Trellis Meeting Notes For Saturday, 16 March, 2019

[Colin Keizer]

The meeting began at 10:00 AM with Darien's presentation about building good soil.

- Soil is alive.

- Soil is habitat.

- Soil is where lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere meet and combine.

- Plant roots host tiny flora, fauna and fungi.

- Ten to thirty percent of atmospheric carbon that plants absorg is exuded to surrounding bacteria and other life.  Bacteria and fungi fueled by these exudates exchange nitrogen and phosphates from the rocks of the roots' environment.

- Chard, beets and brassicas do NOT have mycorrhizoid relationships.

- Nutrient cycling...soil life is a storage bank for nutrients and micro-nutrients.

- Microflora excrete nutrients.

- Neonicotinoids and other pesticides impact microflora just like they do insects.

"Back To Eden" wood chips for mulch...can be better than straw.

FOUR PRINCIPLES

- Minimize soil disturbance.

- Maintain living roots and cover crops much of the year.

- Energize soil with biodiversity, three to five different types of plants for cover crops.

EXAMPLE: maache, grasses and legumes

"Seeds Of Italy" -- https://www.growitalian.com/

"Living Web Farms" -- http://livingwebfarms.org/

BOOK: "Healthy Soils For Sustainable Gardens"

https://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sustainable-Gardens-Brooklyn-All-Reg...

BOOK: "Dirt: The Erosion Of Civilizations"

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032JTFGQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch...

BOOK: "Growing A Revolution"

https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Revolution-Bringing-Soil-Back-ebook/...

BOOK: "Teaming With Nutrients"

https://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Nutrients-Gardeners-Optimizing-Nutri...