paleorthid's Feed

New Gardening with Biochar FAQ

paleorthid — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:59:00 -0400

The argument for encouraging biochar use as a ubiquitous household practice is compelling: Improved garden soil will increase food production where it has the most impact on energy demand. Implementing charcoal manufacture at a household level draws in a supply of yard prunings and workbench scraps that otherwise would be lost to non-charcoal alternatives. Unfortunately, finding even the most basic information on how to implement biochar use as a personal sustainability practice is discouragingly time consuming. In response I have started up a FAQ Tagged by paleorthid under blogs, carbon, environment, agrichar, bio-char, garden, terra_preta,

No Miracles

paleorthid — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:56:00 -0400

Charcoal cannot replace the need for adding mineral nutrients. Tagged by paleorthid under agrichar, bio-char, carbon, environment, farm, fertility, nutrition, phosphorus, science, soil, carbon_credits,

The Charcoal Vision

paleorthid — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:11:00 -0400

Application of the charcoal to soils may be key to sustainability. Application of charcoal to soils is hypothesized to increase bioavailable water, build soil organic matter, enhance nutrient cycling, lower bulk density, act as a liming agent, and reduce leaching of pesticides and nutrients to surface and ground water. The half-life of C in soil charcoal is in excess of 1000 yr. Hence, soil-applied charcoal will make both a lasting contribution to soil quality and C in the charcoal will be removed from the atmosphere and sequestered for millennia. Tagged by paleorthid under agrichar, bio-char, carbon, innovation, biofuels, soil_science, terra_preta,

Transect points: Redox Cascade

paleorthid — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 07:12:00 -0400

Redox: soil pH's energetic dance partner. When pH changes, pE must also change in response. The reverse is true also. In soil, that response departs from simple mirroring. So much so that it can seem to be two separate dances. Soil pH and pE have different causes of change and different effective buffering agents. The term 'buffering' is replaced in a pE context - it is called poise. A stabilized soil pE system is referred to as a well poised system, differences in soil buffering versus soil poise account for the departure from 1:1 mirroring. Now for the exciting stuff. To many of us, what makes soil different than geologic material is that it is in an excited state, excited mostly by solar energy as facilitated by living processes. Unlike soil pH, soil pE is directly influenced by these energy fluxes. Tagged by paleorthid under bio-char, chemistry, pedology, wetland, soil_science,

transect points: The Smell of Healthy Soil

paleorthid — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:42:00 -0500

Actinobacteria are a hyphae-producing soil bacteria that, in appearance and behavior, have more in common with soil fungi. The spores of Actinobacteria have a distinctive, earthy smell we often associate with rainfall. The smell comes from a compound, geosmin, which translates to "earth smell". The human nose is exquisitely sensitive to geosmin, able to detect it at concentrations down to 10 parts per trillion. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, bacteria, smell, health,

Tetany Season Almost Upon Us

paleorthid — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 01:23:00 -0500

Tagged by paleorthid under tetany, soil, nutrient, animal, health,

transect points: Triclosan, Triclocarban Concern

paleorthid — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 04:39:00 -0500

The environmental persistence of these compounds, used as an antimicrobial agent in hand soap, is remarkable. More than a million pounds of these chemicals flow into the nation's sewers every year. Between 50 and 75% of this ends up land applied as sludge. Triclocarban has been determined by the FDA as having no verifiable benefit. Despite a lack of evidence that these compounds accomplish anything beneficial, usage rate is very high among consumers. Among the households I have surveyed, it approaches saturation. It makes little sense to land apply recalcitrant compounds that needlessly get rid of soil microbes. Fomenting the growth of resistant strains of disease organisms is only one concern. Soil functional capacity is largely mediated by living processes. It is the height of folly to jeopardize those functions for a useless consumer item. Tagged by paleorthid under biosolids, health, microbiology, science, soil,

Evolution Research - General Evolution News: Metagenomics: Investigating the invisible life in our environment

paleorthid — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:32:00 -0500

Data indicates microbes have more difficulty adapting than previously thought. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, biology, genome, rna, ecology, environment, fungi, bacteria, habitat, microbiology, research, science, soil_microbiology,

