Invisible Fire

Fire. Essential and dreaded. Fire has historical tendrils back to primeval times when people first discovered how to make fire when needed. Fire also includes the combustion and flames of a gas stove and oven, campfires, propane-fueled lanterns, and barbecue briquettes. All welcomed, desired.

Every garden is always on “fire”—without flames. Combustion is the oxidation of carbon-based materials which usually produces a flame. Garden “fires” are usually invisible, slow, and important. A single teaspoon of soil contains over one million of the soil’s beneficial bacteria alone This does not include: nitrogen-fixing soil algae, microbes, beneficial fungi and many other useful life. Each consumes various life-forms or inert elements and releases very minute amounts of heat into the soil. Like an aerobic workout, soil heats up—only in extremely tiny amounts.

Combustion in the compost bin also is at a lower temperature than a visible fire. Microorganisms feed on the carbohydrates; the carbon. The warmth of a well-made compost pile is tangible garden low-grade combustion. When the first nips of frost arrive, a compost made of fallen leaves, green lawn clippings, manure and kitchen scraps (I send all my kitchen compostables to an earthworm bin.) sends its wisps of warm fog to rise above its mass.

Only the fanatic composter runs the risk of spontaneous combustion. The pile has to be very large. And it rarely bursts into flames, but usually smolders like a coal mine "fire." Tim Dundon aka Zeke the Sheik (the compost king), of Los Angeles County, accumulated a compost pile over 17 years which reached the gargantuan size of 40 feet tall and up to 200 feet long. Twice in one month the pile spontaneously burst into flames and smoke, and the fire department arrived to douse the flames. While Zeke defends composting as "the key of energy that will eventually set mankind free from misery and gravity," I'd say his pile shows what happens when a zealous intellect elevates a natural process to unnatural proportions. He turned a beneficial process into a hazard.

The image above is a manipulated Polaroid. See my web site (www.robertkourik.com) for more examples of "Impressionistic Photography".

Let me know what you think.

Visit my web site to learn about my new book on drip irrigation and other gardening books.

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Soil Biota Horizons

This is my favorite illustration from Drip Irrigation For Every Landscape & All Climates and Roots Demystified. (Click on the drawing to enlarge it for easier reading.)

The upper layers of the soil are the most aerobic, with the highest population of air-loving bacteria and soil flora. As seen above, the top three inches of the soil has nearly four-and-a-half times more bacteria, almost eight-and-a-half times more actinomycetes [tiny aerobic organisms that help decompose dead plant tissue], more than twice as many fungi, and five times the algae of soil found eight to ten inches deep. These bacteria and flora are responsible for the decomposition of organic matter and the liberation of mineralized [unavailable] nutrients into a soluble form that the plant can absorb. They live near the soil’s surface because they must have plenty of oxygen to fuel their activity.

Let me know what you think.

Visit my web site to learn about my new book on drip irrigation and other gardening books.

NOTE: The comments section at the bottom of the post has disappeared. Click on the "___ Comments" button or the title under the "Blog Archives". Thanks, Robert