A Sense of Humus

Year 9 A Sense of Humus students worked at one of our outdoor classrooms doing soil testing. Students conducted six different tests on two samples of soil including slaking and dispersion, shown here. Although the two samples of soil came from only 200m apart they were under completely different management systems, resulting in obvious differences in many of the tests conducted.

The class also visited Alcheringa Biodynamic Dairy Farm at Nathalia. We were blown away by the beauty of the farm with very effective tree breaks, creating lots of shade.  Most impressive was the quality and depth of topsoil - at least a foot of deep 'chocolate cake' friable soil, full of carbon and microbes galore! 

The students loved feeling the texture and finding earthworms and other soil biology in it. Mark, the owner, showed us the '500' preparation - cow manure that has been curing in cow horns for six months and comes out as humus, and explained how it is mixed and sprayed out to feed the soil. The students also enjoyed the company of the calves and the dairy cows themselves. We are very grateful to Mark for giving his time so that we were able to experience such a beautiful, productive and healthy farm.