Dear Ibo, How biodynamic does a farm have to be to be biodynamic? Here is what Rudolf Steiner had to say about farms: A farm is true to its essential nature, in the best sense of the word, if it is conceived as a kind of individual entity in itself — a self-contained individuality. Every…
Category: Soil
Hemp Cultivation: Secrets of the Soil
Ideally crops would be grown in mixed covers with as little soil disturbance as possible while feeding, balancing and enriching the soil’s ecology with mulches, humified compost, raw humates and soil drenches to harvest warmth, light, water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere.
Weather Moderation: Drawing Rain Using Biodynamic Preparations
Biodynamic Preparations and Drought
Hugh Lovel
How certain notions arise and become entrenched is a bit of a mystery, especially when they are wrong. Yet they do get started and entrenched. One of these is the belief that when things dry up and little moisture is available we cannot put out biodynamic preparations—as if these were delicate microbial cultures that must have moist conditions to establish and thrive. This is so far from true it seems impossible that it ever got started. Yet it did.
Azolla as a nitrogen fixer and source
It isn’t too clear what this Azotic Technologies mob is on about, but it looks like a microbial product not a DNA insertion or GMO tech. One of the annoying features of most of these sorts of things is the marketers like to keep the details of what they are selling very clost to their…
Humus Flywheel Effect
There is a common belief that humus is the result of the breakdown of organic materials in the soil. While this is true it is less than true because the organic materials do need to break down into simple organic compounds—and from there they need to be built back up again into large, complex carbon…
Growing Ginger: Building the Soil Foodweb
Growing Ginger Building the Soil Foodweb Hugh Lovel Ginger roots normally contain endophytes, which are microbes living in between the plant’s cells. This means there is no problem finding the right microbial cultures that are symbiotic with ginger. The piece of ginger root you plant brings in many desirable species with it. This is…
The great secret of legumes is they carry oxygen to their root tips
Dear Greg, Thanks. That was an interesting article. The scientific world, though fascinated with microscopy, is slowing catching up. It could get better at connecting the dots, but it keeps identifying lots of dots anyway. Many things are clear from the overview that seem like momentous discoveries down in the tsunami of complexity. …
Boron’s Role in Sap Uptake
I realize Marschner doesn’t make the role of boron very clear. I refer to Marschner’s second edition on silicon, pages 417 – 426. Marschner classifies silicon as ‘beneficial’ rather than essential. Boron he considers essential, pages 379 – 396. Although he acknowledges their close similarity, he doesn’t make the connection I do. And Marschner is,…
Establishing A Self-Sufficient System
Establishing a Self-Sufficient System Developing Basic Soil Fertility by Hugh Lovel Because soil fertility involves…
Hugh’s best article ever on Biochemical Sequence and Plant Growth
The Biochemical Sequence © 2014 by Hugh Lovel What is the hierarchy or ‘biochemical sequence’ of what must function first before the next thing and the next thing works. The elements early in this sequence must be present and working well before later elements have any chance of being useful for plant growth. Nitrogen,…
Quantum Agriculture 