Viola papilionacea - pansy / wild violet
When you do a visual checklist of your garden, you can appreciate all your efforts and the beauty and value of Mother Nature. What is in your garden that you don’t see? Underground, there is a whole additional world going on. There are billions to hundreds of billions of soil microorganisms in a mere handful of a typical, garden soil. That single handful might well contain thousands of different species of bacteria (most of whom have yet to be classified), hundreds of different species of fungi and protozoa, dozens of different species of nematodes plus a goodly assortment of various mites and other micro arthropods. Almost all of these countless soil organisms are not only beneficial, but essential to the life giving properties of soil. The “no till” version of gardening and agriculture has evolved with respect to not only the value of labor reduction, but with respect to the interaction and intense infrastructure of the inhabitants underground. So, the next time you are in your garden, tread lightly!
When you do a visual checklist of your garden, you can appreciate all your efforts and the beauty and value of Mother Nature. What is in your garden that you don’t see? Underground, there is a whole additional world going on. There are billions to hundreds of billions of soil microorganisms in a mere handful of a typical, garden soil. That single handful might well contain thousands of different species of bacteria (most of whom have yet to be classified), hundreds of different species of fungi and protozoa, dozens of different species of nematodes plus a goodly assortment of various mites and other micro arthropods. Almost all of these countless soil organisms are not only beneficial, but essential to the life giving properties of soil. The “no till” version of gardening and agriculture has evolved with respect to not only the value of labor reduction, but with respect to the interaction and intense infrastructure of the inhabitants underground. So, the next time you are in your garden, tread lightly!
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