Oddbean new post about login | logout Nice spot. A little resource for you. Although mostly was focused around Guanacaste, look up costarica regenerativa (https://en.costaricaregenerativa.org/). Lots of research done on regenerative farming here. There's also resources available there with regards to things like bacterial cultures etc to help regenerate soils etc through the UCI university. If you get to stage of wanting to talk to anybody there, I can put you in touch. Am not involved myself at all but have friends who are. Also if you're going to do cattle at all, ping me a message and can put you in touch with other potential resources and contacts. Good luck and look forward to seeing more photos as things take shape. PV
Yes! Thank you! Currently there are 50 cows on the property. They'll be moving off soon, but we will probably bring in some as well as goats, pigs and chickens. We are in desperate need of soil stabilization. So I'm planting vetiver and other plants with large root masses to help stabilize the slope.
If its rapid requirement and desperately maintaining soil, look into some balsa trees as well potentially. Very fast growing and there's actually a good market for the wood right now as being used in wind turbines and things due to light weight. Might be worth investigating
Mycellium will help a lot here too.
that's interesting. getting ahold of it might be tricky here. I know they form huge networks. does it work well in the tropics and with thin topsoil?
It all depends on the species. There's a whole kingdom of them. Some of the myco-supplements have many species in one mix. With this method, you can do research on the included species to see what conditions they thrive in. You can also go to a flourishing area, and dig up a patch of mycellium. It will grow back, I promise. This will also give you the related microbes for a balances soil ecosystem. Use the soil dug up from the verdant area to innoculate portions of your barren area. In this case, you don't often know of the species you are dealing with, but local conditions, and observation, will guide you.
yeah thanks for that info! I need to take a shovel and machete into the jungle and find it. i have about 120 acres of secondary forest preserve that I haven't even seen due to access. I just need to take some time and go in there. I'm sure there are all sorts of goodies hiding in the shade of the trees.
You don't have to dig deep. Any vegetation that you cut can be used as mucellium food in your bare areas. Once the colonies start, everything can really take off. Add some lactobascilus (LAB) to the effort, and you'll have a lush area.