Sequestering More Than Carbon

[@fxm5715]

The phosphorus and sulfur contribution to carbon stability is an eye opener. I had no idea. Ok, now you have REALLY convinced me to get that soil test done.

[@REDGardens]

I had no idea either! First I heard of it was through a video that referenced this paper doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.04.010

[@fxm5715]

@@REDGardens I'm wondering if it makes sense to try to optimize the ratio earlier on, in the compost itself, before it gets added to the garden. It seems like it would be more controlled that way, and that the material is very biologically active, maybe encouraging the proper chemistry. I'll definitely be reading that paper tonight.

[@charlespalmer3595]

@@fxm5715 That would concentrate the amendment to the top of the soil. It is the deep soil that is deficient, so tilling the amendments is gonna have to happen to get soil to grow deep. I'd like to know what effect sulfurous plants have on the soil when the roots are left in the soil to decompose. This could be a (slow boat) way to work it from the top in a strict no till plot.

[@fxm5715]

@@charlespalmer3595 I'm mostly a no-tiller, but I also grow a lot of potatoes and peanuts in the rotation. It all gets mixed together pretty well after a few years, and I'm definitely playing the long game.

[@chickenstyle1327]

​@@charlespalmer3595 Yes good idea to composting the S-containing plants in situ, such as brassicas and alliums that contain chelatable sulphur compounds. These organo-sulphur compounds may be more useful as nutrients to a plant than the ubiquitous oxidised-S or sulphate.

[@The_k81]

Always love seeing your videos pop up in my feed. They continue to be at a whole other level than most gardening/farming channels in terms of experimentation, analysis, depth and conceptual breadth.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks! Glad you appreciate the effort I put in!

[@DavidRexGlenn]

I love how this channel is driven by science and not a 'used-car salesperson' personality

[@micha_666]

Best gardening channel on youtube. So detailed and well made videos! Keep up the good work please. Always wanted to check how is Dowding method doing on paper. Thank yu very much!

[@marcelpg84]

All of your videos are so well thought out and it is evident from the comments that I am not the only viewer who appreciates the level of detail and work you obviously put into these videos and your gardens. A big thank you from Australia for your excellent videos.

[@REDGardens]

Thank you. Great to know that there are people out there, in many different parts of the world, who appreciate the work I do!

[@stefanklein7500]

As always, I am blown away how clear, easy to follow and "sober" (not sure if this translation works the way intended in English) you present what you done, how you done it and why you come to what conclusions. Managing that on all your videos is really outstanding. I think I would even watch each of your videos if I wasn't interested in gardening at all, just as a counterbalance to the daily BS from other sources. Thank you!

[@REDGardens]

Thank you. Your comment means a lot, as I often wonder if it is worth putting in the effort.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

"Sober" is a good work for it. In the best sense.

[@churchofrodneyliteraryrefe5342]

@@REDGardens Your effort is certainly having an affect in my life. I used to spread the manure from my cows. Now I compost it. I turn it with an old spreader and in very short time it turns into this absolutely wonderful compost. My friends and I use it on our gardens. Probably wouldn't have happened without your videos. Tks.

[@benm9910]

I massively appreiate your efforts too. Some of the best and most important thinking on KZbin!

[@Electedsphinx40]

​@@REDGardens I absolutely love how you apply a scientific point of view towards your experience in the garden

[@cwallcw]

This was fantastic, thank you so much! I’m a new backyard gardener and soak up all ur teaching. I also hope you do more soil analysis. Even tho our soils are wildly different (Clay “gumbo” around Houston, Tx), I bet the principles (and likely ratios) are applicable for many/most of us.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks. That is very different soil! I have a sandy loam, with really high pH!

[@flatsville9343]

One of your best presentations. Thnx. This helped clear up a few answers to lingering sequestration issues I've been mulling over.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks! Glad you found it valuable.

