6 Soil Tools
Who, What and Why
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Who could benefit from the use of one or more of these soiltools? Any farmer, fisherman, city water supply manager, human, animal and even governmental agencies.
What do these soiltools do? Well, they can improve soil health, build more soil, prevent the loss of soil, reduce toxins in the soil and more.
Why would anyone benefit from the use of these SoilTools? Soil is very much related to water in relation to climate, watershed, pollution, food and the natural laws of balance in nature that all life depends on. Without this balance, things start deteriorating and eventually are gone.
The "Laws of Mother Nature" when followed provide abundance in a regenerative life cycle.
Law of the Rights of Mother Earth
The law defines Mother Earth as "...the dynamic living system formed by the indivisible community of all life systems and living beings whom are interrelated, interdependent, and complementary, which share a common destiny; adding that "Mother Earth is considered sacred in the worldview of Indigenous peoples and nations.
In this approach human beings and their communities are considered a part of mother earth, by being integrated in "Life systems" defined as "...complex and dynamic communities of plants, animals, micro-organisms and other beings in their environment, in which human communities and the rest of nature interact as a functional unit, under the influence of climatic, physiographic and geologic factors, as well as the productive practices and cultural diversity of Bolivians of both genders, and the world views of Indigenous nations and peoples, intercultural communities and the Afro-Bolivians. This definition can be seen as a more inclusive definition of ecosystems because it explicitly includes the social, cultural and economic dimensions of human communities.
The law also establishes the juridical character of Mother Earth as "collective subject of public interest", to ensure the exercise and protection of her rights. By giving Mother Earth a legal personality, it can, through its representatives (humans), bring an action to defend its rights. Additionally, to say that Mother Earth is of public interest represents a major shift from an anthropocentric perspective to a more Earth community based perspective.
an·thro·po·cen·tric/ˌanTHrəpəˈsentrik/
adjective regarding humankind as the central or most important element of existence, especially as opposed to God or animals.
What does Mother Nature do for us?
There is no question that Earth has been a giving planet. Everything humans have needed to survive, and thrive, was provided by the natural world around us: food, water, medicine, materials for shelter, and even natural cycles such as climate and nutrients.
SoilTools 1
Soil Testing
In some cases all 6 tools will make sense, are doable now and will result in your success. If this is the case start out with those you are comfortable with. In all cases for farmers start out with my recommended soil testing so you know what you are actually starting with.
But what if you cannot afford to do all 6 or all 6 don't seem to apply to your scene? I would recommend soil testing in the fall or before you plant in the spring. Schedule this testing each year. Why? Because you will know what you need to plan for in the future and can begin preparing for it.
Also if budget is a challenge or a concern, SoilTools 6 may save you money and improve yield at no extra cost.
SoilTools 2
Adding Amendments
Formulated for your soil based on soil test. https://ggointernational.com/
Providing all the ingredients for a complete soil that when used provides the healthiest results for your soil and the food that is grown in it. Human health depends on this and having one missing ingredient makes your soil incomplete. Why is complete soil important? Did you know that complete soil requires 90 minerals? Human bodies require all 90 minerals to deliver the needed food for each organ in your body. Missing one mineral can prevent one organ from doing what it is supposed to do and organs are interdependent and system functions can be thrown out of balance, bringing about the multitude of ailments we see today.
The following are SoilTools exerpts from Jail Mc Fall books to be released sometime in 2022. You can vist her website to order products and services. organiclivingforall.com
American soil is sadly depleted of minerals, that fact has been known since 1936. Without minerals vitamins have little or no effect on our bodies. Minerals are necessary for health and cannot be made in the body, you must obtain them from nature, minerals
The chemical herbicides and pesticides commercial farmers have been using for decades have resulted in killing our soil, and toxic produce is being sold as food.
In order to eat nutrient dense foods we must rebuild the soil so it contains ALL the nutrients and minerals plants need and we need to be healthy. There is a solution to rebuild the soil the way it should be. The difference between rich, fertile soil and poor, infertile soil is essentially this: the mineral composition of the soil. The flavor and nutrition in fruit, grains, and vegetables are based on the soil minerals. ALL must be available in the soil, regardless of the amount or type of organic matter. If JUST ONE mineral is missing, it is just that, missing, and no amount of organic matter will make up for it.
We must have all ninety minerals in the soil in order to have healthy plants for us to have healthy bodies!!
