Building Soils Naturally - Softcover

Phil Nauta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1601730330 ISBN 13: 9781601730336

Publisher: Acres USA, 2012

Synopsis

In an organic garden, plants in optimum health thrive abundantly, have harvests with amazing taste, and have the ability to fight off plant predators. When they don't there's often something lacking in their proper nutrition, they are missing beneficial microorganism companions, or they are short of the energy needed to reach their full nutrient-dense potential. The solution is to ''start with the soil.'' But healthy soil doesn't happen just by composting, fertilizing or companion planting alone. The solution is in Building Soils Naturally, where gardeners will find a hands-on plan of how to create productive, living soil by using a practical holistic approach - crafted right in your garden.

In Building Soils Naturally, organic gardeners will find a hands-on plan of how to create productive, living soil by using a practical holistic approach - crafted right in your garden.

About this title

About the Author:

Phil Nauta grew up working for his parents in their garden center, maintaining the nursery stock and landscaping. He was also in charge of maintaining their 9-hole golf course while he went to university, obtaining his business degree. He then completed a Certificate in Organic Landscape Management from Gaia College and later taught courses there.

Since then, he has played many roles in the organic gardening world, starting a gardening business called Only Organic, and then The Organic Gardener's Pantry to supply high quality organic fertilizers. He received Permaculture Design and Sustainable Building and Design certificates and became a Certified Organic Land Care Professional.

Phil works with his wife Heather, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, to help people improve their health and the health of their gardens and the planet through the SmilingGardener.com website, sharing innovative methods with organic growers worldwide.

Review:

Phil Nauta is a certified organic land-care professional, and his comprehensive book could have been titled, 'Everything You Wanted to Know About Soil (But Never Knew to Ask).' Nauta describes what healthy soil looks and feels like, how plants use that soil for growth and contribute to it by their decomposition, and the soils' chemical composition and teeming biological life. More than just another treatise on compost, humus, mulching, and fertilization, Nauta focuses on building up the unseen inhabitants of soil, the billions of ''effective micro-organisms'' that make it all happen. Nauta's program, which includes a battery of tests for both soil and plants, may seem daunting to even active, experienced gardeners. But those willing to follow his recommendations, he says, will end up with healthy soil that will produce plants resistant to disease and, if they are edible, more ''nutrient dense,'' flavorful, and resistant to rot. --Adam Levine, Better Homes and Gardens - Country Gardens, Spring (March) 2013 issue

About this edition

• Publisher: Acres USA
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1601730330
• ISBN 13: 9781601730336
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 303