[@ethanpayne4116]

Some suggestions for future testing: -Collect multiple sample points from each bed so you can compute a average treatment effect accounting for random errors -Standardize and document your specific procedure for collecting samples -Consider adjusting the results for how much organic material you added to the bed (otherwise it's trivial that the beds you added more compost to will have more organic matter in them, so you don't learn much about your actual treatment other than that) -For bonus points you can compute actual t-tests and linear models/ANOVA using the data you collected, this will let you determine whether your results are statistically significant

[@justinwessels624]

Generally in the winter time where there is lots of brown material I usually collect it and use it to add to my compost as well as shredd it to make a quick carbine release mulch, that’s what I’d recommend if you are able to get the resources

[@REDGardens]

👍

[@tv0562]

영상잘보고 갑니다. 편안한밤 주말되십시요. 😊

[@REDGardens]

Hope you like it.

[@TheEmbrio]

I’ve also mused about sulfur. The only book (i read very basic’gardening books and periodicals i must admit) mentionning it in calcium rich soils was The intelligent Gardener.

[@REDGardens]

Yes, that is one of the only places I have come across discussions about sulphur as well.

[@aNaturalist]

I'm a fan of that author's gardening advice too, Steve Solomon.

[@dominicmoreno4662]

thank you sincerely, you have no idea how much this helps

[@REDGardens]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@thegeneralist7527]

Great video. The problem may be composting. A mass balance analysis indicates that 5.5-10.4% of carbon was lost by composting, methane release accounted for 0.34-1.69%, and CO2 release accounted for 2.3-8.65%. Normally grazing animals would consume the vegetation, ferment it, and return the nutrients in a highly bioavailable form. In grasslands this leads to carbon sequestration and a positive carbon balance. Plant/animal life coevolved to enhance the biosphere. This is how natural grasslands were able to support large herds of grazers like buffalo. Without animals you will always be in a carbon/nutrient deficit unless you remediate with supplementation.

[@REDGardens]

That is an interesting thought, thanks.

[@familyfruit9833]

Reminds me of how people used to put coal soot from the oven range onto the soil. High in sulphur I believe. Although possibly also contains undesirable substances. My grandad's garden where he had done this decades before I remember it, certainly had very dark soil.

[@recklessroges]

Will you add a large dose of sulphur to half of the simple garden to see how it compares with the other half?

[@REDGardens]

I should probably try something like that.

[@benm9910]

The reduction in tillage that's already in the works (?) may also have a massive effect tho.

[@kingtool5799]

that truck load of "steaming" BLACK compost at the end of the video made me jealous.....am feeling good about adding granular gypsum annually to my beds thanks for documenting your studies.

[@REDGardens]

It was quite a sight when that load of compost was delivered!

[@BeckJoseR]

my favorite time of the year! so excited to see you videos again. I wish you a wonderful year

[@j.m.k.3406]

Good job Red! Keep it up brother

[@REDGardens]

Thanks!

[@NannaCarlstedt2]

Hi Ben, Thank's for sharing your experienced. Banana peels has a lot of phosphorus; leave them in some water...

[@aNaturalist]

I'm encouraged to see the extensive garden keeping OM content over 8%. When, I have land (I'm between sites right now), I use a hybrid of extensive and No-dig, and I do like soil analysis. I think it's tougher to maintain higher levels of OM in a hotter climate.

[@bradcarby3765]

You spend a lot of effort on the macros, NPK. It is very important of course because that is the foundation of every fkn thing. I wonder how much you have considered trace elements and their role in prolific growth. Iron, Moly, Magnesium, Copper, Boron are all very important. We do make a very lightweight mix of these things and foliar spray them periodically. It is very helpful and the results are obvious. Actually, the results of foliar sprays of seaweed and fish emulsions are pretty obvious too. I'd love to see you go down that rabbit hole.

[@REDGardens]

Those are all interesting things that I would love to explore!

[@riverdalegardens544]

Great video! I love your style, input and honesty! Your videos are packed full of information. Some I didn't even realize I needed to know!

[@REDGardens]

Thanks!

