https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ublpy8xp1ws
and there are more podcasts I'm listening to
his conditioning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXtylj7P7OE
his conditioning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXtylj7P7OE
I did my listening I spent my time. And it was interesting. It does tell me a lot regarding how inexpensive that straw bale method is going to be. Or will it?
There are some interesting points regarding the science of this method according to him. And he does sell his book about it.
He started about 20-24 years ago, by 2017 it's 24 (look at the date of the podcast and I pulled latest several years to get his latest opinions) years ago in a new house with 1 inch of top soil, looks like was familiar with Ruth Stout work, decided to do straw bales experiments.
Could have built those raised beds out of free-cycle materials and layer all the neighborhood waste in them like leaves and what else over cardboard or newspaper top it with some compost and mulch. Bit he did write book on straw bales and is making marketing effort towards that.
He does compare straw bale with planting in virgin soil after the bales were conditioned.
That one is not particularly true per say... on day 12 what do we have in the straw bale if it was conditioned? It's basically not turned compost that was high carbon medium (does not compost on it's own in that time, it would take several years to full year if the climate is very humid... basically the time for the bacteria to colonize that medium and then the successor species to come feed on the bacteria, where is the food in the food web there is the consumer of the food) that was jump started with nitrogen so the dormant species of bacteria present in the straw would multiply and colonize the medium.
Virgin soil depending on where in the succession it is would have different species living in it and will support different life. From lowest level of complexity where only bacterial life is present and does support simplest vegetation (weeds) to forests. The question is what does live in that soil. What does live on that straw if all that was added was high nitrogen synthetic fertilizer? Species that were in the field where the straw was taken from, blown by wind into it, species that got into the bales on site which ever way. Not all of them will make it. The biodiversity of it... will it be same or different depending on the area? Will be there same bacteria on east coast of USA in the straw in Midwest, on the West coast? What about Northers states versus South? Does that matter? I do not see that covered in any of the podcasts.
If it's the virgin soil then from where? To what type of soil is that compared? Different soils will have different mechanisms of carbon cycling.
Is that compared to forest virgin soil and what kind of forest broad leaf or pine forests or mixed, or to parries or to meadows and shrubs or to dirt and annual weeds. forests are fungal dominated when dirt with annual weeds is bacteria dominated. It is not clear which one.
Straw bales start growing mushrooms with time. Do they become high bacterial, high fungal, in between or it depends?
By day 12 that bale start to decompose and become like heated and started to cool down compost would look like at the beginning stages of it, only no one has turned that compost and it is aerobic mostly so hopefully does not breed right bacteria. Hot compost takes about 21 days according to most of the methods, straw bale would be about half way and only inside.
The author talks about planting into that decomposing straw and states that plants will love that bacterial environment. Is that correct from soil biology and plants succession?
I wonder why a strawberry would love high bacterial environment cycling nitrate (that's what that high carbon medium was jump started with) when strawberry is a forest under story plant where the soil is high fungal and bacteria there are oxidizing ammonium. It's like moving strawberry down to succession path more towards mustard...
Is that in the reality about fertilizer fixing everything? I wonder is that does explain why field applications do report failures.
He references that he has observed thistles growing out of the straw bales.
That one is interesting... and clear cut from modern soil scientists. Thistle is the first stage of the weed plants, first stage of the succession thriving in high bacterial dominated soils, that's what the weeds use and call for.
So where is he in the ecological succession and soil biological succession?
Thistles are early succession perennial weeds that come after the annual weeds, grasses and lichens on bare rock/eroded rock. The method is recommended as soil alternative for abused weeds growing sold aka dirt.
Straw will grow fungi, however 12 days is not enough for that, that puts us right there in the beginning of the succession. And that fact would explain why this method relying of fertilizers heavily after. Strawberry, tomatoes, cucumbers and many other annuals (strawberry is a perennial in my climate) are higher on the biological succession, they do call for the different sets of nutrients and the biology in the soils compared to weeds and brassica (think radish, kale, cabbages) and amaranthaceae (thing chard, beats...).
Do tomatoes like high bacterial young compost? I found mine like older compost better. But zucchini do love young compost piles rather well.
About his original site... Pines, if not all was killed there then he should not be needing straw bales
About his original site... Pines, if not all was killed there then he should not be needing straw bales
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