The Messy Winter Garden - Compost Temperature 🌡️ Kesser and Steen from Nature and Innovation class

Описание: Soil temperature in The Messy Winter Garden - This podcast explores the biological activity of plants and soil during cold weather, following two students, Kesser and Steen, as they learn from professor Hendricks. It explains how conifers survive winter through a unique "short-circuit" in their photosynthesis system that protects their needles from light damage in freezing temperatures. The narrative emphasizes the benefits of surface composting and the "No Dig" method, which acts as a thermal blanket to keep soil microbes active above the freezing point. By using cold-composting techniques with diverse materials like seaweed and grass, gardeners can preserve nutrients and improve soil structure without losing energy to heat. Ultimately, the source highlights how maintaining a living soil ecosystem throughout the winter leads to faster spring growth and healthier crops.

The two young boys, Kesser and Steen, find it freezing cold when they cycle to school. Today they have lessons with Professor Hendricks, who teaches the Nature and Innovation class.

“Damn it Kesser - it's almost like getting hit in the forehead with Thor's Hammer 🤪🔨 when we cycle into the wind 🥶” says Steen with a big smile and fresh red cheeks 🍎

“Yes Steen, it may be, it's only minus 5 degrees Celsius, but the wind makes it feel like minus 18 ˚C. And by the way, Aunt Grøn has talked about us soon being ready to help in her vegetable garden ..”

“Yes, of course .. in the spring 🤭 and remember we also have to get something going at home, my dad is completely crazy about the idea of ​​saving money on all those healthy vegetables !!” emphasizes Steen “and what is that thing you have put out in Oma’s organic vegetable garden?

“well, it’s a soil thermometer 🌡 you know like when your mother puts a roast in the oven 🍗 I thought it would be an opportunity to investigate, since we are going to learn about biological activity at Mr. Hendricks “

“My father says that grass doesn’t grow when it is below 7 degrees (˚C) ..”

“Yes, it’s a bit funny, you hear that - because we have learned that conifers are active at a lower temperature. Because the active molecule is chlorophyll, maybe the professor can explain this!?” says Kesser, while thinking aloud “and we know that in vines the optimum sugar production is around 28 ˚C”

The temperature in the compost
We have all heard that the temperature in the compost is quite important - both for the turnover, but also for any pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli (the pathogenic type) etc. And then there are the thermophiles, who are really good at increasing the temperature … but what happens in winter, and what if your compost just lies a few cm / inches on the surface in the kitchen garden ??

“But, this absolute zero degrees (Kelvin) doesn’t mean that the molecules stand still there” asks Steen “but Nature doesn’t come to a complete standstill in winter, does it??”

“That's why I put a soil thermometer down, so we can keep an eye on it and write it in our logbook, Steen,” says Kesser, “maybe it doesn't show exactly, but it gives an indication.. and then we can compare it with the roasting thermometer - like the time we measured by the lake, out in the field and in the forest..”

“Yes, we should have calibrated it.. but we'll have to do it afterwards,” replies Steen, “it's done quickly, but a glass of clean water and some ice cubes 🧊”

“Exactly and we could compare them together from zero degrees and up to 30 ˚C - like we'll find out if there's a small error, but that's just because we can..” laughs Kesser out loud

It's an exciting observation that Kesser and Steen have made, and there's actually a completely logical explanation for why the soil reacts so differently to rain when it's covered by a thin layer of surface compost.
When raindrops When falling from a great height, they hit the ground with surprisingly great force. If the ground is bare, each drop acts like a small hammer, breaking up the soil structure. This causes the very fine clay particles to become slimy and settle on the surface as a dense, impermeable crust when it dries. It is a bit like putting a concrete lid over the garden. Then the next time it rains, the water cannot penetrate, but instead runs off the surface, taking the good soil with it.

#nodiggardening #kitchengarden #composting #soilhealth

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