Published by Amanda on 29 Jun 2006
Flower buds and flowers are prerequisites to the production of seeds or fruit by plants.
Tiny flower buds are actually formed long before they become obvious. In corn, for example, the cob and tassel buds form when the plant is only about knee high. In apple trees, the buds that will produce next year are formed this year. Continue Reading »
Published by Amanda on 29 Jun 2006
Nearly all of us are familiar with composting. For many of us, it’s going on in our backyard everyday. Like rust, it never sleeps.
But composting – the practice of letting organic matter rot before you apply it to the soil – is more than merely a backyard hobby. It’s a direct application of microbial decomposition to agriculture, and is particularly favoured by followers of organic farming methods and, of course, by many gardeners. Continue Reading »
Published by Amanda on 29 Jun 2006
Remember the old line about what happens to composers when they die. They decompose. Well, forget all that when it comes to dead organic matter and the soil. Because quite the opposite occurs.
Dead organic matter – in the form of the dead bodies of plants and animals, plus the waste excretions of animals – is broken down and returned to the soil so that the nutrients it contains can be reused by plants. Continue Reading »
Published by Amanda on 29 Jun 2006
pH is a soil condition you hear about a lot from "experts" – excessively so, in fact. Nevertheless, pH is important, and we should not ignore what it is telling us.
pH measures soil acidity and alkalinity. And, as soils become more acid, grasses and clover do not grow as well. Which reflects why pH levels provoke so much interest in New Zealand’s grass-based agricultural system? Continue Reading »