Have you ever front down and enquire what in the man was happen in your soil ? Who was eating who ? How many varieties of bacteria , fungus , arthropods , alga , etc . were down there ?
Probably not .
I did n’t give it much thought , either … but after readingTeaming with Microbes , I have a new appreciation for the incredible complexness of nature .
Ever heard the organic horticulture advice “ feed the soil , not the plant ? ”
This book explains why .
Around the roots of your vegetables , bush and trees , there ’s a vast vane of microorganisms living sometimes in competition , sometimes in cooperation , and sometimes in mutualism .
Fungal net stretch out out from the roots of a pine to capture nutrients the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree can not … bacteria create feeding frenzy that hot up up a raft of gage clippings … mushrooms spring from the wood they ’re breaking down into compost … tiny mites and nematodes constantly turn the filth and release nutrition … it ’s a wild universe . Lowenfels and Lewis boost you to rein in that Earth on behalf of your plants .
If you ’re the type of person that gets bored by scientific discipline , I should say that you wo n’t wish the first part of this Quran … but instead , I ’m going to say you ’re a moron . skill is amazing .
One part ofTeaming with MicrobesI receive particularly interesting was the difference between plant residential area and how some prefer bacterially dominated soils … and other prefer fungally overlook soils . It makes common sense when you consider the difference between an annual veg garden with its constant plant dollar volume and the comparative stability of a forest . The former is a live - degenerate - die - young place where bacteria reign … the latter is a place where Brobdingnagian net profit of mycellium invest themselves into unturned soil .
And speaking of soil turning , one of the takeout food the authors need you to get from this book is : DON’T TILL ! This is emphasized multiple clock time through the schoolbook . Though I do n’t buy completely into the “ no till ” approach , I do sympathise the reasoning behind that philosophy better after readingTeaming with Microbes .
If I were to pick a downside of this Quran , it would be that it suffers a fiddling from the same ailment as health Word often do : a reliance on “ bought - in ” supplements , in this case fungal and bacterial mixing design to help your plants . Though a lot of emphasis on creating “ compost teatime ” is given , the idea of further extend and buy expensive fungal or bacterial cultivation does n’t sit well with my endurance gardening ethos . Neither does the emphasis on perpetual compost tea drenches of the soil or veritable soil microorganism depth psychology . Too much work for me . ( Though I do REALLY require a microscope now . )
Overall , the entropy in this record book is optic - porta and systematically entertaining . I found myself wanting to go deeper after reading , which is one of my criteria for a good book . It left me woolgather of ways to bring more life-time into my grunge , peculiarly in my compacted and sad front yard .
Teaming with Microbes is a very skilful record book . you could pick up a copyhere .
If you bribe it through my link , I make a few cents . Maybe if you buy 100 copies I can give a bigger compost tea sprayer …
4.5 SPUDS!Amazon.com gizmo
