Anthropocene Epoc Began In 1965

Bypass the chemical havoc being wreaked on our soils stripping out the precious nutrients from our foods for the next generations.


The most remarkable flavoursome food can come from your own garden, in pots, raised beds or windowboxes. You can easily grow your own fruit and veg, from start to finish.The you've got control of your family's nutrition at your fingertips.

OVERCOME EVERYTHING

Or put the nutrients straight into your body with the ingenious Jurassic Mud Method. Built to overcome and evolve, the mighty  World was an incredible place. 

Against all the odds, even the tiniest creatures, plants and insects found ways to thrive. As their world changed at an incredible pace they had to change with it, or die. They evolved, the became adaptive very very fast. 

They overcame everything and changed the world forever. This was evolution on steroids!

 Little known facts about the Jurassic soil itself is that it gave rise the most evolutionary advanced time in the history of life on earth. 

Species found new ways to communicate never before seen. Most of all - they adapted to life threatening, dangerous situations in the most remarkable ways.


Nothing even come close to the pace of change in that time on planet earth.

EVOLUTION ON STEROIDS

Unfortunately it was survival on steroids too. Everything was geared to the survival of the fittest, strongest and fastest.

However as is often the case there was a silver lining to this survival quest. Collagen reached evolutionary perfection and has hardly changed a jot since. 

It made the bones and joints of dinosaurs tough like steel. It allowed muscles to grow phenoomenally strong. One dinosaur had a bite force of 12,800 pounds. That's insane!

Next, the first anti-oxidant pigements were found in jurassic material. Vitamin C evolved to protect the cells and tissues of oxygen breathing species from oxidation. 

It's no coincidence that Collagen and Vitamin C still work together making strong structures in the bones and joints of the human body.

Finally the Cytochrome P450 enzyme. This powerful system began perfoming powerful metabolic functions in the liver of the enormous beasts who roamed the planet. And still does to this day. This  evolutionary advanced enzyme system processes the countless chemicals, toxins, poinons and impurities we encounter every single day. Without this vital system we simply ouldn't be where we are on the evolutionary ladder today.

THE STATS

The rich black soil was the foundation of everything on the planet. Nutritionists attribute the tremendous change at the time time to soils having 30 times more minerals, trace minerals and their trace elements than we have today. Soils were filled to overflowing with organic matter - fulvic acid, humic acid and more humic materials in their various stages of decomposition.

Recent studies show the serious decline in these components also. Without them, elements are not converted into plant-ready nutrients. Nor are these nutrients then able to be transported into the plants for human consumption.

So together with the minimum replenishment of vital nutirents back into the soil after harvesting, our soils that border on being anemic. If at first you think that might be ok, it's far from it.

We're now getting less from our food than ever before in the history of life on earth. Science is skipping past the production of quality food and straight to quantity. The mass production of a model of efficiency - yet a model of gross ineffiency for quality.

EVOLUTION

An interesting conversation has begun regarding the next step. The anthropocene eopch has begun. Many believe the anthropocene epoch began in 1965. A result of a peak in radioactive elements above ground from thermonuclear tests and activity may have contributed to this fact. The alarming decline in soils' organic matter may also have contributed.

Most of this activity took place in the early 1960s. However like an already sickly or weak child confronted with infection, it's resilience is low.

Recent research also shows that the soils' superpower - the organic materials of humic acid and fulvic acid are now in serious decline. Northeastern Universoty and The Organic Centre have published a study showing the alarming recent rate of decline of these nutrients from our soil.

The decline of these substances also shows how farming organic cuts agriculture's contribution to climate change. 

The study shows that organic farms have 44% higher levels of humic acid. It also found that soils from organic farms had:

• 13 percent higher soil organic matter
• 150 percent more fulvic acid
• 26 percent greater potential for long-term carbon storage

This reduction in carbon from the atmosphere is foundational by strong powerful soils. Recent studies show this in tropical fossil forests unearthed from the Devonian period in Norway. 

They show the emergence of extremely high levels of carbon capture from the atmosphere over 380 million years ago. It is thought to be one of the most dramatic shifts in climate change in 400 million years.