In 1936 the government tested soil in the USA and they released the results- Senate Document #264, it reads
"...most of us are suffering from certain diet deficiencies which cannot be remedied until depleted soils from which our food comes are brought into proper mineral balance."
"The alarming fact is that food...now being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contain enough...minerals is starving us, no matter how much of them we eat.
"Lacking vitamins, the system can make use of minerals, but lacking minerals, vitamins are useless."
Do you think that depleted soils from which our food comes have been brought into proper mineral balance? No. they have not!!
Our soil is dead and does not contain the minerals, worms, microorganisms, fungi and other living things that are necessary for healthy, living soil that will grow healthy food.
Chemicals have become the accepted way to grow food. Every system in our bodies needs minerals to properly function. Eating foods that lack minerals results in bodies that are mineral deficient so our bodies cannot function properly and that is why our country is so sick. The USA has the highest rate of disease on the planet.
1. Nurturing your plants
Plants don’t just grow easily anywhere. They need to be nurtured. Sometimes you’re lucky and you have good soil and it is easy to grow but they will always do better when you build up the soil.
Soil preparation is the most important thing to do. You need to ensure the soil contains what the plants need. It’s very difficult to grow plants in just sand or heavy clay. You will need to amend the soil or change it out altogether.
How did our soil become depleted?
People have been on this planet for a long time. Originally the soil was nutrient dense and alive. The food grown in this soil was healthy and could support the people, stock and the wildlife. Farmers would renew the soil by rotating crops, letting animals graze on different parts of the farm, spread manure and allow land to go fallow every 7 years (unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation).
In other words, they cared for the soil. As the centuries went by the soils became less healthy. A good analogy is: if you have million dollars and put it in the bank and you continue taking money out and do not add more money to it, eventually there will be no money left. Same with all things.
We need to care for our land and our health and nurture them. Human health begins in the soil
The ideal and complete soil begins with all 90 minerals. In the US these minerals have been found in Nevada at one mine location and nowhere else in the US have these been found. This land and mine is under the control of the Bureau of Land Management and was shut down 8 years ago. It was closed for the reason it had no plan of operations that included restoration. There are additional lands next to this that can produce the complete minerals.
SoilTools 3
Key-Line Plow
The keyline plow is another one of the SoilTools, and is a high quality specialized sub-soiler tool that helps build top soil from the bottom up. Compacted and clay soils can get a jump start and speed things up when using a keyline plow on contour.
This is one of the soil tools that is gaining popularity over drain tiles and drainage ditches, because not like drain tiles that only address flooding, it makes it possible to store more water in your soil where your crops need it.
Erosion being a factor in the loss of top soil, the keyline plow when used on contour can reduce the losses and when used with cover crops may eliminate erosion completely, even during extreme weather events.
In the U.S. there is at least one keyline plow in most states. When you understand that surrounding fields farmed by your neighbors are part of a watershed and could affect your fields, having a keyline plow to help them becomes important to you and all of your neighbors.
Consider a keyline plow before adding expensive irrigation and drainage systems and let nature and weather do the work for free.
SoilTools 4
Cover-Crops
Check out the video below with Gabe Brown suggested SoilTools and then visit his Soil Health University web site for workshops.
And/Or
Visit Brown's Ranch "Regenerating Landscapes for a Sustainable Future" for information, services and tours.
And/Or
Checkout the Smart Mix selection made just for you.
SoilTools 5
No Till/Little Till
There is a wealth of information available on this subject. Get books, videos and audio here.
SoilTools 6
Proper Seed Spacing
and More
Here is some good advice from Francis Childs, an Iowa farmer who won the National Corn Growers Association yield contest with a world record corn yield of 442 bushels per acre using one of these SoilTools.
Kenaf as a Soil-Tool
Kenaf can also be added as one of these SoilTools.
1. Soil remediation while growing. There is plenty of research on this. Here is one on kenaf.
Kenaf Partners USA would like to help get more kenaf planted each year throughout the U.S., eventually having enough kenaf seed produced here, to supply corn, soy and cotton farmers with the seed quantities they need and want for use as a rotational cash crop.
Because kenaf growing in these fields across the U.S. will result in a substantial lowering of fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides in the soil, this alone will help improve soil health our environment and the health of our bodies.
Conclusion
As you can see each of these SoilTools have had improvement in one or more areas. I urge you to work out your strategy to implement all of them as soon as possible. The USA has been a leader for others around the world and our standards have been high. Lets not compromise on this and keep the bar high with each of these SoilTools. Together we can change the world.