We could say that the destructo-culture, based on industrialized agriculture, carries a basic dysfunction, which is to see the soil as an inanimate thing, a resource to be exploited, & even something that can be seen as 'property' of human beings. This paradigm has to change because it is at the base of great injustices & of the destruction of the most important base for life on Earth. In this class we meet the soil as a living being, an organism of enormous complexity & importance, studying how it works in detail, from the microscopic to the global level. To know soil intimately is fundamental for any sustainable design & to have a direct & vital relationship with this great organism helps us re-connect, physically as well as emotionally, with the Planet.

2. Wangari Maathai "Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking." ... and a tree needs many cubic meters of soil rich in organic matter and millions of bugs ... Kenia , April 1th 1940 - September 25 th 2011

5. Soil geology Types Texture Plants Support Diversity Profile (layers) Drainage Water absorption and retention Structure Minerals Acidity (pH)

6. Alteration of the bedrock How is soil created? Life

7. How are soils created? Water Wind Organic Matter OM Create Structure Interactions Wind Rivers & Seas Bedrock Temperature Magmatic Eruptions Modeled by erosive agents Trees and plants Sedimentation

9. 13 oct 2011

11. 13 oct 2011

12. Mineral fragments of various sizes Soil physical composition Macro pores - aireation Micro pores - humidity Silt Clay Gravel Sand Stones > 256 mm Pebbles 64 a 256 mm Coarse Gravel 4 a 64 mm Fine Gravel 2 a 4 mm Coarse Sand 1 a 2 mm Sand 0.2 a 2 mm Finer Sand 0.02 a 0.2 mm Silt 0.002 a 0.02 mm Clay < 0.002 mm

14. Soil Properties by Type Sandy Clay Calcareous Permeability High None medium Water Storage Low High Low Aireation Good Bad Good Nutrients Low High Lots of Calcium

15. retains water and nutrients many possibilities for improvement Lack of oxigen Cold Warm more gaseous exchange rapid decomposition many macropores, do not retain moisture nor nutrients almost only micropores easily waterlogged Clay Sandy

16. A 0 Leaf Litter A superficial (accumulates humus, and materials are washed down into B) B accumulation of materials that come from A C 1 disaggregated Bedrock C 2 Bedrock Soil Profiles

19. Good to know what we have before starting in order to make adjustments The optimum pH for most vegetables is 6.8 (or 6 to 7) pH= - log[H + ] o pH= log (1/log [H + ]) pH Acidic Basic Neutral

22. 'stable soils' (fertile) in orange - largely under the ice! “ Deserts are the footprint of Civilization”

23. External Actions Result Resource   Elimination of weed flora Excessive and too deep tillage None return of Organic Matter Burning Crop residue Overgrazing Irrigation with brackish water Pesticide application and industrial fertilizers Excessive and too deep tillage None return of organic matter Burning crop residue Pesticide application and industrial fertilizers SOIL Hydric and Eolic Erosion chemical degradation and salt excess Biological and Physical degradation (elimination of beneficial microbial life)

25. Affect more when the soil is exposed deforestation soil compaction Overgrazing plaguicides fertilizers Soil Erosion Wind Water Aggresive Agricultural Techniques

26. mallow

37. A healthy soil is a live web In each gram of fertile soil there can be a billion micro-organisms

38. The Soil Food Web

39. of greatest importance Details on the functions of each in the e-Book www.PermaCultureScience.com Annelids, Arthropods, Molluscs Lombricus terestris (Worms) Edaphic Biomass the roots of plants Macroorganisms Bacteria Fungi Algae Microorganisms Mycorriza

41. some plants specialize in braking rock

45. Actions that destroy Mycorriza: 1) dig the soil 2) adding nitrogen Studies of organic growing with & without mycorriza more micro-nutrients in those with mycorriza

46. Mycorrhizal Fungi polysaccharides secreted by the plant and fungi bind sand to the root Endophytes (similar to mycorrhizae)

47. Worms • Eat dead vegetable matter which they degrade into simpler compounds > biochemical transformation • In one He there can be 500 Kg to 2 Tn of worms • There are some 220 different species • They have an effect of activation on the bacterian metabolism • They increase the contribution of Organic Matter • Diminish with the adding of Agrochemicals BioDegradation Aeration Stimulating Bacterial Activity Metabolic Function Mechanical Function Biological Function

48. They take Organic Matter down into the soil

49. Reproduction Increase their food - increase the population Collect ALL type of biomass & add as mulch to the soil

50. & in the DestructoCulture ...

51. ... biomass is thrown in the dump

52. Worms work at night ... With Lumbricus terrestris Without Lumbricus terrestris

53. in one hectare there can be as many bacteria = to the weight of one or two cows & in the forest each of your steps is supported by 120,000 bug legs Thank them!! & all keep you alive

55. “ the cradle of civilization” The sumerian civilization, that rose in the region approximately in the year 3250 a.C. , built a canal system & the first cities in the world The half-moon of fertile soil of Mesopotamia

56. &quot;the footprint of civilization are deserts&quot; &quot;Man .. despite his artistic pretensions & many accomplishments, owes his existence to a thin layer of topsoil ... and the fact that it rains.&quot; agriculture, across the ages has MINED millenial soils created by forests & grasslands (perennial polycultures) aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Unsustainable Development degraded habitat

57. 2,011 d.c. 3,000,000 a.c. Leavers & Takers (Ismael by Daniel Quinn) See Class M 1.10 Leavers eat directly from the perennial polycultures of their region (they adapt to 'what there is' ) destroy perennial polycultures & replace them by agriculture based in annuals (they eat what 'they like' ) perennial polycultures > CREATE soils Abel hunter gatherer Cain farmer agriculture > CONSUMES soils 8,000a.c. Takers

58. The Tree of Good & Evil &quot;if you eat of this tree you will surely die&quot; Eva = Life the knowledge of

59. only the Gods can eat the fruit of wisdom ... & for it to work for knowing who shall live & who shall die The Tree of Good & Evil

60. The Tree of Life the Law of Life (that fosters biodiversity)

61. a small branch is the Law which permitted us to evolve (as human beings) The Tree of Life

62. & it's the Law we are violating with our way of living (being, thinking..) & this is the essence of our self-destruction, if we don't change direction DRASTICALLY The Tree of Life

65. Leavers Takers CREATE & ACCEPT give thanks CONSUME & FORCE complain Entitlement Pattern Responsability Pattern there is a GREAT EMOTIONAL conflict here <<< >>> eat directly from the perennial polycultures of their region (they adapt to 'what there is' ) destroy perennial polycultures & replace them by agriculture based in annuals (they eat what 'they like' )

69. P E R M A C U L T U R E Unsustainable Development degraded habitat aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxmmmxmmmmmxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Regeneration of habitats = SUSTAINABILITY

70. ¿Wich is YOUR Path to create More soil?

71. Giles Lemeauix More than 75% of nutrients are accumulated in small branches

72. Elaine Ingham &quot;Soil Food Web&quot; Researh her job and Collect MULCH with passion! Especially biomass that is being thrown away, burning, ignoring ...