- Chapter 1: Title To Be Decided Later . . .
I do have a little insight for what this first chapter needs. So, here goes . . .
As the section intro informs, our flesh is the substance of soil. For lack of better evidence, the concept of Creation by a specific individual with a purpose and design for flesh life is most logical. So this little volume practices honoring this Being with the responsibility for not only the formation of our biosphere, but for maintaining it, and us, to the end that we people are incapable of decimating our own race from existence. And for our capability to observe and copy the verdant food plant production set into existence in the natural, unaltered biosphere.
As Creator, being separate from Creation, so we are separate beings from our food source, making us fully capable of choosing either good healthy food production, or devastating alteration of our food source. In this current social and commerce-captured food system, this fact is all too blatant. all around each of us there are tens of thousands who literally eat themselves to untimely death blindly following commercial food manufacturers, who care only for greed-based profit.
Yet, in this melee, I find Hope. Hope that shines through from little, distant stars, "Out There!" that bravely stand against the heathen Big Brotha Food Giants with more life and determination in their soul than the greedy food industry can withstand against!
Yes! Let's rally our little stars together! Let's take as example for this cause the Majestic Cosmic community where we observe little stars joining together into unstoppable giants of Light!
If you haven't already, go to the Table of Contents to create a solid imprint about the intent and content of this little guide. One "trick" I've successfully practiced with guides is to open the last chapter, consume it with loads of notes, then "progress" to the chapter before it. This puts the guide into clear perspective, because I know the ending, and can clearly understand the logic behind that ending as I read the foregoing material.
In any case, this entire work is unfinished, in progress permanently, and with all my capacity to do so, freely available where at all possible. Yes! I'm so honored if you contributed to my little financial homestead, but it is an equal honor for you to have a price-free copy that becomes a key part of your pursuit of health. The complimentary website has this entire volume in pages format. Look for a PDF version with limited features compared to this complete version, but all the key material is in it.
Then there is the items offered for your use. They represent the finest and least destructible tools I can offer, the best books and relevant printed and digital information I know of, and the very best cuisine guides for and about natural nutrition served on your table. The financial advice I focus my estate on comes from a 19th century economist, John Ruskin.
I like this one especially . . .
"
you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay
too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you
bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The
common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a
lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well
to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will
have enough to pay for something better.”
Read more quotes from John Ruskin "
Another he spoke reminds me of the weather that gives us our wealth of nutrition: "“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ” ― John Ruskin
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1606.John_Ruskin
Do not undercut your tool quality!
This is especially so with the work involved with soil production. Nothing so disrupting as a cheap tool breaking in the middle of creating the compost pile, gathering material, and "harvesting" the finished soil!
Overall, this first chapter opens a little window for you readers to have a distant view of the pathway ahead. Like a side trek to a high place to survey the land ahead, those elements of building the soil we desire to grow nutritious food plants in is lose at hand. The distant horizon catches our attention with its vast array of brilliant and inviting Cuisine!
Let's start this trek!
The first activity for this chapter . . .
1. Taking Stock - Make a notebook with two+ pages for each chapter in this guide. On the first and second page write the name of the chapter activities. Reserve the rest of the space for chapter notes.
This book is "supposed" to be an activity guide! Rather than merely read and place it back on a forgotten shelf, it is a living project. Every so often I will update, add to it, and modify anything that I find or you contribute better information about. In time there will be a website with tons more material than a book can possibly contain.
In the end, my goal is for creating a learning space where each reader has a clear sense of welcome and belonging in a large family of like-minded gardeners. There will be focus on every aspect of gardening within the wide range of topics the book covers; plenty of space for reader-input and sharing between readers; plus gardening topic interaction "cafe" for any who enjoy and need a little support for their gardening interests from the rest of us.
I suggest that you set undivided blocks of your precious time for absorbing this material in the way that your application of it to your gardening and food use works best for you. Busy moms have lots of ways to get things done, but if you're a busy mom, find a quiet time when your heart is able to focus wholly on your need to provide nutritious food from your garden for your family. If it's 15 minutes once in awhile, so be it!
