| You may find this hard to believe, but gardening, | | | | as the vesicular-arbuscular-mycorrhizae, or VAM for |
| although it has an image of being organic and | | | | short. VAM actually forms a symbiotic relationship |
| therefore good, can actually harm the environment! | | | | with plants. The filaments increase root hairs and thus |
| Why? Because a large quantity of carbon dioxide can | | | | provide nutrients to the plants which, in turn, give out |
| be released through the tilling of the soil. This | | | | zinc, copper, potassium and phosphorus. Plants |
| contributes towards global warming. When you | | | | provide carbohydrates for the fungi in return. It is |
| cultivate and compact the soil, it destroys good fungi. | | | | possible to grow a garden without tilling the soil at all |
| Fertilizers such as nitrogen and manure often leak out | | | | but by mulching heavily until the soil is soft and friable. |
| of the soil and pollute the water you drink. | | | | Surplus Nitrogen |
| Global warming | | | | A lot of gardeners waste nitrogen and manures |
| Did you know that the biggest contributor to carbon | | | | whereas farmers do otherwise. Farmers only need a |
| dioxide in the atmosphere is the earth's soil? It gives | | | | quarter to a third of nitrogen to mix with an inch of |
| off up to 10 times more than human activity | | | | compost, horse, or cow manure. Kate Burroughs of |
| produces. This comes from the pill bugs, microbes, | | | | Sebastopol California, uses the same rule for her |
| fungi and worms when they breathe, digest food and | | | | home-grown lettuce and sweet corns. When it |
| then perish. Although in the past plants have been | | | | comes to broccoli and pear trees, farmers only need |
| capable of absorbing carbon dioxide caused by | | | | to use a small quantity. It is also true that gardeners |
| small-scale tillages, this is no longer the case. | | | | apply larger amounts of compost and manure than |
| The increase in the globe's average temperature has | | | | do the majority of farmers. Obviously, they are not |
| occured because of the carbon dioxide the soil emits | | | | only wasting their fertilizer but they are also, in no |
| when tilled. The good thing is that, luckily, this cloud | | | | uncertain terms, throwing money down the drain.. |
| does have a silver lining, however, because tilling can | | | | The best gardening advice that I can offer under the |
| be minimized by mulching or sheet composting. | | | | circumstances is to approach all things with a sense |
| Good Fungi | | | | of moderation. Too much of something can be as |
| In untilled soil, there thrives a beneficial fungi known | | | | damaging as too little. |