high in magnesium & sulphur, lupins in nitrogen & calcium. Seaweed has many of the essential trace elements that plants need. Food scraps from cafes & super markets.
• Plant wind breaks to filter air-born pollution
• Plant trees & shrubs to take up ground water pollution e.g alongside a road, runoff from your nieghbour who uses chemicals.
• Create wet lands planted with macrophytes ( reeds & rushes) to take up the above pollution.
• Use raised beds for growing in.
• Seaweed, compost & dolomite help to clean soils of pollutants such as heavy metals.
• Allow weeds to grow ~ add OM, take up pollutants.
• Spread rock dust to supply minerals ~ basalt, granite, dolomite.
• Remember that the more conditions you create for soil life to thrive the better your soils will be. Create diversity.

[edit] Notes on soil

• Soil food web

• Feed the soil and land base and you will indirectly feed your plants
• Arden Anderson = Soil sciences writer and speaker
• Why is it that plants that are healthy tend not to be attacked by pests and diseases? Their defense system is in tact. A plant that is unhealthy or stressed will be full of simple carbohydrates - which attract pests and diseases. Healthy plants have complex carbohydrates which humans require. Therefore, nature has a way to clean up weak systems.
• Arden Anderson started to observe a relationship between human disease and crop diseases, because of our industrial productions methods that prevent natures way of cleaning out weak species - and so we are interrupting our access to complex carbohydrates.
• How then do we ensure healthy plants?

[edit] Things to do

• Compost and spread or inoculate areas during planting 30g per m2
• Site specific compost made of the materials of the plants being nurtured
• Biodynamics
• Apply seaweed and fish 300g per m2
• 3 comfry plants per fruit tree
• For some pests consider using micro organisms from [Bokashi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashi] to out compete pests