Re: CULT: Organic Matter

Most of the nitrogen content of the soil is transient; mineral soil
contains little nitrogen as such.  The nitrogen on which plants depend
comes from the activity of micro-organisms called nitrogen-fixers, which
live in the soil.  These microbes convert nitrogen gas from the air into
forms which plants can use.  Provided you make your soil a home for these
bacteria, you will have all the nitrogen your plants need.

In order to thrive, nitrogen-fixing bacteria need a loose, well-aerated
soil with plenty of organic matter.  The organic matter feeds the bacteria
and incidentially also releases some usable nitrogen as it decays.

If you build up your soil with organic matter you will never require
fertilizers out of a bag.  In fact, these fertilizers can upset the natural
equilibrium of the soil and deplete it of the life forms that keep it
fertile.  Chemical fertilizers are like stimulating drugs; the more they
are used the more dependent the garden becomes on them because they upset
and can eventually eliminate the microbes that keep the soil fertile.  The
only supplement I use is rock phospate.  Phosphate is a much more crucial
element for iris than is nitrogen.  Phosphate is, however, highly soluble
and washes out of the soil rapidly.  It must be used sparingly.  Many of
our pollution problems, as in the Chesapeake Bay, are due to excessive
phosphate use on farm fields, which causes algal blooms in bays and lakes.
The decaying algae later depletes the bay of oxygen and kills aquatic life.
Rock phosphate in granular form is slowly released and most of it is used
near where it is applied.

Bearded Irises thrive when moved to new soil where irises have never been
grown before, or when replanted in soil that has been heavily refreshed
with organic matter, solarized, or supplemented with rock phosphate.

I'm sorry folks, I'm not trying to be the organic messiah, just feeling
more than a little concerned about us running our gardens like
agribusiness.  I think we've been sold a bill of goods by the chemical
producers, agriculture/horticulture departments and various purveyors of
dangerous supplements.  Your garden is a little patch of land for you to
WORK.  If you can't do most of what it takes without herbicides,
fungicides, insecticides and supplemental fertilizer, maybe you need to cut
back!  Let's not give in to panic and dose our plants with heavy duty
chemicals each time we think they might not be growing as we like, each
time we see a pest or a disease symptom.  Nature, properly in balance, can
take care of these things.  And balance begins with a living soil!

Bill Shear
Department of Biology
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney VA 23943
(804)223-6172
FAX (804)223-6374
email<bills@tiger.hsc.edu>
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