THE NEXT STEP

Getting nutrients into your body has never been more important. Not the vitamins - but the minerals, trace minerals and their trace elements. All together in the form the body thrives on this is the foundation for the structures of the human body and metabolic process.

Iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, boron, sulfar, copper and scores more are foundational elements to all life on earth. From ourselves down to the tiniest creatures we all need nutrients in the form our bodies can use. And that's what our soils do for us. 

Plant-derived nutrients are built for the cells of our bodies. Each one is like a tiny magnet being inexplicable and powerfull pulled to another. They're a perfect fit. No waste of energy, no waiting for conversion form opne form to another. That's all done before we eat. Perfect!

Human health starts in the soil. Get growing your own fruit and vegetables. You'll be able to control the nutrient density of your food and before long you'll be hooked! Start with a raised soil bed or an area of your garden and with some simple soil testing you can build yourself an incredible soil for yourself. You'll have food that's not only high quality but tastes absolutely superb as well. 

You can learn all about how to grow your own nutrition here. It's an affiliate but has the highest quality information around. It is life changing. 

Or get soaking right now in super powered Jurassic Mud x3 times a week. The simple sit-soak-soothe method after being on your feet all day or after exercise feels fantastic straight away.As you soak, you'll feel that effects spreading leaving no part of your body untouched with its incredible sensations.

Build your resilience, strengthen your sinews, add strength and stamina to your body and put the spring in your step regardless of your age or condition.

SOIL SERIAL KILLERS - PART 2

THE RAPID DECLINE IN OUR SOILS' ORGANIC MATTER

When you think of all the organic matter in our soil we call it collectively the Humic Substances. It's made of all the living and dead plant an animal materialk and algal matter all in their various stages of decomposition and age. 

They are the wonderful earthy smell of a freshly ploughed field and they're the life of rich fertile soils.

HUMIC SUBSTANCES

Humic Substances are extremely valuable. They are highly unique by being created bespoke to: their location, climate conditions, carbon availability, microbial activity and geographical area. 

One of their most remarkable roles is to make elements in the soil plant-ready. The they ensure plants get the nutrients they need in the balance they need. 

Soils with high levels of organic matter are less susceptible to drought and dessertification.

Humic Substances Carbon Capture

Nothing hoovers up carbon from the atmosphere like a soil rich in humic substances. In fact, the more humic substances in soil - the more carbon it can trap and hold carbon out of the atmosphere and the longer it can hold it for. 


Their role is so incredibly important because soils absorb more carbon than all the world’s vegetation and the atmosphere combined.

Humic Breakdown

Here's how humic substances are formed as they decompose and decrease in size over time, from the largest to the smallest:

1. Humus 
2. Humic Acids 
3. Fulvic Acids
4. Humin 
5. Humate 
6. Fulvate

HUMUS AND HUMIC ACIDS

Humus and Humic Acids are black in colour. They are formed near or on the surface soil and are the planet's major carbon resevoirs.

They're low oxygen compounds and key to soil structure and nutrient transport. 

Crucially, they are integral in the proper the development and maintenance of the soils' microbial network. 

Humus and humic acid always remain in soil and not absorbed by plants.


However the very next stage of decomposition of organic matter behaves differently - by not remaining in soil. 

FULVIC ACIDS
Here's where Mother Nature waves her magic wand - Fulvic Acids.  
Golden in colour fulvic acids are found in abundance in aged forest soils. Jurassic forests were packed with them.  

They're the only element in the humic substances chain that are absorbed by plants - and ultimately by humans.

And their role much more is than that. 

Part molecule part magician, they connect our living soil with the electrical charge inside the cells of our bodies. 

They are a transporter, solublizer, detoxifier, free radical scavenger, oxygen delivering, immune modulator, restorer of electrical balance and energy reformulator. 

And fulvic acids are unique because.....

  "....they do the very same things in the human body, as they do in our soils......"

....by transporting, solublizing, detoxifying, free radical scavenging, restoring of electrical balance, oxygen delivering, immune modulating, sugar metabolising and energy reformulating. 

Fulvic acids are smart nutrients - attaching either to a positively charged toxin or to a negatively charged nutrient. 

