Making compost on the farm is a never-ending process. Compost is one of the best forms of storing nutrients. When applied, it inoculates the fields with life and provides nutrients to support that life. The microorganisms in compost break down the nutrients and make them available to the plants. In one handful of healthy compost there are over one trillion bacteria, tens of thousands of species, twenty five thousand meters (15.6 miles!) of fungi (hyphae) along with 10,000 protozoa, 10,000 nematodes and arthropods. All the organisms found in the soil/compost are called biota. The interactions of these soil flora and fauna are known as the soil food web. It is responsible for recycling nutrients in a form that builds soil and humus.

Plants are the key to the entire web as they are convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into sugars using sunlight as the energy source. Yes, we are all solar powered.  Plants are called primary producers. Plant eaters are called primary consumers, taking advantage of the solar energy stored in plants. Within any one group of fauna or flora there will be found primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. For example, nematodes eat fungi and some fungi eat nematodes. Some mites directly eat plant residues and others eat fungi that feed on plant residues. Energy and nutrients are passed on as one group of organisms feeds on another. The soil food web is very complex.  There are hundreds of thousands of species, each feeding on many different substrates. The soil food web is responsible for sustaining all life on the earth! Eighty percent of all plants have fungi associated with their roots (mycorrhizal fungi). Our goal at Luna Nueva is to have a closed nutrient cycle, where all nutrients come from the farm and are cycled through the animals and plants which then are harvested. The waste products are composted and the cycle continues. 

New data released from studies in Canadian forests show that twigs, leaves and limbs less than 7 cm in diameter create the most fertile soils. They contain soluble lignin that is the base for soil aggregates and highly reactive humus. That is because the twigs have a higher content of sugars and carbohydrates than larger limbs or trunks. The fungi and the  fungivore soil mesofauna associated with the breakdown of ramial wood are primarily responsible for humus formation and cycling.  They make a long-life humus. The soils found on the prairies of the USA are the result of grasses and bison (manure) interacting. They form a humus that is short lived..

When we grow our Biodynamic® ginger and turmeric, it is our practice to place soil around the base of the leaves. This mounding of soil (“cultivation”) tricks the plants into making more rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground horizontal stems of plants and they are different from roots. The rhizome of the ginger and turmeric is what is used for food and medicine. People think they eat “ginger root,” but they’re really consuming “ginger rhizome.”  Instead of cultivating with the shovel and scraping soil from between the rows of plants thus disturbing the biota and the true roots of ginger, we mulch. The disturbed roots can become a vector for pathogenic fungi or bacteria.   We are trying to mimic what goes on in the forest. One way would be to take leaf matter from the forest and spread it as mulch around the ginger and turmeric plants, but that would result in a long-term nutrient deficit for the forest. Shredding cane grasses and mixing them with saw dust and inoculated with MM (forest microorganisms) is one of the ways that we supply the food for the biota. Also, the fallow (resting/not planted with a crop) fields are soon fill with many species of plants, mostly brush. After a year or so we shred the brush and inoculate it with MM and use it as mulch.

We just planted over one hundred more bananas and plantains for our use, and they also provide nourishment for domestic and wild animals. Our farm is in a wildlife corridor, and wild animals get very excited about the great organic food that we are growing. We’ve tried explaining that this food is for our workers (of all species), their families, and our guests, but the howlers and toucans find our produce irresistible. Juan, who runs the produce division at the farm, created a feeding station inside the forest.  We put lots of tasty food at the feeding station, and that has helped keep the wild animals from raiding our gardens.  Inside the gardens, we’ve laid out bananas to distract the toucans and hopefully keep them from eating the tomatoes and other vegetables. 

We’re in the heavy rains, and will be for the next month.  The forest is taking a nice deep drink, and our ginger and turmeric are getting plump and spicy.  Soon we’ll be on to the harvest, but for now we enjoy the rains….

Pura vida!

