What is humus

To maintain optimum conditions in gardens, landscaping, parks, lawns, golf courses, etc it takes a balance of humic substances.

When we use non organic fertilizers and products in our yards it can inhibit soils natural food sources- it's ecology. So what is Humus exactly? (It's not that yummy combination of chick peas and garlic that you might be thinking of.)

Humus is a "generic" label or term for a group of Humic Substances or organic matter that combine together to make a decomposting matter in the soil.

Humus is made up of the following:

Fulvic Acid
Humic Acid
Humin

If you need to increase the humus in your soil, there are several options including: cover crops, green manures, compost, fresh or aged manures, dry humates, and more. In addition, you can also use different products to increase the soil biology, one of my favorites to use is compost tea and or molasses.

Books about soil and Humus

Ask the Plant by Charles Walters and Esper K Chandler

The Non-Toxic Farming Handbook by Philip Wheeler and Ronald Ward

Soil Organic Matter in Sustainable Agriculture (Advances in Agroecology).

Soil Fertility and Animal Health -The Albrecht Papers, Vol. II

From Soil Up by Donald Schriefer

The Biological Farmer by Gary F. Zimmer

Building Better Soils for Better Crops

Books for Kids- get them interested while they are young.

Dirt: The Scoop on Soil