Living soil is soil that comes from collecting local biomass (weeds, leaves, snail shells, fruits, and plants) and later composting or fermenting it. After fermenting, it is used as biofertilizer, which is essential to enrich both plants and oklahoma living soil in your garden or farm.
Living soil Needs to be Tended according to KNF standards
To get living soil, there is a need for the dirt or soil to be tended the Korean Natural Farming way. Both Korean Natural Farming and Thai Natural Farming use the KNF standards to make living soil. When you feed your gram or garden with the farm’s soil biology, you will obtain living soil.
As stated earlier, the local materials and plants collected are compost, fermented, and then re-added to the soil and plants as a spray. The spray is done during certain stages of the plant to enhance strength and discourage pests and diseases.
Biofertilizers are a great addition to your farm because they enrich the soil. The ferments are diluted, unlike when using chemicals. Also, biofertilizer is an organic material that increases the soil’s microbes, thus making nutrients available to the plant.
The indirect re-feeding of the plants through living soil enables you to maintain fertile garden soil. Therefore it helps transform what was previously dirt into soil. Hence, living soil is a suitable organic solution that helps gardeners get a large-scale, high-quality product that is free of chemicals.
Turning Dirt to Soil
The microorganisms found in soil are directly related to the pH of the soil. Therefore, adjusting the soil pH will also affect the soil’s nutrients. Consequently, the nutrients will reach the plants. By using living soil, you will be using soil rich in natural indigenous microorganisms to grow organic farming.
When practicing natural farming, you also need to use natural inputs during the growing process. Natural inputs include mulches, microorganisms, and organic liquid fertilizers. Living soil contains an optimal pH level and keeps the soil supplied with enough natural inputs needed by the plants.
Understanding Soil pH
Soil pH is a measure of the extent to which the soil is alkaline or acidic. ApH of between 0-6 shows the soil is acidic, while a pH of between 7 and 14 shows that the soil is alkaline. pH is measured on a range of 0-14, with seven being neutral. A pH of seven shows the soil is neither acidic nor alkaline.
The soil pH matters because it helps the soil maintain animals and microbes such as earthworms and keep off destructive critters that destroy crops. Low pH levels (acidic) can make your plants more prone to pests and diseases. Thus, measuring the soil pH in our garden helps you ensure that your soil is optimal and your plants grow well. However, it is not necessary and is not mandatory, according to natural farming practices.
How to Test Soil Ph
You can test the soil pH using;
- Test probe
- pH test strips
- Electronic soil pH tester
If you find the soil pH is too low after testing, you will need to increase the alkalinity. You can do so by using dolomite lime which is composed of magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate. If you have an extremely high pH, you will need to lower it. The recommended way to reduce it is by adding sulfur to the soil.
To ensure your soil maintains an optimal pH, consider using living soil. It is organic and contains indigenous microorganisms. Thus, you won’t need to use chemicals to lower or increase the soil pH.
Conclusion
Natural farming helps create the perfect soil for a high-yield of organic output. One great addition to natural farming is using living soil. Living soil is rich in microorganisms and nutrients that enable the plant to grow fast and remain healthy. Also, it regenerates the nutrients in the soil, leaving you with high yield and productive soil.