They can magically bypass cell walls taking any element they want with them...then taking out whatever they want when they leave.


They are The Great Adaptors. This ability to attach to, change or remodel a molecule is truly remarkable and magical.


This is not dissimilar to our brain's ability to remodel itself, to change and to adapt - regardless of age, known as brain plasticity.

THE SPIRIT FULVIC MOLECULE

Fulvic Acids are highly regarded in advanced spiritual practices. 

It's often suggested that geographical evolution of spiritual practices is due to the great availability of fulvic acids in the local soil and food chain. 

And their loss from soils represents a handbrake on the spiritual development and the use of the higher more evolved parts of the our brain.

 

So when Hipocrates said...."let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" - fulvic acid made food a lot different back then. 

 Fulvic Acids one nutrient we absolutely cannot affort to loose from our soils.

THE LOSS OF OUR HUMIC SUBSTANCES

However the whole chain of humic substances is collapsing.
 
In one of the largest field studies of its kind ever conducted, Northeastern University and The Organic Centre revealed that in chemically fertilized soils, the amount of organic matter has decreased substantially.

This study is due to be published in the scientific journal:Advances in Agronomy on October 1st 2017. 

It shows that on average, organic farms have 44% higher levels of humic acid -- than soils not managed organically.

If you're starting to wonder how it's all going to end, I am too. This is effecting millions of people and has respect for no-one, not even you.

So using samples from 700 farms in 48 U.S. states the research revealed that on average, soils from organic farms had:

• 13 percent higher soil organic matter
• 150 percent more fulvic acid
• 26 percent greater potential for long-term carbon storage

These are phenomenal differences, especially as you now know just how important these humic substances really are. 

You might even be beginning to consider having a raised bed in your own garden. 

And as you think about that now, you can discover how easy it is to make sure you and your family get the nutrition you all need. 

Growing Your Own

Growing your own vegetables - carrotts, cauliflower, green beans, beetroot is incredibly rewarding.

Nutrition for strong bones and teeth the the optimum function of the enritre body and brain. 

In fact the taste of even one serving of home grown, nutrient-dense food on your plate can bring the whole meal to life.

Conclusion

It's one of the only solutions left as more and more humic substances are stripped from our soil. 

Building a high-energy raised garden bed can be easy. Include real forest soil to get fulvic acids bringing the project to life. And its humic acids to start building the best microbial network you possibly can. 

You'll immediately get more nutrient dense food to begin with and have a premium carbon capture system in your own garden.

Then, add a soil test to bring minerals, trace minerals & their trace elements to the levels needed. Combined with the humic/fulvic you're producing real nutrient dense food. 

* Green Beans Image: By Hedwig Storch - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15890894
* Earth Hands Image: By Jeetendra23 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

THE AMAZING B6 VITAMER IN PLANTS

Recently a B6 Vitamer has been elevated to the role of saviour of our planet. As we’re knee deep in commecial fertilizers, anything that delivers less chemicals to our soils is of benefit. The quality of our food and the health of our planet are at stake. We urgently need to know more about limiting chemical fertilizers usage at the earliest possible opportunity

Credit: © Teresa Fitzpatrick, UNIGE

The jurassic mudsoak started off as an enormous prehistoric forest that fed on zero nitrogen fertilizers. And this fantastic B6 discovery may let us return to that. A truly remarkable discovery has been made by researchers at the University of Geneva:

 A B6 Vitamer has been discovered to display the remarkable characteristic of nitrogen signalling in plant metabolism.

A vitamin is the function performed by a group of vitamers call vitamers. A vitamer is a component part of a vitamin - each one having slightly different but complimentary biological roles. When properly combined, Vitamers have some serious therapeutic power.

Vitamin B6 has in fact 4 different vitamers including: pyridoxine, pyridoxal,  pyridoxamine and pyridoxal 5 phosphate. The pyridoxal phosphate vitamer(P-5-P) in the human body is intricately involved in gene transcription. As with all vitamers, they cannot be made and must be consumed from food every day

Recently, in the journal The Plant Cell, the results od a study point to a remarkable role of a B6 vitamer – PMP(pyrodoxamine 5′-phosphate).  Studies found it acting as a signaller, informing the plant of its ammonium content. What does this all mean?

