Since I'm a new NOFA member I was reading through their literature. I like this one about Soil Carbon Restoration.
- Plant nitrogen fixing cover crops and living row paths
- Heavily mulch weeds instead of pulling
- Incorporate no-till or shallow till practices
- Replace pesticides and fungicides with diverse beneficial organisms
- Incorporate perennials in our garden
- Compost your garden and kitchen waste
- Recycle biomass with livestock (grazers, browsers, compost to poultry)
And things yard-owners can do:
- Plant lawns with diverse species: deep rooted grasses and nitrogen fixing species like clover
- Incorporate multi-layer, perennial, diverse plantings
- Compost, rather than burn, yard waste
- Minimize pavement and unproductive mulch
- Grow nitrogen fixing trees and perennials
- Maintain diverse forested buffers and perimeters
I think we've all heard about the importance of doing most of these things since we know good soil health is important for our crops. Soil health is also important for the earth. More info is at the NOFA site (NOFA Carbon Soil Restoration).
"Much discussion has focused on how to deal with greenhouse gas emissions and resulting weather extremes. Most analysts believe we must stop burning fossil fuels to prevent further increases in atmospheric carbon. [But we} must also find ways to remove carbon already in the air....So here's a list of things vegetable gardeners can do to put carbon back in the soil:
"...where can we put carbon once it is removed from the air? There is only one practical approach -- to put it back where it belongs, in the soil.
- Plant nitrogen fixing cover crops and living row paths
- Heavily mulch weeds instead of pulling
- Incorporate no-till or shallow till practices
- Replace pesticides and fungicides with diverse beneficial organisms
- Incorporate perennials in our garden
- Compost your garden and kitchen waste
- Recycle biomass with livestock (grazers, browsers, compost to poultry)
And things yard-owners can do:
- Plant lawns with diverse species: deep rooted grasses and nitrogen fixing species like clover
- Incorporate multi-layer, perennial, diverse plantings
- Compost, rather than burn, yard waste
- Minimize pavement and unproductive mulch
- Grow nitrogen fixing trees and perennials
- Maintain diverse forested buffers and perimeters
I think we've all heard about the importance of doing most of these things since we know good soil health is important for our crops. Soil health is also important for the earth. More info is at the NOFA site (NOFA Carbon Soil Restoration).
