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"All good gardeners know healthy plants start with healthy soil. But why? And how? In "Teaming with Microbes" Lowenfels and Lewis reveal the new research in the most practical and accessible way." --Kym Pokorny "The Oregonian "
Product Description
Smart gardeners know that soil is anything but an inert substance. Healthy soil is teeming with life not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and thus become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial, often toxic, substances. But there is an alternative to this vicious cycle. We can garden in a way that strengthens the soil food web the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants. "Teaming with Microbes" extols the benefits of cultivating the soil food web. First, it clearly explains the activities and organisms that make up the web. Next, it explains how gardeners can cultivate the life of the soil through the use of compost, mulches, and compost tea. The revised edition updates the original text and includes two completely new chapters on mycorrhizae (beneficial associations fungi form with green-leaved plants) and archaea (single-celled organisms once thought to be allied to bacteria). With Jeff Lowenfels' help, everyone from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants without resorting to chemicals can create rich, nurturing, living soil.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a must read for all gardeners, green warriors, ecologists and anyone intersted in cutting edge science news. An exciting read with lots of beautiful pictures, it will change how you look at the world around you.
Plants are in control, they create nutrients, help microbes (organisms only visible under the microscope) and choose how they use them, the more plants you grow and the more varied they are, the more fertile your soil, the more fertile it is the more microbes there are e.g.A teaspoon of soil can contain 10,000 to 100,000 green algae, billions of bacteria and several yards of fungi and lots more besides. There are still millions of different types of microbes waiting to be discovered and examined.
Teeming with microbes describes how plants need all the animals under the soil - bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protazoa, bugs, creepy crawlies, worms, moles (and even slugs) etc. A chapter is devoted to each organism, describing what they look like, what they do and how we can garden to encourage both larger quantities of them and the right balance. Different plants need a different balance. Microbes in the soil provide all the nutrients, the protection and right environment that plants need to flourish and be healthy but they are destroyed by things such as digging, ploughing, pesticides, weedkillers and chemical fertilisers, they are helped by compostings, compost teas, mulching and organic growing practices.
Exploration science with the microscope is now unearthing the amazing world beneath our feet and composting is cutting edge science!
Plants are in control, they create nutrients, help microbes (organisms only visible under the microscope) and choose how they use them, the more plants you grow and the more varied they are, the more fertile your soil, the more fertile it is the more microbes there are e.g.A teaspoon of soil can contain 10,000 to 100,000 green algae, billions of bacteria and several yards of fungi and lots more besides. There are still millions of different types of microbes waiting to be discovered and examined.
Teeming with microbes describes how plants need all the animals under the soil - bacteria, fungi, nematodes, protazoa, bugs, creepy crawlies, worms, moles (and even slugs) etc. A chapter is devoted to each organism, describing what they look like, what they do and how we can garden to encourage both larger quantities of them and the right balance. Different plants need a different balance. Microbes in the soil provide all the nutrients, the protection and right environment that plants need to flourish and be healthy but they are destroyed by things such as digging, ploughing, pesticides, weedkillers and chemical fertilisers, they are helped by compostings, compost teas, mulching and organic growing practices.
Exploration science with the microscope is now unearthing the amazing world beneath our feet and composting is cutting edge science!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought this book for my husband as he is a keen gardener.He is amazed at the amount of information that there is in it,also finds it hard to put down.He feels as if he is just getting to know his garden all over again.FANTASTIC>
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Marvellous and somewhat basic knowledge every farmer and gardener should have if being serious. Easy to read without lacking in-depth info. Makes you realize how vibrant with life the world is under what we perceive as innate soil. Recommendable!!!
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