 GREENHOUSE GASES

Ammonium is a powerful nitrogeneous compond. It is a key component of the nitrogen based commercial fertilizer NPK. Its use is widespread in agriculture today. however its production is a major producer of greenhouse gasses.

This has serious coinsequences for our environment and a significant contributor to global warming greenhouse gases. The application of amonium based fertilizer causes an increase in methane emissions. And the degradation of nitrogen based fertilizers increases nitrox oxide emissions.

These are 2 of the top 3 greenhouse gases in the world today. Nitrous Oxide has 298 times the global warming potential of an equal mass of carbon dioxide(CO2). This is the No. 1 greenhouse gas.

B6 Vitamer PMP

The remarkable of the new role for the B6 Vitamer in plants may change all that.

Researchers in conjunction with Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology and the University of Düsseldorf studied a plant with a defective PDX3 enzyme – Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) which displayed clearly impaired growth.

“PDX3-defective plants cannot transform a vitamer called PMP, therefore the latter accumulates within the cell. While we hypothesized that the observed anomalies may be due to the high levels of PMP, we had no idea of the underlying mechanism and questioned its precise contribution.” (Maite Colinas, of the Geneva team and first author of the study.)

The unexpected discovery that the observed growth anomalies of the mutants were completely invalidated in the plants suplied with ammonium. Remarkably, the high levels of PMP in the PDX3-defective plants interfere with the nitrate into ammonium conversion. This resulted in the  impaired growth from the ammonium deficiency.

The PMP Signal

Applying their discoveries to other wild type plants they have made another observation. There was a considerable accumulation of the PMP vitamer in plants supplemented with ammonium. “When the plant contains enough ammonium for its needs, further production from nitrate is prevented, thus limiting energy waste and potential toxicity that can happen if too much is made. The level of PMP probably informs the plant about its ammonium state”.(Maite Colinas.)

This B6 vitamer may be used extensively to determine the nitrogen status of plants. This information may have a game chamging effect on the modern misuse of chemical fertilizer in agriculture.

As a result, we may finally have some remarkable potential at our disposal:

•     reducing the diasterous global warming effects of commercial fertilizer production
•     reduce the destructive effects of commercial fertilizer use on the environment
•     help maintain the soils delicate eco-system

THE FUTURE OF THE B6 VITAMER

Ultimately, we may be able to return to nutrient dense food production abundant in minerals, trace minerasl & their trace elements.

“In most natural soils the predominant nitrogen source for plants is nitrate, as they usually contain little ammonium. Plants must therefore import the former and convert it to ammonium, which can then be used for the biosynthesis of nitrogenous compounds including proteins to promote plant growth”, said Teresa Fitzpatrick, professor at the Department of Botany and Plant Biology of the Faculty of Sciences of UNIGE, who led the study.

The research group are now further investigating this signalling role of the B6 vitamer further. Their emphasis is on finding other compounds involved or if it is indeed by a direct action.

The 5 Soil Serial Killers - Part 1

Our precious soils are the foundations for our food, our feed and our entire planet ecosystems. Human health, vitality and even our way of life is entirely dependent upon robust soil systems. 

Soils are crucial to our supply of clean water and the largest store of terrestrial carbon on our planet. They even have individual microbial communities that vary from site to site just as each individual has their own different internal microbial communities in their guts. 

In fact careful study of the 2 areas of our soil and our internal microbial environment, would suggest that the health of one is  entirely dependent upon the health of the other. 

However, our soils have been infiltrated and are under attack. Soil serial killers are on the loose and comitting crimes against humanity.

