From Chapter 1 of “Home Grown Food” by Milo Shammas Growing healthy food begins with natural soil where healthy plants get their vitality. Analyze your soil and amend it with organic materials to suit the plants you want to harvest….
Soil Health
You Are What You Eat. The Gift Of Health
From Chapter 1 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas The food we eat is inextricably linked to soil particles that existed millions of years ago. What you eat today is part of a food chain that was here before our species walked the earth.
The History of Farming & Today’s Soil Quality
From Chapter 2 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas Archeologists believe the earliest forms of agriculture date from around 10,000 B.C. Evidence of early agriculture was found in an area of the Near East known…
Get to Know Your Soil
From Chapter 3 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas If you pause to contemplate your garden or the plant life around you, you may wonder: • What makes plants so large? • What makes them healthy? • What…
Maximum Soil Health: Organic vs. Synthetic
From Chapter 4 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas You may think of soil as little more than an anchor to hold plants in place. That’s like thinking the ocean is nothing more than a liquid to…
Soil Microbes (Probiotics)
From Chapter 5 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas Soil is alive! In the beginning there was life, and life was in the soil. Understanding the life in the soil is as important for a gardener as digging in the…
Mycorrhizae: The Good Fungus
From Chapter 6 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas Imagine a giant underground network, a transportation system, complex by nature yet simple in concept. In the network, all established plants grow in harmony together, sharing nutrients with each other,…
Soil Minerals: Food for Strong Plants, Animals & People
From Chapter 7 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas Minerals make up about 90 percent of garden soil. Unless we dig up an entire garden and import new soil, (and we don’t want to…
Soil Structure
From Chapter 8 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas To the naked eye, soils look pretty much the same except sandy desert soils or tropical rain forest soils. Yet a gardener needs to know the soil’s unseen composition. Correct analysis of…
Understanding Soil pH
From Chapter 9 of “Healthy Garden Healthy You” by Milo Shammas Proper pH gets results Basic requirements for a successful garden are highly visible, such as sunlight, water, and organic amendments. Unfortunately, you cannot see pH. It is a hidden abstraction buried…