[@benm9910]

You've got me really curious about sulphur now too! I wonder is it a fairly specific to your context/ calcerous soil or a more common problem. I've just been doing some soil sampling and sent off for tests for the farm where I work. Will be interesting to see the results. There the main soil building is through green manure so I'm curious if we're building or degrading soil organic matter. In living soil handbook Jesse Frost suggests taking 10in cores and discarding the top and bottom 2in, to be effectively sampling the risosphere. Were lucky to have a proper soil probe that we must have been given at some point but it did feel a bit pointless disgarding the top 2in in areas where the ground had been recently ploughed. After your last video I did a bit of a check of my books re sulphur and thought it was interesting know and grow vegetables mentions it as an amendment in relation to reducing pH... "In most situations the natural trend is for soil to become more acid so liming is normally required. A few soils may be desirable to make more acid, incorporation of acid peat can assist with this process (not recommended on sustainability grounds). Sulphur and Ferrous sulphate are also used with success on some soils" Cheers as always, :) Ben

[@scootertasmania6619]

Impressive...do you also check to see how many worms are in a square foot or metre of each bed from time to time. I would be interested in that subject and i am sure some of the others on here would be also. I like your garden and your set up. Good effort.

[@REDGardens]

I want to do that, as it would be very interesting! Hopefully this year.

[@NooberTrOlL]

Your videos are great man! very good overview of the soil managment practices that you try out! is your bedrock limestone or marl ? Best regards :)

[@REDGardens]

Thanks. Our bedrock is limestone.

[@thepandaman]

Fascinating! I have been wondering if there's any difference in how long the soil is able to retain the carbon from compost, if the compost is added to the bottom of trenches rather than to the surface? Or is it a trade-off that the undisturbed soil will leach less of its carbon, if the compost is applied as a top dressing?

[@REDGardens]

I have found that the compost added to the surface will last longer than what is dug in, but mainly because it is less active. From my limited experience, for longer term buildup of fertility, putting it on the surface seems to be more useful, but for more immediate benefit this year, digging it in will help, so long as it isn't too woody, or that it has enough nitrogen to balance out the carbon.

[@jean-francoisfillion1307]

It's interesting to see that cover crops doesn't improve the soil as we can expect it to do. In France there's a agronomist name Conrad Shrebber, who's study the matter. He and his team came to the conclusion that if you kill the cover before full maturity, it take more that it give.

[@REDGardens]

That is interesting.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

But surely cover crops can have other benefits, like providing food for pollinators and fixing soil against erosion in winter etc - better than bare soil?

[@REDGardens]

@@FireflyOnTheMoon There are lots of potential benefits, which should be balanced with the issues (there are always issues) and potential loss of ability to grow crops. And sometimes there are easier ways, especially at a smaller scale.

[@babybalrog]

I'm outside my realm of expertise in the soil test world. But here are a few thoughts. I've heard it said, most soil has enough nutrients, it's the fact that they are locked in non-bioavailable forms. The conversion of these locked forms to bioavailable ones is conducted by bacteria that release all types of acids and enzymes. Thus adding rock dust, salts, and other inorganic compounds, doesn't really do much to make this more present, maybe just more proximal. Something like seaweed mill that comes from an organic source could be a solution, if you can identify something high in what you needs. This leads me to think of cover crops and hyperaccumulators. Are they taking up from the soil, or are they more adapted to make certain nutrients available, directly or through symbiosis with bacteria. This seems like it has to be the case as pure sand or rock has no inherently bioavailable nutrients. And is slowly transformed by plants to fit their needs. It's strange how plants never seem to "run out" of nutrients in the wild. Only in home gardens. So my suggestion for cover crop is to find the research (there is an integrative tool / spreadsheet) for bioaccululators of the nutrients you are deficient in the most, and grow that specifically. The initial fear is that it will degrade the soil of those nutrients, but if you chop and drop and leave it in place. Similar to the old practive of fallowing. They should get recycled and not depleted. This is like moving money from a savings account to a current account. This is different from monocrop farms that Remove the harvest. Soil needs to be viewed as a bank account of many types. This all leads to the arguments around the "liquid carbon pathway" that has been popular for a few years. They preach having plants in the soil at all times. This feeds the bacterial. And what are bacteria doing with this energy they are fed? I'm guessing they are Digesting rock and making nutrients. That's been preached before. But what I noticed in the video was that the polytunnel has had good increases. All else being equal, you do more growing in the tunnel than outside the tunnel. It has a longer season, and you do more winter crops. They simple garden, which is degrading, is the one covered over winter. I've heard other home gardeners anecdotal comments that their annual vegie crop does much better when planted in the soil around a perineal. That all seems to fit here. Out of curiosity, do you easily have the data for how many months of the year crops are growing in each garden? You commented once that there was a year of squash that was the best you've ever had, and it was the year after a massive fertility bomb in the simple garden. That was a huge mix of composting material. It probably brought in something deficient in your local compost, since you are mainly composting what you grow, or comes back from what you send out into the community. Geoff Lawton said something similar about his olive oil crop. Award winning, but highly diverse compost. And just realized your municipal compost may not be that diverse.

