Soil Formation
Feb. 26th, 2019 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmith ... depends extensively on water. It is true that soil is a precious resource and we should conserve what we have of it.
However, it is false that soil cannot be created in human timescales. Gardeners do it all the time. It's called compost. A lazy human can make a cubic yard of soil in several months just by casually piling up green and brown material to rot down. An industrious human can do it in about two weeks with a sophisticated tumbler. You can even find tumblers with two or three chambers for staged composting. Most gardeners are in between; they build a pile and fork it over occasionally. Vermiculture is another option which gets worms to do most of the work. You can spread finished compost and plant seeds in it, and they will grow. If you want to get fancy then you can add sand, clay, gravel, peat, or other materials to create a specific type of soil suited to different plants you wish to grow.
We absolutely can undo the damage that humans have done to farmland. Plenty of people have bought a beaten-up plot of land and turned it into something spectacular. However, this takes time and at least a little work. The more soil you want to make, the faster, the more work it requires. The reason to protect what we have -- aside from not being a canker on the ass of the planet -- is to avoid all that extra work.
Oh, and while we're on the topic: creating and maintaining soil are skills we damned well better learn before leaving Earth. Yes, it is possible to grow some crops in hydroponics or other alternative systems, but they all evolved to grow in soil. You don't want to be without that option, because the others are all more finicky and space will kill you if it can.
However, it is false that soil cannot be created in human timescales. Gardeners do it all the time. It's called compost. A lazy human can make a cubic yard of soil in several months just by casually piling up green and brown material to rot down. An industrious human can do it in about two weeks with a sophisticated tumbler. You can even find tumblers with two or three chambers for staged composting. Most gardeners are in between; they build a pile and fork it over occasionally. Vermiculture is another option which gets worms to do most of the work. You can spread finished compost and plant seeds in it, and they will grow. If you want to get fancy then you can add sand, clay, gravel, peat, or other materials to create a specific type of soil suited to different plants you wish to grow.
We absolutely can undo the damage that humans have done to farmland. Plenty of people have bought a beaten-up plot of land and turned it into something spectacular. However, this takes time and at least a little work. The more soil you want to make, the faster, the more work it requires. The reason to protect what we have -- aside from not being a canker on the ass of the planet -- is to avoid all that extra work.
Oh, and while we're on the topic: creating and maintaining soil are skills we damned well better learn before leaving Earth. Yes, it is possible to grow some crops in hydroponics or other alternative systems, but they all evolved to grow in soil. You don't want to be without that option, because the others are all more finicky and space will kill you if it can.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-27 06:10 am (UTC)So, uh, if your plot of land isn't already infested with them, maybe don't do composting with worms.
Well ...
Date: 2019-02-27 06:44 am (UTC)These are some earthworms native to North America. Some of these will do fine in a compost pile, but not in a vermiculture bin.
For vermiculture, the preferred species don't do well in ordinary soil. It is best to buy them -- and to keep your bin somewhere the worms can neither escape nor be invaded by other invertebrates. A concrete floor such as a garage is ideal, but hollow concrete blocks work too.
There are also a number of invasive species, including the notorious jumping worm.
Here are some tips on how to stop invasive species from spreading. They amount to "don't move species from one place to another." Use natives as much as possible. This is why.
If you want to know what should or should not grow in your area, look up native species for your locale.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-27 12:03 pm (UTC)Turning Martian soil into something you could grow plants into is so much of a problem, it would be easier to start with rocks and crush them into sand. Stuff is saturated with perchlorates [basically, bleach] and kills anything terrestrial. But it has been done too. Albeit on a lab scale and again using a home-brew version of Martian soil based on what we know of it's composition.
So anyone saying you can't make soil, on earth does NOT know what they are talking about.
That said... it's bit disquieting to think one has to apply terraforming techniques to our own planet... but then again, we do seem to be un-terraforming it... so...
Well ...
Date: 2019-02-27 07:31 pm (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2019-02-27 07:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-28 11:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-28 11:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-28 12:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2019-02-28 07:20 am (UTC)Try this ...
Date: 2019-02-28 07:48 am (UTC)https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Seed-Bomb
https://seed-balls.com/basic-seed-ball-recipe
https://www.naturespath.com/en-us/blog/guerilla-gardening-diy-seed-bombs/