Off The Grid Living: 6 Effective Methods To Replenish Nutrients In Your Soil

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6 Effective Methods To Replenish Nutrients In Your Soil

 

Written by: Carolynn Survival Gardening

Fertile soil is one of the foundations of a healthy and productive garden. It provides structure, minerals, and a balance of living organisms and decaying organic matter to plant roots. In effect, soil is a complex, living system. It can be sick, healthy, or even dead, depending on conditions. In order to be of greatest benefit to our plants, the soil must be nutrient-rich and filled with living organisms. Many areas of the world, however, suffer from mineral depletion and loss of topsoil. With the application of compost, cover crops, and other soil management techniques, gardeners can create a fertile soil environment, which can make all the difference between a failed crop and an abundant and lasting harvest.
Worldwide Mineral Depletion
An alarming trend in the last couple of centuries has seen productive soils worldwide rapidly lose valuable minerals faster than they can be replaced. Several factors are likely causing this, including geology and weather patterns. Contemporary farming practices in particular have contributed the most to mineral loss. Widespread use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can imbalance the soil composition and cause rapid loss of nutrient-rich topsoil. Monoculture practices and planting crops in the same place for multiple seasons also causes mineral loss and leaves plants vulnerable to disease and pests. This leeching of nutrients can cause the soil to effectively “die,” and makes food crops more and more dependent on fertilizers.
Some areas are more vulnerable to soil loss than others, but just about any soil can be lacking in adequate minerals. The southeast US and all tropics, for example, have old soils that are low in certain nutrients. The Great Plains, meanwhile, are still recovering from the topsoil lost during the Great Dust Bowl in the 1930s. Other places, such as areas on recent lava flows in Hawaii, have never had topsoil to begin with and can take decades to develop.
Recent soil management techniques, such as the ones used on farms in Java, Indonesia have shown that providing nutrients to our crops via healthy, fertile soil is a cheaper, easier and more effective method than conventional fertilizers……MORE HERE

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