Spring time is in full effect as green things are poking up just about everywhere and there are figs on the fig tree! Yesterday Jerome, Justin (new intern), and I piled into Jerome's old truck and took a field trip down to a big ranch in the valley. I stood under the sun, watching horses run at the base of rising mountains, admiring the  100+ year old orchard and began to in-vision what the true western homestead was one day like. We were there to pick up manure, which we filled the whole bed with, and to cut scion wood off some of the very old apple trees in the families orchard. the scion wood is being refrigerated and will be grafted onto some rootstock  in a few weeks. The pruning/grafting workshop has been postponed for a few weeks due to late season cold weather. 

I used the gathered manure today on the outdoor terraced beds, which in my opinion should have been mulched in the fall and wintered over. I covered the manure with leaves and we will plant directly into this sheet mulch in a week or two, after adding worms. I used humanure from the composting toilets and leaves to mulch some trees in the forest garden.

I have been learning a lot about soils lately and come to the conclusion that the most important factors are: keep your soil covered 

Lots of organic matter.

Plants require 18 chemical elements to grow (9 micro/ 9 macro nutrients) Plants get these nutrients through mineralization, which is caused by soil organisms decomposing organic matter into mineral forms that plants can use. Good soil has strong soil aggregates which promotes better drainage, aeration, and water storage. Aggregates are destroyed in the process of tilling. Aggregates can be developed and stabilized through a sticky gel secreted by hyphae. Hyphae are the root like hairs sent out by beneficial mychorrizal fungi. Mychorrizal fungi enters roots and is fed sugar by the plant in exchange for gathering more nutrients and water for the plant. 

I had no idea how important sustainable soil practices were in regards to carbon emissions. Carbon stored in the earths soils is three times that which exists in the atmosphere and loss of soil releases massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. I have been getting interested in large scale grain farming and want to research the potentialities of small scale grain growing.

Everything going good, but I cant believe the speed in which April is flying by.