Find a way to carry this book with you to the garden. For digital versions, write or print specific sections or carry a smart phone or tablet in a weather proof cover to refer to and save notes on.
Most of all, teach your eyes to observe your garden, whatever size it is, in the light that it is your best source of healthy, nutrient-dense food. "Know" your garden in every last detail, as you "Know" your body, and listen to it's "voice" sharing its needs and desires.
Yes! Gardens "Talk"! Teach your mind to be super sensitive for all signs your garden and its family of bugs, microscopic flora, plants and and wild visitors say. Or, don't say. Often it's the silence in our garden that alerts our attention to a problem. Both ways, hearing the joyful harmony of a healthy garden and the silence or cries of unhealthy parts and members makes the joy of gardening much the same as membership in a good family such a reward.
This chapter begins a journey into the soil our lives depend on. Perhaps this subject is more vital to good health than the entire rest of this book!
Always, always be aware of the soil your food grows in, is raised from, and is home to the creatures that either make it plant friendly, or a disaster for plants. Decide right now that this first section is to be your "Health Bible." Train your brain to be extremely aware of the soil you grow anything in. Even if your garden is a hydroponic growing system where the "soil" is running water with added plant nutrients, see and know it as "soil."
There simply is no substitute for the rich, abundant nutrition that nutrient-dense earthy soil contains! This fact alone may determine that alternatives, like hydroponics, just do not match the capacity and scope of natural soil to provide all the nutrients plants must have for best health. Their best health becomes your best health. Always remember this.
Nutrient-dense soil is never found in any licensed commercial soil-producing enterprise. This is due to the intake of raw plant wastes these operations rely on for making their products. All too much of the raw material contains toxic substances. Therefore the process requires very high heat to decompose most toxins. The high heat destroys key enzymes and many nutrients of nutrient-dense soil, leaving an inert soil-like material that is about as nutritious as sand. Maybe less!
The nutrient-dense soil this guide trains you to produce is chock full with all the natural flora and fauna living creatures that work together to give your garden plants all the nutrition they require for health, disease resistance, and insect resistance. So far, no one who uses this soil has any desire to return to commercial soils. I predict, neither will you!
So far as I know, it is impossible to take too many notes about soil. Use this section for a life-long classroom about soil. Go far beyond and train your brain to use your senses and comprehension of all soil you see to know it like the back of your hand. Someday when you're not living with your own garden, the food you rely on will come from soil that needs nutrients for your health. Teach yourself to see the various soils in light of the signs every soil has about its nutrient content, and lack thereof.
We begin this section with building a compost pile from raw plant material you have available. Do follow the guide so that before starting you have a good concept of where your soil production is to go. Larger gardens require greater space, labor, tools, and logistics to produce, store, use and refresh soil. Learn the types of soil each plant requires. Learn what nutrients are available and you can produce to add to your basic soil production for best plant health.
Teach your brain to have eyes and understanding for the abundant sources of raw material, so your choices eliminate toxic material and identify toxin-free material. Learn to see raw material that is partially decomposed and likely odoriferous in light of its toxicity or toxin-free status. Learn to create clean, earthy-smelling soil from that awful-smelling, half decomposed raw material. The worst odor material is easily made to smell clean and earthy in hours!
Learn to see neighbor yards as rich deposits of good, or toxic raw material. See roadside plant debris in light of its being either clean or unusable for it's likely toxin content. Some streets and rural roads have some of the best raw material concentrations imaginable! Chapter 2 helps identify materials.
This little book should be just the beginning of soil knowledge. Go on to much deeper understanding. Your soil where your food plants grow is literally what your body is composed of. Above all else, teach your brain to practice awe and reverence for that soil!
After all, it's "Eating dirt" that makes us who we are, body and health wise!
Ready for Action 2?
2. Taking Stock: Find or make space(s) to build the compost pile and the finished soil storage area. Note: Be careful to read and follow guides in the chapter! Note 2: At the sight of the compost pile, allow space to put(Stage) raw materials as they arrive so they are ready and close to the pile to save work.
