Soil: the Foundation of

the Garden
All About Soil!!
Ecological Soil Management For
Organic Gardeners

Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D.

Vegetable and Fruit Technical Assistance
Advisor
Northeast Organic Farming Association of
Vermont WSH

www.nofavt.org

Today’s Presentation A Plant & Soil

• Ecological Soil Management of Ecosystem Light
Air
– The Why’s and How’s of Organic Matter
Management Water, etc

– Soil Tilth: Nothingness is most important,

here.

– Bio-diversity: It is more interesting than you

might think! Moisture Pollutants
Temperature
• To achieve healthy soil, healthy plants, Nutrients
Air
and ecological balance.
Texture pH

Structure CEC
Microbes,
Earthworms, etc
OM = Organic Matter
 Mi Nutrients Moisture
c ro
be
s A Good Loam Soil:
CEC

ter
ic Mat
an 50% Solids
Org 45% Mineral
Soil Air (Hard Stuff) 5% Organic Matter
(Once Alive or Still
re Alive Stuff)
uctu 25% Water 25% Air
r 50% Pores
St Small Pores Big Pores
Pollutants (Nothingness)
ture
Tex pH
A Simplified Soil Ecosystem So why is this important?

An Undisturbed Soil Profile:

Roots:
1 Support the plant Organic matter

2 Absorb water and nutrients Zone of biological activity

3 Exchange gases Ap
4 Store starches and sugars
5 Transform nutrients Zone of accumulation

6 Produce plant hormones

7 Interact with microbes to activate disease
suppression mechanisms and plant immunity

Mix O + A + E = Ap A = topsoil p = plowed or disturbed

 (NRCS/USDA)
Compare Real Soils:
Soil Fertility is
The ability of a soil to provide a physical,
chemical, and biological environment for
the plant that is health sustaining.

Tunbridge VT State Soil

This is a long-term ecosystem based or

ecological agriculture perspective!

Seven Principles to Maintain Soil Maintain Soil OM

Fertility Why Bother?

1. Maintain a Proper Air to Water Balance

2. Maintain Soil Tilth
3. Prevent Erosion Versus
4. Maintain Soil Organic Matter Levels
5. Maintain Biological Diversity
6. Maintain a Proper Soil pH
7. Maintain a Balance of Nutrients Organic matter makes structure and feeds the biology!
A systems approach means you gotta do them all.
Each alone will not make a fertile soil.
 Why Add Soil OM to Make Humus: Soil Solution:
1. Source of Nutrients - N P S & micronutrients The Thin Skins of Water that Coat
2. Acts as a chelating (binding) agent for the micronutrients
Everything.
3. Has high CEC; holds cations in soil (ex. K+, Ca2+, Mg2+)
4. Chelates potentially toxic elements (ex. Al3+, Cd2+, Zn2+)
5. Extracts “base” nutrient cations from minerals
6. Buffers soil pH reaction
RAIN

r
ai
7. High water holding capacity

H
ot
Ro
8. Promotes aggregation & improves structure
9. Improves drainage (less erosion) & aeration
10. Affects soil temperature w/ dark color
11. Provides food, energy & nutrients for organisms
12. Stimulates plant root growth
13. Active OM helps maintain a diverse group of soil
organisms = less pests and diseases
Soil Organic Matter Profoundly Influences Soil Fertility

N-P-K??
Cation Cations
??
Exchange +++ We are pH?? DO YOU KNOW
%O
M
positive!
Capacity + What’s In Your Dirt?
++

How Much OM Should You Add?

What have your past OM additions

Hea
ts??
pH near neutral Acid pH done?
**Only vy e n
H+ Al3+
Clay Me
tals nu tri
K+ Mg2+ Ca2+ and
?? ro
Humus
have
Mic
NO3- CEC** Take a Soil Test and Use Soil Test Recommendations
CEC = Plant Pantry
Don’t Fly Blindfolded!
 l
tm
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Soil Test Make and Maintain Soil Structure

Report
• Soil Test Results
• Recommendation
– Limestone
– Nitrogen
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
– Phosphorus
– Potassium
• Management Info Ohio State University

• Who to call
Think about being a root. Which soil
can you grow through best! Get your
air and water from best!
What Building Structure Does for You Pores Are Different!
• Drainage in clay soils (macropores) Air is stored
inbetween the Water is stored
• Water holding capacity in sandy soils aggregates—after inside the
(micropores) aggregates.
water drains.