THE SOIL SERIAL KILLERS

Just as individual humans have different microbial communities in their guts, the microbial communities living in soils vary from site to site as well. Recent research compared the decomposition rates of wood stakes over eight sites to gain an understanding of soil microbes in forests. The activity of soil microbes can also tell a story of the value of carbon storage in soil.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-carbon-forest-soils.html#jCp

Just as individual humans have different microbial communities in their guts, the microbial communities living in soils vary from site to site as well. Recent research compared the decomposition rates of wood stakes over eight sites to gain an understanding of soil microbes in forests. The activity of soil microbes can also tell a story of the value of carbon storage in soil.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-carbon-forest-soils.html#jCp

Just as individual humans have different microbial communities in their guts, the microbial communities living in soils vary from site to site as well. Recent research compared the decomposition rates of wood stakes over eight sites to gain an understanding of soil microbes in forests. The activity of soil microbes can also tell a story of the value of carbon storage in soil.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-carbon-forest-soils.html#jCp

Just as individual humans have different microbial communities in their guts, the microbial communities living in soils vary from site to site as well. Recent research compared the decomposition rates of wood stakes over eight sites to gain an understanding of soil microbes in forests. The activity of soil microbes can also tell a story of the value of carbon storage in soil.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-carbon-forest-soils.html#jCp

Today we have 5 major soil serial killers reeking havoc on all that soil sustains us. The precious resource beneath our feet is being depleted, disassembled and destroyed at an alarming rate. We already have war in Africa a a result of the absence of the food soil supplies.

SOIL CHEMISTRY

Soils work EXTREMELY hard at one thing among many - they make elements in the soil plant ready.  It's almost magical how elements are changed into nutrients.  

This is soil's secret power. They can do this because they are marvellously part chemistry, biology, electricity and magnetic. 

Measuring these 4 properties, plus another, is the key to producing real food - nutrient-dense high energy food. 

Plants ultimately make these nutrients HUMAN-READY.

But if you've ever heard the phrase "you won't know what you've got 'til its gone" it's absolutely true about where our soils are headed today and fast.

Here is the first indicator that our soil is headed to hell in a handbasket.

RAMPANT DEPLETION OF MINERALS, TRACE  MINERALS & THEIR TRACE ELEMENTS

The produce of commercial farming today is like the emperors new clothes - it ain't all it's made out to be.

And here's why: minerals, trace minerals & their trace elements are the bare necessities of life. They're needed in 2 specific ways:

• strong structures
• efficient functions

 They are used by living cells - regardless of their age or condition.In fact minerals, trace minerals and their trace elements are the chemistry of life.

As you now know, these vital components begin as elements in our soil. And also you know that soil makes these elements plant-ready. And plants then make them human-ready. 

So it's a chain, a sequence. And the more robust the links in any chain - the stronger and more resilient the whole chain is.

Sometimes people try to circumvent or reinvent this process. Most mineral supplemnents for example are still elements. They aren't even plant-ready let alone human-ready. 

The vast majority of calcium tablets fall into this category. They belong on soil - not in the human body.

REPLENISHMENT PRACTICE

Each time we plant our vegetables, fruit, grains and grasses - they take elements from the soil. Growing food is an extractive process.

Problem is, that the rate of soil replenishment commercially doesn't get even close to what's being extracted and absorbed by plants, fruits, grains and grasses. Less is going in to replace whats going out. 

The pot empties, the quality drops or the pot itself breaks.

So today, we've got a supply of fruit, vegetables, grasses and grains that look marvellous - lovely shape, all the same size, shiny and packed beautifully. However they're severely lacking in the very reason they're grown in the first place - nutriment. And as you now know these nutrients are specifically the minerals, trace minerals and their trace elements.

Replacing in soil what's been taken out is an additional cost. However the cost in the long run of not replenishing them is far greater still. And the pace of this depletion is out of control.

THE NATURAL DEPLETION

The slow natural depletion of elements from soil began 5,000 years ago. We could easily keep up with this with simple replenishment. However it's since 1940 this has gathered serious pace. It has inceased incredibly. Get this: we've lost more since the 1940's - than in the whole last 5,000 years combined. That's just unsustainable. In any other industry it would be a crime!

Today the power for soils to produce more comes from chemical fertilizer - chemical energy. This is almost exclusively NPK fertilizers are just pure energy.

At no point is a farmer rewarded for producing nutrient dense, high energy fruit and vegetables. It's now about quantity per acre - not quality.