Next time you're at a store that caries compost in bags, pick up one. That's about 27 times lighter than one cubic yard of soil you will be producing! For a 4' by 8' by 10" high grow bed, that's right at 25 times lighter than the weight of the soil it takes to fill the bed!
With this weight factor in mind, now go into your garden space and pick out a spot where the soil production raw material and the compost pile best suit the least amount of labor. Bringing material from neighbors, from your property, and from the garden itself are factors to consider.
Other placement factors include: aesthetics - How does the sight of the raw material and the compost pile impact the appearance of your garden? This can be a desirable feature of your garden with planning to design an attractive, educational appearance. Then there's weather to consider; is it low and muddy in Winter rains? For cold weather, does the sun warm it, and you when you work the pile in Winter?
Is it near where garden tools are sheltered? It's nice to have tools close at hand instead of trekking for a long walk carrying them! Water is a key to success. Is it close? Or do you have to haul a hose a hundred yards every time your piles need water?
Can the spot be camouflaged with a grape arbor, or a rustic garden vegetable wash station and low wall it sits against with the soil production area behind?
For larger operations, if you produce sufficient soil quantity, you may want to give some away, or sell it. Is the location easy to get material out to the alley or street?
A last, but by no means least factor is rodent control. Keep an eye out for these little critters. Especially for cardboard waiting for the next pile build. It offers Winter protection for numerous little foragers. I find it is a deterrent to keep the entire raw material piles saturated wit water, and any large cardboard cut or torn into pieces small enough to soak.
In Chapter 10 we have an introduction to vermicomposting - "Earth worm farming." As this operation is very compatible to soil production by composting, if you think there will be this addition, planning for it in the same area as the compost operation might be a good idea. If so, go read Chapter 10.
Well, this is the end of the second activity for Chapter 1. If you're reading this on the blog, comments, ideas and general remarks are most welcome!
Whew! That's a lot! It is my intent that most, if not all the "mystery" of producing your own nutrient-dense natural soil vanishes into oblivion as you absorb the content of this guide. In the 40+ years of my production, it became second nature to me. The process is natural, makes common sense, and for those concerned with diet nutrition, it takes on a sense of urgency to make natural soil production a key part of producing nutrition food plants. Then the information takes on its own life in the gardener's heart.
Never get set in the way your soil production methods work for you. Seek new and better methods, try things that make sense, and reach out to individuals and gardener groups. Observe online groups that fir your sense of good gardening. Look to improve the entire way you garden constantly, with tempered, designed changes that slightly alter the way things work best for you. Ask and invite and hold reciprocal meeting with other gardeners you visit in their gardens, others' gardens, and your own.
Consider plant walls that require your soil to be a filter that water passes through to be pumped into the wall plant grow troughs. You may even include chickens, ducks and geese! Rabbits? Why not? Goats, Llamas, turkeys, pigeons, Guinea Hens, Peacocks, even! Maybe not snakes, but, who knows!
One man whose "Back To Eden" awesome garden is on the very North edge of the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington State keeps a separate yard of chickens whose work assignment is to turn all the fresh garden plant debris into rich, fertile manure and finely scratched-to-bits material! His main soil production is those hard-laboring hens! (The roster keeps a watchful eye out for biddies who get lazy on the job!:-)
Fish in an aquaponic fish and plant garden operation can be beneficial. But, the added complexity is quite taxing for new gardeners. By their nature, keeping fish healthy and growing is a farming art by itself. All too quickly a fish operation can go South, reducing expensive investment to a liability for cleanup and sanitation.
However, let's make room for the remote possibility you may want to experiment with fish someday. Here and now may be a good moment to pre-plan that.
This first chapter may be the hardest to complete. It is the main hurdle the new gardener has to find a way over, around or through to move on to the rest of the bountiful garden story. That's just the way you may find it fits into your life to view this entire enterprise as a story that you are creating. All stories have a beginning, but some very successful, most interesting and intriguing stories have no end! You decide if this one has an end for you!
Let's move on to Chapter 2
2. Taking Stock: Find or make space(s) to build the compost pile and the finished soil storage area. Note: Be careful to read and follow guides in the chapter! Note 2: At the sight of the compost pile, allow space to put(Stage) raw materials as they arrive so they are ready and close to the pile to save work.
