This is fascinating:
Makes sense to me.
What is called “humus” is really just the collection of organic material in the soil – not some special substance.
It seems humus was just the “dark matter” of the soil – a convenient way to explain away something we never really understood.
h/t Monique for sharing the video with me
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Hi David,
Here is an interesting article “Fluke Discovery of Ancient Farming Technique”
https://www.sciencealert.com/fluke-discovery-of-ancient-farming-technique-could-stabilize-crop-yields
Wait, seriously? I had no idea that was the traditional definition of humus, or that it had only been observed in a lab in the form of humic acid.
I always thought humus was just a fancy name for good quality soil with a lot of organic material in it. In fact, every time I encountered the word I would get a little confused because I couldn’t understand how humus was different from finished compost, or why people always talked about it as if it was some kind of magical substance that had to be called into your garden from some place beyond, through strange shamanic rituals that can only be mastered by the properly initiated. I guess now I know why.
Yet another example of how being well-versed in the official scientific consensus can sometimes cause you to be less informed than those who haven’t paid much attention to it. Didn’t Nassim Taleb write something about the dangers of the unknown unknown, or the things we think we understand but about which we’re actually totally mistaken?