[@babybalrog]

Sulphur is apparently taken up by albumins for their fragrant oils, could your big crops of onions be having an effect in the simple garden?

[@REDGardens]

There are a lot of options, but I find it all hard to tease apart, to determine what is actually happening, and what is missing. And a huge amount to learn that is so site and context specific, a depth of knowledge, and exploration that is out of reach of the vast majority of people growing for themselves. It is easier to simply import what you feel is needed and coax things into better situation, at least on a small scale I am exploring. If I had a huge scale to deal with, where the imports would be way to expensive, then it makes a lot more sense to investigate alternatives. I think it is incorrect to assume that plants never run out of things in the wild, I think that happens all of the time, especially when there is competition. Comparing the health and vigour, and even taste of the leaves of a dandelion plant growing in one of the really well fertilised garden beds, to the same plant growing in the surrounding soil, there is obvious differences. And with the vegetable plants that we grow, they have been so highly bred to produce a lot of food for us, but only when conditions are good. So if we want productive gardens, with a lot of food in a smaller space, then we need to amend the soil.

[@titanlurch]

Do you ever leave roots in the ground to rot and plant around them? It seems to be one of the no till methods that adds carbon to the soil .

[@andrewmaclennan1818]

Interesting as always, perhaps a few samples from around each plot and mix them to get a good average for each plot, assume you most likely did this? I am also interested if there is a delay in how long the organic matter takes to show up in the tests, I'd imagine there could be some delay to see results similar to when you lime a croft

[@heyy13]

It appeared so based on the bucket he seemed to be collecting samples in.

[@REDGardens]

Yes, that is the general recommended approach. I typically would collect about 30-40 samples from each garden, and mix them up in a bucket to get more of a typical sample. I think if the organic matter is small enough to be collected in the sample, then it would show up right away. I typically remove any larger pieces of root, but the organic measurement would income anything carbon based in the sample, regardless of how decomposed it would be. I think a lot of it ends up being soil organisms.

[@andrewmaclennan1818]

@@REDGardens I thought that was the case and assumed you had done it, very good average collection with that sample size

[@pilsplease7561]

That is some nice compost my local compost that is made through a university is kinda meh, but its all I can get, I just dont have enough materials on my property to make any myself in any significant amounts

[@REDGardens]

It is an issue for a lot of people.

[@pilsplease7561]

Im making as much as I can which is basically enough for a raised bed or 1 and a half raised beds yearly. So it does help with compost costs and is wayyyyyyyyy better because Im putting a much wider variety of vegetable and plant matter into it and controlling whats in it so Im sure its more nutrient dense than a lot of commercial or municipal compost.@@REDGardens

[@SinkingPoint]

I thought nitrogen sped decomposition of carbon by bacteria. In fact, I saw a study that said adding N fertiliser reduces total soil C even though there were plants growing in the soil whose growth and hence carbon sequestration was boosted by the additional N. The fact that microbes were able to do use the carbon for energy more effectively outweighed that.

[@REDGardens]

The microbes will definitely use the nitrogen if it is available. Excess nitrogen will degrade a lot of the carbon, but some is still needed.

[@SinkingPoint]

@@REDGardens yes I know nitrogen is necessary, but I was surprised to see it in your list of elements that could reduce carbon loss.

