Skip to main content

Are You Interested in learning more about how to build healthy, moisture-retaining soils?

You are invited to the annual Spring Garden Fair at Arboretum Tomé on Saturday, May 31st.



The Garden Fair will host two soil expert lectures beginning at 10 a.m.

New Mexico State University agronomist Rudy Garcia, a USDA soil scientist with the National Resource Conservation Service, will discuss how to improve local soils to grow healthier, more nutritious crops, more sustainable lawns and robust trees.

“He will talk more about the science of how soils work and how to fix them and make them healthier"

Kim Costion, of Ashokala Gardens in Snowflake, Ariz.,, will tell her personal story how she converted a desert soil into a fertile farm able to feed many families.

“She will show you pictures of building three to four inches of black topsoil in three years, even out in the desert”.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Soil Health: Level 2 - Description of Terms (Carbon Compounds)

The  Labile Carbon  is also known as the 'Rapid Cycling Carbon' and its composed of all the Soil Organic Matter that is dead and actively decomposing.  It's benefit to the soil is that it provides a source for minerals that are being recycled as potential plant nutrients, so in a sense it's Nature's fertilizer.  Active Carbon   also known as Reactive Carbon is more complex than the Labile Carbon in that its composed of all the dead and actively decomposing organic matter plus all the living soil microbial community that will eventually die and begin decomposing.   For example, the hyphae of mycorrhizae only live about 5 to 7 days before they die and start to decompose, while the fungus organism itself may live far longer.  Recalcitrant Carbons   are the Humic substances made up of complex organic chemistry, some of which is inert and some of which is very reactive and are powerful biologics, such as the Humic Acids.  Recalcitran...

Fertilizers formulated for alkaline soils of the Southwest

Recently I was in an Albuquerque retail nursery where a fertilizer was being sold that stated it was formulated for alkaline soils of the Southwest.  It contained high levels of iron and sulfur, plus the N, P and K major nutrients.  Do any of the readers care to comment on this type of product?    Pros, Cons, etc.  I have my take on it, but I'll entertain what you want to say about it.  Michael Martin Meléndrez

The World Has a Problem: The Cascading Failure of Soil!

In Response to: Fruits and Veggies are Not as Vitamin-Rich as in the Past, Says New Data    Larger Fruits and Vegetables Mean More Plentiful but Less Potent Bounty March 1, 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures Story by Megan Carpenter Staff of Soil Secrets Responds to this story:   The population of the earth is growing by approximated 86 million people per year, according to a recent National Geographic Special Issue; this is a net gain after accounting for population mortality.   This means that on average 235,000 babies are born each day, which is 235,000 new mouths to feed every day.   The USDA and food protection studies performed by Sandia National Laboratories have determined that according to our Ecological Footprint - 6 acres of land is required per person for annual food production, based on the standards of the United States.  If the goal is to modernize the developing world to the same standard of living as the developed world, then the same ...