About Elaine Ingham: A biological approach to agriculture
Dr. Elaine Ingham has had over 40 years of experience in Soil Biology and microbiology.
Among her special skills is making this extremely complex subject understandable.
A few years years ago, hardly anyone paid any attention to the micro life in the soil. But within the last few years we have come to realize that the micro-organisms in the soil are not only essential, but the basis for all life. They are the secret to a healthy soil and to productive harvests.
They serve in the soil in much the same way as the bacteria and micro-organisms in our own body account for 70 percent of our immune system and play various essential roles in our health and well-being.
A normal human body has over ten times the number of bacteria in his body as he or she has cells.
A teaspoon full of soil has billions of bacteria of so many different species the over 90 percent of the have not yet been catalogued.
And species of soil fungi run into the millions, most of which have not been catalogued.
Dr. Ingham teaches how, working with biology, we can build soil heath regardless of whether the soil or sand, silt, or clay.
Aerobic bacteria along with fungi and other soil micro-organisms do many jobs including building soil structure, extracting needed minerals nutrients out of sand, silt, and clay, releasing enzymes and making the nutrients plant available, or available for intermediaries like protozoa, and good nematodes who in turn convert the nutrients into plant usable food.
What are Dr. Ingham’s methods for building soil?
Some of the methods that she recommends are the use of compost, compost tea, and compost tea extract.
She also recommends no-till and perennial cover crops. She provides a list of possible cover crops with the caveat that different crops do better under different conditions, such as soil type, slope, rainfall, and many other circumstances. She has had more success with cover crops that have deeper root systems and less organic mass above the ground.
As for compost and compost tea, she describes in detail how compost should and should not be made, what components should be used and in what proportion, how to keep compost aerobic which is good and to avoid compost going anaerobic which its bad. The ingredients for compost an thus compost tea are available in every household, farm, and garden.
In trying to summarize some of Dr. Ingham’s main ideas, I realize that that my attempt is very weak and incomplete. For better understanding, go to youtube, type “Elaine Ingham,” and spend some time listening to the master.
Also check out her website: soilfoodweb.com
My next blog will give one example of one of Dr. Ingham’s many success stories.
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