Opinion: How biofuels could cut carbon emissions, produce energy and restore dead land « Not exactly rocket science

paleorthid — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:25:00 -0500

plant diversity and low input biomass for biofuel Tagged by paleorthid under soil, environment, co2, biofuel, research, opinion, science, carbon_sequestration, conservation,

transect points: Soil Science has Changed

paleorthid — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 04:48:00 -0500

Edaphology is the study of soil (edaphic) effects. Until about 25 years ago, it was mostly synonymous with agricultural soil science as distinguished from pedology, the study of soil in its natural setting. Edaphology now encompasses the new field of environmental soil science, with its more formal emphasis on interdependent living processes in soil. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, science, history, ecology, edaphology, environment,

rec.gardens.ecosystems FAQ -- Section G: plant and soil disease

paleorthid — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:14:00 -0500

Plant disease is a huge and complex subject. This section deals with the principles of disease control, the many different kinds of plant and soil diseases, the characteristics and symptoms of disease, the various ways of preventing and/or treating plant disease and soil disease, the characteristics of the various fungicides and bactericides, the problems with the use of these materials plus an assortment of related issues. Tagged by paleorthid under plant, soil, disease, faq, garden,

rec.gardens.ecosystems FAQ -- Section B: soil

paleorthid — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:13:00 -0500

Gardening based on ecological knowledge has a returning theme: 'feed the soil'. Once you have a soil that is rich in organic matter, contains a lot of micro- and macro-organisms, and is neither too wet nor too dry, nursing plants becomes easy. This document deals with improving and maintaining the soil quality of the home garden. Having read this information, you might start associating the concept of an ecosystem with a hand full of soil. Tagged by paleorthid under garden, soil, faq,

rec.gardens.ecosystems: course text about soils

paleorthid — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:09:00 -0500

One-page primer on soil texture and soil microorganisms for the gardener. One of several soil articles from ibiblio.org. Tagged by paleorthid under garden, soil, microbiology, article, fungi, bacteria,

transect points: Teaming with Microbes Arrived Today

paleorthid — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:36:00 -0500

"Teaming with Microbes", by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. Foreword by Elaine Ingham. Strong soil science orientation. Well organized. Extensive index. Valuable guide to labs and suppliers. Looking forward to actually reading it. Tagged by paleorthid under bacteria, book, review, environment, fertility, fungi, garden, glomalin, microbiology, new, organic, science, soil,

NSCSS News and Views: NSCSS Supports Federal Research Public Access Act

paleorthid — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:38:00 -0500

The National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists supports S. 2695, the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006, as introduced, in that it reflects NSCSS goals regarding the free exchange of information, promoting soil science technology, and eliminating unfair competition from taxpayer supported entities. Tagged by paleorthid under OA, FRPAA, soil, science, research, open, access, news, release, legislation, politics,

Soil - Our Financial Institution » Celsias

paleorthid — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 05:56:00 -0500

Long blog post about soil and the collapse of civilization if we don't get it together. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, environment, carbon, sequestration,

NSCSS News and Views: Being a Client of Soil Science Education

paleorthid — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:01:00 -0500

A discussion of NSCSS' role as a client of soil science education comparing SSSA's recent message "Making Soil Science Education Relevant to Societal Needs" to NSCSS' Education Project page. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, science, education, university, consultin, SSSA, business, curricula,

NSCSS News and Views

paleorthid — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:56:00 -0500

A discussion of NSCSS' role as a client of soil science education Tagged by paleorthid under business, curricula, education, soil science, SSSA,

Muck and Mystery: Soiled Stories

paleorthid — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:13:00 -0500

...engaging with the organic myths of pseudo-environmentalists and their historically impoverished views of agriculture. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, science, agriculture, environment, erosion, chemistry, fertility, blog,

Dangerous Intersection » Blog Archive » How to make energy a serious campaign issue

paleorthid — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:09:00 -0500

In the January 29, 2007 edition of Time Magazine, Montana Democrat Governor Brian Schweitzer was asked how Democrats could make energy an issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. Here’s what Schweitzer said Tagged by paleorthid under soil, scientist, biofuel, coal, politics, government, energy,