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Healthy soil is key to sustaining life on Earth. While more and more people are starting to see the need for soil restoration, there is very little understanding of just how it can be accomplished. There is a rapidly emerging demand for a “how to” manual for soil restoration. Dale Strickler is an expert on building healthy soil and restoring degraded soil, and in
The Complete Guide to Restoring Your Soil, he presents the science of soil, along with proven methods of restoring depleted soil and agricultural practices from around the world that continue to build soil, rather than cause it to deteriorate.
Strickler provides a solid foundation in the science of healthy soil, explaining how soil has become so degraded over time and the dire consequences for the human species, not just in terms of food scarcity but also the social, health, and environmental consequences of growing food in poor soil. He addresses the chemical, physical, and biological principles behind soil function, and presents actual farming practices that can be used to regenerate soil, techniques and strategies for remediating contaminated soil, and agriculture systems both past and present that functioned to build soil, such as the ancient chinampas systems of Mexico and the permaculture systems of today.
List of contents
PREFACE: By the Skin of Our Earth
PART I: Why Restore Soil?
1: Soil Salvation
2: How We Made a Mess of the Planet, and How Soil Restoration Can Save It
PART II What Is the Ideal Soil?
3: Soil Oxygen
4: Water
5: Soil Biology
6: Minerals
7: Carbon Cycle and Energy Flow
PART III: Practices That Build Better Soil
8: Farming without Tillage
9: Crop Rotations
10: Cover Crops
11: Pasture and Rangeland Management
12: Agroforestry
PART IV: Once and Future Farming
13: Better Agriculture Systems of the Past, Present, and Future
Resources
Glossary
Metric Conversion Charts
Index
About the author
Dale Strickler is the author of Managing Pasture and The Drought-Resilient Farm and Chief Agronomist at regenerativewisdom.com, a farm and ranching consulting service. An internationally recognized agroecologist, speaker, and consultant, Strickler has more than 30 years of experience as a highly successful farmer and rancher in his own operation, as well as 15 years teaching in higher education and 20 years of industry experience with companies such as Land-o-Lakes and GreenCover Seed. Strickler has developed effective crop and grazing systems for numerous farms and ranches with a range of often challenging climates and soil types and his articles have appeared in publications like Mother Earth News, Acres USA, Stockman Grass Farmer, and Grit. He was the recipient of the 2013 Water and Energy Progress Award Model of Innovation and the Kansas Farm Bureau Natural Friend of Agriculture Award in 2021.
Summary
This in-depth guide shows farmers, ranchers, gardeners, and anyone who works with soil how to turn degraded soils into rich, productive ground, a process essential for supporting human life and repairing the environment.
Foreword
This in-depth guide shows farmers, ranchers, gardeners, and anyone who works with soil how to turn degraded soils into rich, productive ground, a process essential for supporting human life and repairing the environment.
Additional text
“Strickler gives us the tools to heal our damaged soil. This book should be on the shelf of every soil scientist, farmer, rancher, gardener, politician, landscaper, and informed citizen.” — Hank Will, editor at large for Mother Earth News
“A comprehensive, clear, and practical guide for growers of every scale. A must-read for anyone who cares for soil.”— Daniel Mays, manager of Frith Farm and author of The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm
“[Strickler’s] reader-friendly magnum opus, covering why we should restore soil, what ideal soil looks like, practices that build better soil.” — Mongabay