Yet if you've ever tasted full powered, full flavoured, nutrient dense vegetables - even a single one on a plate of 'regular' food, you'll know how it brings the rest of the food to life.

THE EARTH SUMMIT

Commercial farming is the major extractive industry on the planet - not mining. And here are the results - some startling figures released more than 25 years ago.

In 1992, the official report of the Rio Earth Summit concluded “there is deep concern over continuing major declines in the mineral values in farm and range soils throughout the world”.

This statement was based on data showing that over the last 100 years, average mineral levels in agricultural soils had fallen worldwide: 

• 72 per cent in Europe
• 76 per cent in Asia
• 85 per cent in North America.

This statement was based on data showing that over the last 100 years, average mineral levels in agricultural soils had fallen worldwide. 

Most of the food we eat is now staggeringly nutrient deficient.

THE COMPOSITION OF FOODS

In 1927, Dr RA McCance started a study of the nutrient content of common foods at King’s College, University of London. Together with his colleague, Dr EM Widdowson, he published the results in 1940. The publication was called The Composition Of Foods.

The analyses have been repeated at regular intervals since. This has provided us a unique picture of the way the composition of our food has changed. 

The table below summarises the reductions in the average mineral content of 27 vegetables and 17 fruits, between 1940 and 1991.

Reduction in average mineral content of fruit and vegetables between 1940 and 1991

Mineral                                            Vegetables                                     Fruit
Sodium                                            -49%                                               -29%
Potassium                                      -16%                                               -19%
Magnesium                                    -24%                                                -16%
Calcium                                           -46%                                               -16%
Iron                                                   -27%                                               -24%
Copper                                            -76%                                               -20%
Zinc                                                  -59%                                               -27%

*The latest edition of McCance and Widdowson’s work was published in 2002, but no updated comparison of the figures has yet been published. However, it is likely that mineral values have continued to fall. 

THE MANGANESE SWITCH

Let's take a single element, manganese and see how its depletion effects the food chain. Manganese is known as the elements of life. Its needed in soil at 100ppm. (Calcium is needed in the thousands of parts per million.) Plants take it up from the soil in one specific form after a certain type of microbial bacteria has made it plant ready. 

However, its in the leaf where its a real superstar. The leaves of the plant take in light from the sun, like tiny solar panels. The plant then converts it into sugars or from solar energy into chemical energy in the plant. 

This process is called photosynthesis and it releases oxygen - the air we breathe - into the atmosphere. The role of manganese here cannot be underestimated. Its a magical role really. And here it is:

Manganese in one form picks up the energy. Then itswitches into a completely different versions of itself - a different manganese then transfers that energy over. Next, it switches back again, picks up more energy - then switches back and transfers the energy once again. It would be like you or I becoming someone else entirely for a moment, then just switching back over.
You probably wish you could do that sometimes.

There's nothing as incredible as this ability manganese has to become something else for a moment.

Without manganese in the soil there'd be no sugar in the plant and no oxygen for us to breathe.

In the human body manganese is also a real energy hotwire - energy transfer(surprise, surprise), bone strength, building skin collagen...and lots more. So without it we'd have energy problems, tiredness and lethargy, bone and joint problems, aches & pains, sagging skin. Here is a list of comprehensive list of magnanese deficiency symptoms and human manganese transport mechanisms.

Remember, there are more than 70 minerals, trace minerals and trace elements - each with their own deficieny disease and diseases.

CONCLUSION

And if you're wondering how you can help this process - just work some fallen leaves into your garden soil. When all the leaves are brown manganese is in the form your soil thrives on. Then little or no energy is required to get it back into the foodchain. 

We've now got to get minerals, trace minerals and their trace elemnts back into our soil - and fast. We've got to grow strong vibrant and healthy plants. Then we'll have the abundance of nutrients - in the form that we need to thrive. 

Otherwise this serial soil killer will get off the hook for crimes against our planet.

Keep reading the next in the series of Soil Serial Killers.

ALL THE LEAVES ARE BROWN

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Each and every leaf is a tiny self-contained solar panel. Gently awakened by the sunshine every morning each leaf begibns to sparkle with warmth and life. And so the process of converting this energy of the sun(heat) into chemical energy(sugars) begins.