[@REDGardens]

@@SinkingPoint I was also surprised when I found out. But it is interesting that the C:N ratio would be close to 10:1 which is apparently the baseline for finished compost.

[@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf]

@@SinkingPoint @RED Gardens there's really no such thing as "decomposition of carbon." Carbon is an element, a fundamental building block of nature. You can't break it down into simpler structures by chemical means (including bacteria or fungi digesting it.) Nitrogen definitely helps with the decomposition of high-carbon materials such as woodchips, hay, and other organic matter; I suspect that's what you were thinking of.

[@SinkingPoint]

@@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf maybe decomposition is the wrong word. The carbon loss is caused by oxidation of carbon containing molecules by soil life. The carbon is lost as mostly CO2 in an aerobic environment, or methane in an anaerobic environment.

[@barrywaddington3195]

Have you considered taking samples of the surrounding untouched pastures as a comparison?

[@REDGardens]

I should have done that.

[@korganrivera4659]

Have you tried running soil tests on the compost itself?

[@REDGardens]

I had planned to test it, but forgot to include it. I am thinking of sending off another few tests.

[@justinwessels624]

@@REDGardens when you do it try to do it towards the end to get the proper broken down results

[@martinvegner3212]

great video as always thank you! i wonder, why do you plant the saplings on their side?

[@REDGardens]

I have planted the tomatoes on their side in a trench because the plants were too tall, and I wanted to burry the stem, partially to reduce the height, but mainly to see if the roots would develop from the buried part of the stem.

[@doinacampean9132]

Looks to me like you should switch all the beds to no dig, and then you'll have a single variable to compare: intensive, extensive, poli, etc...

[@REDGardens]

That would be interesting, but there are so many other things to explore, and not convinced that no-dig is always the best option, at least not this version.

[@partminepartmine5000]

On your soil test, what is the “desired value” and why is it different for each plot? Also, what is the reason for a lower ph in the no dig?

[@REDGardens]

It is a figure that I calculate based on Steve Solomon and Erica Reinheimer's recommendations. It uses the Total Cation Exchange Capacity figure as a base, and everything else is a proportion of that. So because the different gardens have different TCEC levels, the 'desired value' will be different.

[@andrespkpasion]

Great content as usual. thanks for your amazing job. i'd love to see a very biochar intensive bed experiment along the years. or maybe more than one, making one adding lots of nutrients and another lazy one to show the do's and don'ts of it. i suspect that in the long term the "incorrectly" applied biochar catches up to the other one anyways.

[@REDGardens]

Thanks. I really do need to do more explorations with biochar.

[@charlespalmer3595]

I'm finding that using biochar in my compost piles makes it take and hold water longer as compost.

[@jochalder-royle9130]

Great thought provoking video as always…. just wondering if you use animal manures as inputs? I have watched most of your videos and I don’t remember seeing any although that could be way off.

[@REDGardens]

I generally don't use animal manure. Partially because I don't have animals, and most of the farms around here have slurry pits not piles of farmyard manure, and most of them rely so heavily on herbicides and antibiotics, I would not trust the outputs of their farms in my soil. I have gotten a bit of manure from a friend up the road with a mixed organic dairy farm, but they need all they produce for the fertility of their own soil. I cold get some horse manure from a few local stables, and have in the past, but have not been impressed with it, and relies on me getting a friend with a car and trailer to help (I don't drive).

[@jochalder-royle9130]

@@REDGardens Gosh, that makes me realise how lucky I am to have my own chickens a reliable friend with horses that understands about chemicals (like aminopyralids). After watching your video I googled easiest way to introduce Sulphur and Phosphrous into soil and most of the results pointed to animal manures. I noticed a marked difference once I started adding them into my compost making efforts but that’s not helpful if its not easily available ☹.Thanks from NZ for all the effort you put into your well thought out videos 😊😊

[@REDGardens]

@@jochalder-royle9130 I need to get a reliable supply of animal manures to work with. Something I have avoided for the past few years, but I should try again.

