Post by throwback on Jan 28, 2016 19:37:31 GMT -5
Define "carbon" - do you mean more like wood byproducts, leaves, etc?
My problem with anything we "apply" is that it doesn't spread real well. The Eden movie is referring more to garden space, where you're more mulching than amending.
The only success I've had improving the soil is by applying a bunch of compost and partially tilling it in (for our gardens, breaks down quickly and is very fertile). I'm half tempted to plow up a little section each year in the pasture and pretend it's a garden and plant a mix of grass and legume....
All the above that Cassie said, plus mob stocking which even on a small scale will leave grass litter along with manure and create a mirror image of what goes on when the plants are grazed and the roots slough to accommodate the top growth.
Apply any carbon you can get, bent over grass that cows leave is the most economical because it grows in place, second would be any kind of sawdust, leaves, junk hay, whatever you can get your hands on. Add this to the top of your pasture without any tilling which would set your pasture's ecosystem back. Think of how nature builds soil - from the top, leaves fall on the ground and break down into plant food. We apply a horse stable cleanings on pasture in addition to our compost which we never have enough of. No tilling, just spreading lightly like a manure spreader would do and the grass and broadleaf plants leap out of the ground. The cows race to those spots and eat them to the ground in minutes when we build a temporary fence, and the diversity and height of the plants is astounding. The adjacent plants that didn't get the treatment are shorter, and there are less species.
Our neighbors have a stable full of horses they don't ride, and they bring us a dump trailer load of shavings/horse manure every week. They are ecstatic and so are we
I really have been amazed since I grew up with a herd of cows continuously grazing and carpet like pastures after the spring flush. Rotational grazing made a huge difference then stagnated, small scale mob stocking and applying the shavings/horse manure on top of the pasture gave us another jump in productivity. At this point, I don't know what I want to change, except to get better at what we're doing without adding anymore new ideas to try.