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The Bulletin: August 27-September 2, 2025
The Bulletin: August 27-September 2, 2025 This past week’s articles of interest… CLICK HERE If you’re new to my writing, check out this overview. Experts Warn The Internet Will Go Down In A Big Way — And You’d Better Be Ready Bioregioning Is Our Future – resilience Forest Fires: The Disheartening Post of the Day […]
Trillions of Tons of Carbon Are Missing from Climate Models
Trillions of Tons of Carbon Are Missing from Climate Models Draft script: From Popular Mechanics comes this headline on 22 April 2024: Trillions of Tons of Carbon Are Missing from Climate Models. The story begins with three bullet points: (1) While the world’s soils are home to lots of organic carbon—such as leaf litter and animal […]
Managing plant surplus carbon to generate soil organic matter in regenerative agriculture
Managing plant surplus carbon to generate soil organic matter in regenerative agriculture Soil degradation is a global problem. A third of the planet’s land is already severely degraded, and soil is being degraded at a speed that threatens the health of the planet and the civilizations that depend on it (Whitmee et al. 2015). Depletion […]
Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
Outside the Safe Operating Space of a New Planetary Boundary for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Abstract It is hypothesized that environmental contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) defines a separate planetary boundary and that this boundary has been exceeded. This hypothesis is tested by comparing the levels of four selected perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) […]
Home Soil
Home Soil We need more geology in school. Or perhaps ecology. Probably both. If we are to survive, we need to understand who and what we are, and for that we need to understand this world that made us. We are earthly beings. We are small parts of a small planet on an average star […]
Reduce Waste: How To Make The Most Of Your Autumn Leaves
Reduce Waste: How To Make The Most Of Your Autumn Leaves The end of the summer garden is always bittersweet for me. I miss my daily fresh cut lettuce but I also love the falling leaves and bright reds and oranges of autumn. Luckily, those fallen leaves are more than just pleasing to look at. […]
How healthy is your soil?
How healthy is your soil? In celebration of World Soil Day, December 5, 2021, we want to help farmers around the world to better understand their soil. Our soils are an incredible resource – they have a remarkable ability to clean water and help mitigate climate change, they support biodiversity and are the reason we […]
Soils and Life Beneath the Ground
Soils and Life Beneath the Ground There is more life beneath the ground than you know. Healthy soils contain a vibrant range of life forms such as protozoa, nematodes, mites, springtails, spiders, insects, bacteria, fungi, earthworms and numerous burrowing animals. This rich biodiversity plays a vital role in mitigating climate change, neutralising pests, purifying and […]
Homage to soil
Homage to soil Perhaps surprisingly, given that I worked for more than 20 years for an organisation called the Soil Association, my striving to understand the full significance and importance of the soil is still an evolving process which continues to be inspired and illuminated by ongoing revelations derived from my farming, my reading and my […]
Soil salinity and erosion
Soil salinity and erosion Preface. Civilizations fail when their soils are ruined or eroded. One way conquerors made sure that those they enslaved during wars was to salt their land and burn their homes so they had nowhere to escape to. Erosion is an even larger nation killer, since not all soils are prone to […]
“Water, water, everywhere…
“Water, water, everywhere… Did it rain enough last night to water your garden? Have you started running the sprinklers and aren’t sure if they’re running enough? Perhaps you’re not sure that new drip system you installed is doing its job. Or maybe you just want to be more efficient and careful with your water use. […]
My Soil Is Crap, Part II
My Soil Is Crap, Part II Last month in my blog My Soil Is Crap Part I, I tried to dispel the myth that you can diagnose soil problems by just looking at your soil. While the color of a soil does impart some diagnostic qualities, most soils are not easily analyzed without a soils test. […]
Global soils underpin life but future looks ‘bleak’, warns UN report
Global soils underpin life but future looks ‘bleak’, warns UN report It takes thousands of years for soils to form, meaning protection is needed urgently, say scientists Scientists describe soils as like the skin of the living world, vital but thin and fragile, and easily damaged by intensive farming, forest destruction, and pollution. Photograph: Zsolt […]
Enrich Garden Soils without Paying for Amendments
Enrich Garden Soils without Paying for Amendments A big part of permaculture is building soil. The loss of quality soils is one of the largest, most prevalent concerns on the globe, and of course, without good soil, producing healthy food just isn’t in the cards. So, really, before we can fill those storage bins with […]
Why Gardening Starts With Growing Good Soil
Why Gardening Starts With Growing Good Soil For two months now, we’ve been advising readers to “grow a garden” in response to the covid-19 pandemic. We’re recommending that for a number of reasons. Food security is the primary one. Domestically, several of the small number of concentrated players in our Big Ag food supply chain […]