[@BeckJoseR]

for the Carbon to stay in the ground, life needs to stop. Carbon concentration is always in flux, as is all other nutrients. The act of removing the harvest from the plot is itself a big factor in reducing the carbon concentration of the soil. Which we as animals release in the form of methane back into the air, continuing the cycle. as interesting as this study is, I don't personally think it plays a large impact in the local garden. maybe I'm wrong? Still, very fascinating.

[@labcat647]

My understanding is that ideal OM levels for home vegetable gardens is around 7%.

[@REDGardens]

I had not heard that. I can imagine that is an appropriate minimum, but not aware of any reason to intentionally limit it to that.

[@labcat647]

@@REDGardens too much organic matter can create nutrient overload in gardens, often more than the plants can take up or at toxic levels (the difference between taking a daily multivitamin or downing a whole bottle). Often, phosphorus levels become too high, and can then leach into waterways. You can find university studies if you google “ideal OM levels in vegetable gardens,” or “high OM levels.”

[@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf]

Conventional wisdom is that 5% organic matter is good enough, and 10% is really good. However, those conventional models tend to include regular and fairly heavy applications of synthetic fertilizers. And I suspect that skews the numbers. You can grow plants with no organic material and no soil biology at all - hydroponics. The problem of course is that in hydroponics you absolutely have to keep adding synthetic fertilizers constantly.

[@labcat647]

@@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf Not sure where you got that. Soils are different, but where I live with clay/loam type soils, we do soil tests with guidelines for optimal ranges of P, K, Ca, etc. Application or withholding of OM is guided by whether you are nutrient deficient or in nutrient overload.

[@aNaturalist]

​@@REDGardens @Lab Cat , I've heard something similar, basically that above 11% or 12% has no benefit, with ~ 8% being the sweet spot. I don't think it was John Kempf of Advancing Eco Agriculture. It might have been the owners of Singing Frogs Farm, who use a method similar to Charles Dowding. John Kempf recently said that continuing to use animal manure based compost can make a market garden have excess nutrients, and bring on aphid problems.

[@LeRouxBodenstein]

Gypsum also contains Calcium. I'm wondering if that's good if you have calciferous soils.

[@REDGardens]

I also wonder that. I have heard that the forms of calcium are different, and the effect of that amount of calcium is insignificant compared to the benefit of the sulphur it contains. But I don't really know.

[@aNaturalist]

​@@REDGardens Steve Solomon covered this on a podcast episode. I can't remember which one, or which show though.

[@aNaturalist]

I went over some gypsum info again, and this might not be new info to you, but if magnesium levels are high, or not too low, gypsum will bind with the magnesium to leach it out. That might use up the Sulphur gain too. I'm not sure.

[@rickthelian2215]

You put the carbon in but Organic Matter it is used in the growing of the plants and the natural breakdown of the organic matter, it’s a huge managing of the soils. The other minerals can be managed in the same way as NPK is in general.😊

[@REDGardens]

That process of the plants benefiting off the organic matter breaking down is a fascinating one, and I still don't know enough about how some of it is broken down and parts of the organic matter will be stable in the soil to help build the nutrient and water holding capacity.

[@flatsville9343]

Yet oddly, the covercropping he did in one of the tunnels had such a small effect. It seems the breakdown of the covercrop roots should have contributed more to overall organic matter percentage. I would have expected better results.

[@rickthelian2215]

@@REDGardens I’m only eating for one and mainly only grow through the winter months here in Australia, if I left the beds bare when not in use in the summer months my soil would be like sand and become slightly hydrophobic, but then I grew grasses just from runners In summer, mainly a strong Buffalo variety which when I terminated it to plant in winter the soil was rich and had structure to it, withI only add compost in minimal amounts to grow mainly onions and garlic.

[@flatsville9343]

@RED Gardens I often wonder if the beneficial breakdown of organic matter in the soil isn't far more complicated than we know & dependent on the mycorrhizal & bacterial population present over winter & available in the spring as spores nurtured by overwintering covercrops or added via compost.

