essential if one would avoid other potential problems! Growers need to be reminded that information such as this on magnesium is vital, and it is in our best interest not to guess. Test, re-test, and test again, to ensure you supply only what is needed and in the proper forms and proper amounts. This is especially true when it comes to adequate magnesium and the need for calcium.
Proper usage can make a big difference for those who need magnesium, but even those who need it should not go at it blindly. This is important for the soil and plants we grow for food, if it is to supply us with the proper nutrients.
Many growers who wish to produce healthy organic vegetables may feel that their own soil is adequate or that bringing it up to the proper conditions may cost too much in time and money. Over the years we have had the opportunity to work with numerous avid growers. In many cases they are already striving to use compost and natural products to grow their crops. But even those who have been organic for years will often admit that while they can grow large quantities of produce, it does not taste good. Or if the produce tastes good, too often the plants are not sufficiently productive.
Which of these two situations represents a healthy productive garden? In fact, neither does. The “developed” high-yield garden may look good and produce more volume, but does it contain the nutritional values required to meet our needs? Even though productive, is it really “healthy” when the taste is not there? Will it provide proper nutrition?
So what can one do to build healthy, productive soil for a garden or field that produces both quality and quantity? What works for one soil may not be appropriate for another. But there are some basic needs to be considered by farmers and gardeners or anyone desiring the right soil for the plants they wish to grow.
First, it should be noted that healthy soil is a vibrant living soil. The soil is alive and that life needs to be encouraged. In addition to whatever food or feedstuff that is being grown or produced on the land, every grower must also be able to feed the equivalent of ‘one average sized cow’ per acre in living organisms beneath the soil surface. The soil is the ‘stomach’ for the plants. And as such, the living organisms in the soil are always the first to eat at the table. Whatever is left over or discarded by the organisms living in the soil is the “food” that is then available to the plants striving to grow on that land.
The soil is the plant’s stomach. This is a foundational principle for natural and organic production that should always be considered: Feed the soil and let the soil feed the plant! How healthy would we be if we fail to feed the stomach what it requires?
It is not truly “natural” to leave the soil to itself. In the Book of Genesis, the first man, Adam, was told to “dress and keep” the land. Soil was not made to do its best when left alone. This has been borne out by our testing of the soil from land in all parts of the world. To do its best, soil must be cared for, just as livestock needs to be provided and cared for to do the best. Soil, when left to natural forces, actually deteriorates over time. The extent to which life survives in and on the soil helps determine how well it will produce. Without proper care, the productivity of even the most excellent soil will go downhill.
Soils left alone will generally grow “something”, but in order to grow vibrant healthy foods they must be properly managed. And this type of management is only possible when it can be measured and correctly evaluated. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. How then do you measure in order to manage for healthy, productive soil?
One good measure is the physical structure of the soil – the amount of air and water occupying the pore space in the soil in comparison to the mineral and humus content. For ideal healthy productive garden soil, this would approximate to 45% mineral content, 5% humus, 25% air space and 25% water. Heavier soils generally tend to hold more water in relation to air and compact more easily. Sandy soils tend to have too much air space and tend to dry out too quickly.
This air and water relationship is dependent on the porosity of the soil – too much space means too much air in relation to water, and too little space means too much water in relation to the available air.