Soil is made up of

• Water and Air 50%
• Minerals 40%
• Biology 5%

Things to consider above the soil

• Sun
• Water
• Temperature (Right plant for conditions or build micro climates)
• Shelter design (you should be able to see through your shelter belt)
• Soil compaction
• Breakages (human and animal movement, incorrect pruning, wind fall)
• Competition and companion plants
• Diversity
• Pests and predators

Things to consider below the soil

• Balance the mineral content (Physical, clay, sand, salt and all elements)
• Ensure correct soil biology organisms
• Feed soil biology

Observing soil

How do we balance the minerals of soil?

• Look for indicator plants which will tell things about Nitrogen Phosphorus and Potasium
• Look at leaves for signs of deficiencies or excesses (Permaculture Designers Manual has a simple key to follow)
• Get a soil test done
• Book - The Soul of Soil
• DCC Website has soil analysis maps
• Talk to people
• Don't rely on simple 'acid' or 'alkaline' measures. The treatment for these can be too simplistic and might not balance the soil.

Dynamic Accumulators of Nutrients for Composting

Some Ways to Improve Your Soils

• Plant mulch making plants ~ comfrey, tree lucerne, grasses for hay, weeds such as dandelion, plantain, nettles, borage, deciduous trees.
• Use small prunings as part of the mulch around your trees. Place them over soil that you need to add organic matter to & put grass clippings, weeds, & manure on top & let nature do the rest. Once its reasonably broken down sow seeds/plant. Good way to establish an orchard/food forest.
• Harvest local resources ~ bracken & chicory are high in potassium, add it to your compost, burn it & use the ashes around plants such as, celery & leeks. The brassicas (cabbage, cauli, brocoli) need phosphorous to head up well, comfrey & bracken supply it. Ragwort concentrates copper. Broom is high in magnesium & sulphur, lupins in nitrogen & calcium. Seaweed has many of the essential trace elements that plants need. Food scraps from cafes & super markets.
• Plant wind breaks to filter air-born pollution
• Plant trees & shrubs to take up ground water pollution e.g alongside a road, runoff from your nieghbour who uses chemicals.
• Create wet lands planted with macrophytes ( reeds & rushes) to take up the above pollution.
• Use raised beds for growing in.
• Seaweed, compost & dolomite help to clean soils of pollutants such as heavy metals.
• Allow weeds to grow ~ add OM, take up pollutants.
• Spread rock dust to supply minerals ~ basalt, granite, dolomite.
• Remember that the more conditions you create for soil life to thrive the better your soils will be. Create diversity.

Notes on soil

• Soil food web

• Feed the soil and land base and you will indirectly feed your plants
• Arden Anderson = Soil sciences writer and speaker
• Why is it that plants that are healthy tend not to be attacked by pests and diseases? Their defense system is intact. A plant that is unhealthy or stressed will be full of simple carbohydrates - which attract pests and diseases. Healthy plants have complex carbohydrates which humans require. Therefore, nature has a way to clean up weak systems.
• Arden Anderson started to observe a relationship between human disease and crop diseases, because of our industrial productions methods that prevent natures way of cleaning out weak species - and so we are interrupting our access to complex carbohydrates.
• How then do we ensure healthy plants?