[@rickthelian2215]

@@flatsville9343 think I the terms of the forest feeding itself, but in a garden we take the goodness away a little at a time to replace what we have taken, mimicking a forest floor.😀

[@PaleGhost69]

You make biochar right? I can't remember. If not it might be worth considering. 3:40 Never mind. It's too early for me lol

[@REDGardens]

Yep, I use biochar in that one garden, but want to explore using it a lot more.

[@flofi4397]

Please protect your skin properly from the sun (working in dermatology)

[@REDGardens]

Yes, I should be more careful.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

@@chrisgartenn He needs to use sun block.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

@@troutslayer-yv3dx yes indeed. But Bruce spends oodles of time outside and has sun spots (unlike me) and we dearly want him to stay healthy. I have Caribbean skin, so a bit more inbuilt protection in the melanin.

[@bobbun9630]

If you simply want to sequester carbon, biochar might be the way to go. Since the carbon in biochar is in the form of chemically stable charcoal, it shouldn't need inputs like nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur to stay in place like carbon that is actively being utilized by soil organisms.

[@REDGardens]

I think you are right. It might be an easier way to build soils and sequester carbon in situations where nutrients are out of balance.

[@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf]

@@REDGardens I'm not sure why, but various people report that biochar in excess of about ten percent of the overall soil mass starts becoming a problem. But there's no doubt that making biochar is a good way to deal with materials like brush trimmings and scrap wood. It certainly improves drainage, moisture retention, etc in small/moderate amounts. And who wouldn't be happy to have ten percent more soil? Of course, plain charcoal has various uses as well. So making charcoal or biochar definitely beats just burning wood in the open and sending all that carbon and other stuff into the sky, or letting it fester in a landfill.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

Would it be a good idea to take ten soil scoops from around one garden - mix it and shake the soil and then take a sample from that aggragate to get a clearer representation of the overall chemistry of the top soil in that garden? It might smooth out the anomalies and outliers that you might get from testing just one scoop? - - - Also - it would be really good to be clear or even do a video on what "soil" is made up of. You/we commonly use the term "organic matter"- but its not obvious that this is as opposed to "inorganic matter". It's not obvious that soil is generally made up of rock particles (not ex-vegetable matter). When we get clear with the idea that soil is mostly mineral - it sets a context for the carbon sequestration question, the importance of preserving global top soils and how long nature takes to "make" an inch of organic top soil. --- I constantly forget that soil is generally mineral - it looks brown and crumbly and like it's made of dead plants.

[@REDGardens]

I do that, collecting 30-40 samples from all over each garden, and combine them to try to get an average or typical sample for testing. That is what is generally recommended. I'll think about doing something on soil mineral particles as you suggest, though I am not really that knowledgable about it all.

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

@@REDGardens I just meant to give a brief context - a pointer to the general viewer (not the expert) that soil is generally made up of rock not organic matter and therefore adding organic matter to top soil changes everything.

[@REDGardens]

@@FireflyOnTheMoon Cool

[@michaelmcclafferty3346]

A very interesting video. Thanks Bruce. It looks like the Simple garden’s soil is the poorest. I have , for the last six years been trying to improve the soil on my allotment in north east Scotland. Basically, it’s dirty sand . I produce about three cubic meters of compost each year and supplement this with chicken poop pellets. Would liquid feeds such as nettle or comfrey teas deal with any deficiencies? All the best

[@charlespalmer3595]

If they were grown on soil outside of your plot yes, they would, maybe. Growing nettle or comfrey can help release elements from the soil, but the elements need to be there to be released. If I had your sandy soil I'd grow daikon radish or any deep taproot you can get, leave it in the ground to rot to improve the sands organic content at depth.

[@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf]

@@charlespalmer3595 that's something that has always bugged me about plant teas. People often assume that "dynamic accumulators" are mining every mineral and nutrient required from the soil, but as you say - the plant can't mine it if it ain't there to begin with! Many folks make similar claims about food grown a certain way being more "nutritionally dense," but the same possible problem applies. I do use comfrey tea and similar potions, and they seem to work fine. But I can't really prove that. I'm pretty sure the only way to *really* know what's in a plant-based fertilizer is to make a big batch of it and send samples to a lab.

