Soil4Life

Starting the season in the North (an update from Freya, participant of Soil4Life) While Corona is turning the whole world upside down, at least things in the garden are still proceeding as normal (despite the weird climatic changes…) – sun is shining, plants are growing, bees are flying and microorganisms in the ground are busy eating the rest of the OM from the autumn. The basics to prepare the garden for the season are done. The first seeds and plants are in the ground – especially those, which are resistant to cold temperatures and best to be sown at waning moon. Some, like the potatoes, also got some old compost as little extra with them in the ground. To speed up the harvesting of some veggies, we built a raised bed (= higher ground temperatures, more sun) from old materials, too. It’s been filled with straw, wood chips, fresh manure/ compost, old compost and earth. Thus, a great opportunity to get rid of compost of all ages (in case you have a lot) and create ...

The land where I live has been exploited and badly damaged over many decades. The most noticeable impact is caused by the huge Eucalyptus and abundant Wattle that are overcrowding the area, dehydrating the soil, blocking the sunlight and limiting biodiversity. These plants were brought here for the vast monoculture  plantations that surround us- as a replacement for the indigenous old-grow woods when they became highly endangered due to over harvesting and deforestation. Eucalyptus, Pine and Wattle are not from this country nor region, and our local flora and fauna cannot thrive here- they create a very limited ecosystem and wreak havoc on the natural ecosystem services that our unique endemic forests provide. But, with the right tools and resources, they can become a blessing! With a chainsaw and a chipper, we are able to turn biomass into compost which we use in our indigenous tree nursery, in our food gardens and in our agroforestry systems to improve the soil. While clea...