Making compost on the farm is a never-ending process. Compost is one of the best forms of storing nutrients. When applied, it inoculates the fields with life and provides nutrients to support that life. The microorganisms in compost break down the nutrients and make them available to the plants. In one handful of healthy compost there are over one trillion bacteria, tens of thousands of species, twenty five thousand meters (15.6 miles!) of fungi (hyphae) along with 10,000 protozoa, 10,000 nematodes and arthropods. All the organisms found in the soil/compost are called biota. The interactions of these soil flora and fauna are known as the soil food web. It is responsible for recycling nutrients in a form that builds soil and humus.

Plants are the key to the entire web as they are convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into sugars using sunlight as the energy source. Yes, we are all solar powered.  Plants are called primary producers. Plant eaters are called primary consumers, taking advantage of the solar energy stored in plants. Within any one group of fauna or flora there will be found primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. For example, nematodes eat fungi and some fungi eat nematodes. Some mites directly eat plant residues and others eat fungi that feed on plant residues. Energy and nutrients are passed on as one group of organisms feeds on another. The soil food web is very complex.  There are hundreds of thousands of species, each feeding on many different substrates. The soil food web is responsible for sustaining all life on the earth! Eighty percent of all plants have fungi associated with their roots (mycorrhizal fungi). Our goal at Luna Nueva is to have a closed nutrient cycle, where all nutrients come from the farm and are cycled through the animals and plants which then are harvested. The waste products are composted and the cycle continues. 

New data released from studies in Canadian forests show that twigs, leaves and limbs less than 7 cm in diameter create the most fertile soils. They contain soluble lignin that is the base for soil aggregates and highly reactive humus. That is because the twigs have a higher content of sugars and carbohydrates than larger limbs or trunks. The fungi and the  fungivore soil mesofauna associated with the breakdown of ramial wood are primarily responsible for humus formation and cycling.  They make a long-life humus. The soils found on the prairies of the USA are the result of grasses and bison (manure) interacting. They form a humus that is short lived..

When we grow our Biodynamic^® ginger and turmeric, it is our practice to place soil around the base of the leaves. This mounding of soil (“cultivation”) tricks the plants into making more rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground horizontal stems of plants and they are different from roots. The rhizome of the ginger and turmeric is what is used for food and medicine. People think they eat “ginger root,” but they’re really consuming “ginger rhizome.”  Instead of cultivating with the shovel and scraping soil from between the rows of plants thus disturbing the biota and the true roots of ginger, we mulch. The disturbed roots can become a vector for pathogenic fungi or bacteria.   We are trying to mimic what goes on in the forest. One way would be to take leaf matter from the forest and spread it as mulch around the ginger and turmeric plants, but that would result in a long-term nutrient deficit for the forest. Shredding cane grasses and mixing them with saw dust and inoculated with MM (forest microorganisms) is one of the ways that we supply the food for the biota. Also, the fallow (resting/not planted with a crop) fields are soon fill with many species of plants, mostly brush. After a year or so we shred the brush and inoculate it with MM and use it as mulch.

We just planted over one hundred more bananas and plantains for our use, and they also provide nourishment for domestic and wild animals. Our farm is in a wildlife corridor, and wild animals get very excited about the great organic food that we are growing. We’ve tried explaining that this food is for our workers (of all species), their families, and our guests, but the howlers and toucans find our produce irresistible. Juan, who runs the produce division at the farm, created a feeding station inside the forest.  We put lots of tasty food at the feeding station, and that has helped keep the wild animals from raiding our gardens.  Inside the gardens, we’ve laid out bananas to distract the toucans and hopefully keep them from eating the tomatoes and other vegetables. 

We’re in the heavy rains, and will be for the next month.  The forest is taking a nice deep drink, and our ginger and turmeric are getting plump and spicy.  Soon we’ll be on to the harvest, but for now we enjoy the rains….

Pura vida!