A presentation about soils for the permaculture design course.

1. The unconsolidated mineral matter on Earth’s surface
that serves as a medium for plant growth.

5. After air and water, soil is the 3rd
primary life support component.

6. Soil Creation Factors
Climate
Parent Materials (local geology)
Time
Topography
Temperature and Moisture

12. Powdered rocks and gravels
are Nature's "fertilizer."
Microbes in the soil (and in
the guts of earthworms)
"digest" the powder, and
extract whatever useful
elements they find. The
higher plants then extract
the mineral rich juices from
those microbes, and pass
them down the line to the
animals.

13. Soil acts as a pathway between
the organic and mineral worlds,
between earth and atmosphere.
It’s a HUGE edge.
Nutrients / minerals are brought into biological circulation by
weathering and the activities of plants and micro-organisms.

16. Soil Composition
Mineral particles: Sand, Silt, Clay
Pore space
 Air
- O2, CO2, N2, ethylene, various gasses
 Water
 Mineral Ions
- H: H+ / OH- hydroxide, determines pH
- N: NH4+ ammonium, NO2- nitrite, NO3- nitrate
- P: HPO4 phosphoric acid, H2PO4 Dihydrogen phosphate
- K: Potassium
 Organic Matter – previously living things decomposing
 Humus – fully decomposed OM, long-chain carbon molecules, mineral bank account
 Living Organisms – earthworms, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, insects, mites, nematodes,
snails, slugs, plant roots, rodents, etc.

17. Soil Types

24. 1 lb. of wood ash is = to 2/3 lb. of limestone in neutralizing acid soils.

25. Elaine Ingham

29. The Earth's body of soil, the pedosphere, functions as a means of water storage,
supply and purification.
Air / gasses (02, CO2, N2,) move through the pore spaces.

33. The only places
where soil is
conserved or
increased are:
- In uncut
forests
- Under the
quiet waters of
lakes and
ponds
- In prairies /
meadows of
permanent
plants
- In mulched /
non-tillage
systems
Fertility is built in
undisturbed soils

34. OM = decomposing bodies of plants, animals, micro-organisms.
Humus = dark-colored remains of plant and animal residues.

45. Biochar