*Building structure with OM Creates the Saturation Soil that

Pores You Ain’t Got!* after a has
soaking drained.
rain.
Macropore hold air and drain (in-between)
Cornell University
Micropores hold water (inside)

OM = Drought Prevention Insurance Sand Clay

Little inside space =less water. Little in-between space= less air.

Making Soil Structure: Create Great Soil Tilth

• Improves: drainage, air exchange, moisture
holding capacity, root penetration and seed
germination!
• Lowers bulk density and reduces erosion!
• It ameliorates natural textural properties!

! Don’t Destroy Your Structure

! Wait and work your soil when it has dried out
enough—no mud patties
! Add OM to improve soil structure
! Keep soil covered to protect soil structure
! Treat soil gently
 & SOIL
How to Identify Compaction
• Compaction densely packs the soil together,
destroying tilth, structure and increasing bulk
density.
• Soil has higher proportion of solids to pore space.
• Compaction:
– Surface Crusting
– Surface Compaction
– Subsoil or Deep Compaction
– Plow or Tillage Pan
• Symptoms University of Nebraska University of Minnesota Extension

– Drainage and Moisture Issues

– Temperature Issues
– Plant Stress- N & K
– Erosion DFW

Why feed the soil?

SMB
Interesting Relationships!
Population control for nematodes and fungi
In Soil Organisms: SMB SMB

" Decompose plant and animal residues SMB

releasing nutrients and making humus
# Change nutrients to plant available forms
$ Improve soil structure and tilth (thru 1) SMB

% Improve plant nutrition (thru 1,2, & 3) DFW Captured

& Diverse populations increase biological Nematodes
DFW
stability and balance
& resistance to system degradation Parasitized
& resilience or “the bounce back” factor Nematode
' Create self-sufficiency (Emergent
properties)
Interesting Relationships and
' internal system nutrient cycling
Fungal Population Checks and Balances.
' beneficial mutualistic organism relationships
SMB Hyphae
' internal system pest population management Microbes dissolve
and disease suppression minerals in agar.
Nooses
 More Interesting
Relationships!! Phoresy: Plant - Microbial Relationships
Detritivore Hitchhikers Rhizobium and Legumes: Mutualism

DFW

Sucker Disc

DFW
SMB

DFW
Immature
Mites
Phoretic
Nematodes
DFW

Plant - Microbial Relationships

Ectomycorrhizae Mycorrhizal Fungi Endomycorrhizae Plant to Plant
www.profileproducts.com

Mutualistic
Relationships
Brady
and
Weil, SMB
2002. Brady
and
Weil,
2002.

SMB

Brady
and
fungal-jungle.blogspot.com Weil,
SMB 2002.
Disease Suppression Mechanisms This Is Who!
SMB
• The process of OM breakdown from OM additions:
• compost,
• cover crops, manures, etc.
• Antagonists
– Bacillus, Entrobacter, Trichoderma, Streptomyces,
Pseudomonas, and more!
– Single strains are not as effective as mixtures of
microbes! fungal-jungle.blogspot.com

– Antibiosis, Nutrient competition, Parasitism

– Induced systematic resistant- plant vaccination (less
common)
• Doesn’t suppress all diseases: some easy,
some hard SMB

• Lasts about 6 months

www.profileproducts.com

& SOIL
How Can You Get OM Into
Your Soils?
Animal Manures

Composts

Cover Crops
Mulches
Peat Moss
Others?

DFW
Any Cautions? ……C:N Ratio or Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio
The Foundation of Food Web is FOOD.
……Watch P levels.
 Compost: Mulch Gardening - 1998
Aerobic Methods

• Small piles and bins

• Windrows

• Passive aeration

On-Farm Compost Handbook WSH

Cover Crops in the Garden

Cover Crops in the Garden 2008

Oats Buckwheat

Annual Ryegrass Rye-Vetch

Serial planting after onions

WSH

WSH
 Cover Crops in the Garden Food Means….
• Soil OM ( Biodiversity (
• Ecological Balance
– Efficiency of Soil Processes
– Resistance: System’s Resistance to Degradation
– Resilience: System’s Ability to Bounce Back
– Self-Regulation or Self-Sufficiency (Emergent Properties)
• Nutrient Cycling
• Mutualistic Organism Relationships
WSH • Pest Checks and Balances(Disease Suppression)

• Stability
Before and
After Cutting • Which is why organic farmers and gardeners
feed the soil.