[@REDGardens]

@@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf I find it interesting that the Simple Garden is the one garden that is amended only with biomass collected from the surrounding landscape, including lots of nettles and comfrey. Al loo the other gardens rely on imports of biomass that are produced in other soils with different deficiencies, or rely on concentrated amendments. And it is the Simple Garden is showing more persistent deficiencies, which reinforces the idea that you can correct deficiencies in the soil with plants grown in soil with the similar deficiencies. It seems that imbalance in the soil is reinforced by the imbalance within the biomass that I am bringing in, in general. I do think there is a potential role of growing plants that naturally accumulate more of a particular scarce nutrient, as it could help in the long run, but sprinkling a bit of sulphur or gypsum on the composting biomass is probably a lot faster and easier.

[@dogslobbergardens-hv2wf]

@@REDGardens I agree, that all makes sense to me.

[@hotmalm]

😊👌

[@REDGardens]

🙂

[@AbidAli-bv2gl]

What is the fungal-to-bacterial ratio in soil?

[@REDGardens]

I don’t know.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Could you maybe grow some type of sulfur bioaccumulator?

[@REDGardens]

Possibly, though I am not sure what ones would be useful in this climate. I think at the scale I am working at, buying in a bit of gypsum or other form of sulphur is a lot easier and than setting aside part or all of the garden to grow a bioaccumulator for part of a season. At a larger scale it would make more sense, especially if green manures are already regularly used.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

@@REDGardens Totally. I'm not even sure what plants even do that, maybe brassicas...

[@BlackJesus8463]

Wouldn't it be better to pulverize the charcoal and mix it with the compost? That what I always thought biochar was. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@charlespalmer3595]

This is how I use biochar, but as an ingredient in the compost pile.

[@REDGardens]

Mixing it into the compost pile is probably the easiest/best option. I use biochar in only one of the gardens, but don't have a separate compost pile for that garden (though I should) so I tend to charge the biochar with a liquid fertility.

[@pinballwizard6906]

✌️😎

[@flofi4397]

So we loose 1÷ per year in the big standard farming process. Conventional farming It takes 3 years to gain 1÷ with your cultivation. I see a problem coming in the next 50 years

[@REDGardens]

I think there is a mixup about what the numbers are a percentage of. I think the first number is a percent of the total weight of the soil, and the second number is a percent increase or decrease in the carbon itself. If I went from 10% to 11% soil organic carbon in 3 years, in 100kg of soil there is now 11kg of carbon where there use to be only 10kg. There is actually 10% more carbon, 10kg plus another 10% is 11kg, but that makes up only an additional 1% compared to the total weight of the soil. So I think the 1% loss in conventional farming that you mention, is 1% of the actual carbon, going from 10kg in 100kg of soil, to 9.9kg in 100kg of soil after one year, and 9.8kg the following year. Yes it is falling, and not a good thing, but not as drastic as going from 10% to 9% to 8% in 2 years as your comment suggests. If this is the case, the soil practices that I use could rebuild more than 10 years loss in 3 years. I hope that is correct, and makes sense, it takes me a while to sort it out myself.

[@jeffreythomas2787]

Please wear a hat.😮

[@brusveek]

The info good but his voice!

[@REDGardens]

good or bad?

[@plotsixtyone4188]

Do you know if there are bacteria that convert insoluble sulfur in the soil to available sulfur? I think trying to aim for good soil health without inputs is the way forward. Especially on a larger scale.

[@REDGardens]

Why not both? I don't know enough about it all, but I am not sure how to encourage these specialised bacteria to convert more sulphur than they already are, which isn't enough? I already use different methods that focus on soil health, though I could always do better. Not sure how to make that better without inputs of some kind.

[@plotsixtyone4188]

@@REDGardens Is anyone listening a soil biologist? I always go on the assumption that with good regenerative practices such as diverse cover crops it will bring in the right biology, there's guys building organic matter on 1000s of acres after all. Does anyone have any knowledge of these specific bacteria? We of course all appreciate all your great videos RED gardens, I don't mean my comment as a criticism just interested.

[@REDGardens]

@@plotsixtyone4188 👍