Next time you're at a store that caries compost in bags, pick up one. That's about 27 times lighter than one cubic yard of soil you will be producing! For a 4' by 8' by 10" high grow bed, that's right at 25 times lighter than the weight of the soil it takes to fill the bed!
With this weight factor in mind, now go into your garden space and pick out a spot where the soil production raw material and the compost pile best suit the least amount of labor. Bringing material from neighbors, from your property, and from the garden itself are factors to consider.
Other placement factors include: aesthetics - How does the sight of the raw material and the compost pile impact the appearance of your garden? This can be a desirable feature of your garden with planning to design an attractive, educational appearance. Then there's weather to consider; is it low and muddy in Winter rains? For cold weather, does the sun warm it, and you when you work the pile in Winter?
Is it near where garden tools are sheltered? It's nice to have tools close at hand instead of trekking for a long walk carrying them! Water is a key to success. Is it close? Or do you have to haul a hose a hundred yards every time your piles need water?
Can the spot be camouflaged with a grape arbor, or a rustic garden vegetable wash station and low wall it sits against with the soil production area behind?
For larger operations, if you produce sufficient soil quantity, you may want to give some away, or sell it. Is the location easy to get material out to the alley or street?
A last, but by no means least factor is rodent control. Keep an eye out for these little critters. Especially for cardboard waiting for the next pile build. It offers Winter protection for numerous little foragers. I find it is a deterrent to keep the entire raw material piles saturated wit water, and any large cardboard cut or torn into pieces small enough to soak.
In Chapter 10 we have an introduction to vermicomposting - "Earth worm farming." As this operation is very compatible to soil production by composting, if you think there will be this addition, planning for it in the same area as the compost operation might be a good idea. If so, go read Chapter 10.
Well, this is the end of the second activity for Chapter 1. If you're reading this on the blog, comments, ideas and general remarks are most welcome!
Whew! That's a lot! It is my intent that most, if not all the "mystery" of producing your own nutrient-dense natural soil vanishes into oblivion as you absorb the content of this guide. In the 40+ years of my production, it became second nature to me. The process is natural, makes common sense, and for those concerned with diet nutrition, it takes on a sense of urgency to make natural soil production a key part of producing nutrition food plants. Then the information takes on its own life in the gardener's heart.
Never get set in the way your soil production methods work for you. Seek new and better methods, try things that make sense, and reach out to individuals and gardener groups. Observe online groups that fir your sense of good gardening. Look to improve the entire way you garden constantly, with tempered, designed changes that slightly alter the way things work best for you. Ask and invite and hold reciprocal meeting with other gardeners you visit in their gardens, others' gardens, and your own.
Consider plant walls that require your soil to be a filter that water passes through to be pumped into the wall plant grow troughs. You may even include chickens, ducks and geese! Rabbits? Why not? Goats, Llamas, turkeys, pigeons, Guinea Hens, Peacocks, even! Maybe not snakes, but, who knows!
One man whose "Back To Eden" awesome garden is on the very North edge of the Olympic Peninsula here in Washington State keeps a separate yard of chickens whose work assignment is to turn all the fresh garden plant debris into rich, fertile manure and finely scratched-to-bits material! His main soil production is those hard-laboring hens! (The roster keeps a watchful eye out for biddies who get lazy on the job!:-)
Fish in an aquaponic fish and plant garden operation can be beneficial. But, the added complexity is quite taxing for new gardeners. By their nature, keeping fish healthy and growing is a farming art by itself. All too quickly a fish operation can go South, reducing expensive investment to a liability for cleanup and sanitation.
However, let's make room for the remote possibility you may want to experiment with fish someday. Here and now may be a good moment to pre-plan that.
This first chapter may be the hardest to complete. It is the main hurdle the new gardener has to find a way over, around or through to move on to the rest of the bountiful garden story. That's just the way you may find it fits into your life to view this entire enterprise as a story that you are creating. All stories have a beginning, but some very successful, most interesting and intriguing stories have no end! You decide if this one has an end for you!
Let's move on to Chapter 2