WSH

Create Great Biodiversity Create Functional Biodiversity

Provide Diverse Food: Organic Matter
Add Organic Residues
Add Manure or Compost
Grow Cover Crops
Provide Diverse Habitat
Rotate Crops
Grow Cover Crops
Plant Mixtures of Species
Interplant, Under-sow, Companion Plant, Polyculture
Add Compost
Use Mulches
Plant Biological or Ecological Islands; Habitat and Food For
Beneficial Organisms
Bio-strips, Flower Strips, Beetle Banks, Strip Insectary
Intercropping, Vegetative Corridors, Hedge Rows
Selective Weeding
Reduce Tillage, Bare Land, and Chemical Inputs
Change Tolerance Levels for Pest Some
Use Integrated Pest Management examples.
 Rotate Crops Biological or Ecological Islands www.sare.org

• To breaking pest cycles: insects, weeds, diseases www.sare.org

www.attra.org

• To manage nutrients
• To reduce erosion
• To build Soil OM
• To improve yields

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Syrphid Fly Parasitic Wasp

www.sare.org NCSU-IPM

NCSU-IPM

ATTRA Lacewings NCSU-IPM

Refugia or Conservation Head Lands Hedge Rows as Habitat

www.sare.org

University of Idaho

USDA/NRCS/NAC

Vegetative Corridors
www.ukagriculture.com Wind Shelter Belt
www.sare.org National Corn Growers Association
Spined Soldier Bug

Texas A&M University

University of Minnesota Extension
www.sare.org
Vegetation Barriers
NCSU-IPM Praying Mantis
 Mulch as Habitat Beetle Banks: Britain
Spiders

http://www.orc.govt.nz/

DFW
www.snh.org.uk/

WSH

Ground Beetles
Ground Beetles and other
Predatory Beetles

Oregon State University Extension

DFW
WSH DFW

Intercropping: Living Mulches More Questions on Soils or Compost?

www.sare.org

WSH
WSH

www.omafra.gov.on.ca/
www.dereila.ca NCSU-IPM
Bigeyed Bug Minute Pirate Bug
Rover Beetle WSH
WSH

WSH
 Resources
) Start with the Soil.1993. G. Gershuny. Rodale Press.
) Building Soils for Better Crops. 2000. F.R. Magdoff
and H. van Es. Sustainable Agriculture Network.
Handbook Series Book 4.
) Managing cover Crops Profitably. 2007. Sustainable
Agriculture Network. Handbook Series Book 9.
) Manage Insects on your Farm: A guide to ecological
strategies. 2005. M.A. Altieri and C.I. Nicholls with
M.A. Fritz. Sustainable Agriculture Network.
Handbook Series Book 7.
) The Rodale Book of Composting. 1992. D.L. Martin &
G. Gershuny. Rodale Press.
) Tales From The Underground. 2001. D. Wolfe.
Perseus Pub
Resources
( A Whole-Farm approach to Managing Pests.
Sustainable Agriculture Network.
SARE
( Farmscaping To Enhance Biological Control. 2000.
R. Dufour. Appropriate Technology Transfer for
Rural Areas.
! Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture.
2004. F.R. Magdoff and R.R. Weil. CRC Press.
! The Nature and Properties of Soils. 2008. N.C.
Brady & R.R. Weil. Prentice Hall.
* ATTRA: <http://attra.org/> (Soils and Composting)
* NE-SARE: <http://sare.org/>

SARE

Biological Slide References The End

• DFW: The Decomposer Food Web:
Ecology of organisms of compost and
soil litter by
Dr. Daniel Dindal, Professor Emertius,
Soil Ecologist, SUNY-Syracuse

• SMB: Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

from Soil Science Society of America

• WSH: Wendy Sue Harper, Ph.D.