Organic Matter: Mother Nature's Secret

The subsidence of the San Joaquin Valley—the ''largest human alteration of the Earth's surface,'' according to the United States Geological Survey—has been caused in large part by the loss of organic matter from the soil. Organic matter, that complex synthesis of all that has lived and does live in the soil, is a precious and finite resource that is crucial to healthy microbial life in the soil, effective nutrient retention and cycling, water capture and retention, and many other life processes in the soil. We will learn about protecting and replenishing this precious resource in our backyards and in agricultural soils. Fee $31