6CO2 + 6H2O + light energy = C6H12O6 + 6O2

Crucial to his process is the mineral Iron. Just like any Iron exposed to the sun - it warms up nicely. A leaf with abundant iron also warms up nicely to assist the absorption of heat energy.

Intircate in the process of photosynthesis and located in leaf is the trace mineral manganese. Here, quite remarkably manganese switches over and back between 2 different versions of itself. In doing so, it captures then shares energy by accepting and donating electrons in the conversion of sunlight to sugar. (See this interview with Don Huber, Professor Emeritus, Purdue University.)

Silica then works extremely hard maintaining firmness and uprightness in the leaf to maximise leaf surface area facing the sun, without sagging or drooping.

LEAF BREATHERS

As well as being a tiny energy factory, leaves are nutrient breathers from the air. Pulling in the lighter elements they penetrate the leaf stomata and the cuticle on the upper part of the leaf. In fact, folilar feeding of plants through the leaf uses of this facility efficiently, delivering quailty nutrients straight into growing systems.

This ingenious absorption from the air is a secondary source of nutrient for leaves, trees, grains, fruit, vegetables, herbs and grasses. And some species plants rely nearly exclusively on this method where harsh and dry environments make soil nutrients unavailable.

DECOMPOSED LEAVES

Discarded by trees, at the end of summer, leaves are abubdant in exactly the minerals, trace minerals & their trace elements that fuelled photosynthesis in the first place. Better still, they're in the form that soil loves, having offered them up to the plants in the first place.

They need a certain type of encouragement to relase their nutrient lode into soil. And they'll happily offer up their all to your soil over the winter months, fuelling next year's produce.

Combined with twigs and branches, ashes and charcoal, leaves replenish soils' energy, without destroying the delicate microbial system beneath - something that commercial fertilizer can't do

Storing and stockpiling the fuel in this way is essential. For the busy growing season ahead the energy associated with the minerals, trace minerals & their trace elements combines to provide even more energy to the growing system.

This powerful and naturally rich form of fertilizer increases the likelihood of rich, nutrient dense, tasty, healthy produce, the envy of all who sample its deliciousness.

LEAF FERTILIZER

From the decaying leaves at the end of the season, those same leaves return nutrients to the forest floor and right back into the earth.

Since time began, Mother Earth has been using these raw materials as fuel and as energy for growth. Strong grains, grasses, trees, herbs, fruit and vegetables thrive on these natural materials returning to the earth.

The difference is that they're already plant-ready and practically ready to jump into plants' root systems again. Massive energy is not needed to convert them into another chemical form for absorption and they're ready, willing and able to give their all for the cause.

Commercial fertilizer also provides this energy in abundance, but at the cost of the microbial community, soils' most precious resource. This microbial network beneath the surface converts elements in the soil into plant-ready minerals, trace minerals and their trace elements - And plants then make them human-ready. The disassembly of this connection provides soil of less and less quality and food of poorer and poorer nutrient standard.

NATURAL RAW MATERIALS

Leaves as we now know are plentiful in trace minerals such as silica, iron, manganese and lots of carbons. With the dry matter, proteins, amino acids, lignins and fibre, a tremendous amount of energy is supplied for soil building activity. 


Ashes are a very concentrated source of heavy earth minerals, as the lighter minerals having been burned away. Charcoal the lighter mineral holds the heavier minerals tightly, especially calcium, so it doesn't drop out of the root zone. Charcoal also hold nitrogen and carbon and is home to a robust microbial world.  

Twigs and branches give precious energy to soil to build and renew in dormant winter months, ready for a full-powered growing season.  

Large chunks of wood are a tremendous resevoir of precious water that all parts of soils' activity needs. These raw materials are nurturing the soil as a compost heap would - but right where we need it and with more strength.

THE LEAF METHOD

Adding leaves to your garden soil is easy. Just follow these steps:

Spread the leaves generously over your soil - they will shrink a lot so don't skimp.

Spray a microbial stimulant onto the leaves like surgar or molasses dissolved in water.

Consider also a humate-based biostiumulant or fish-based product.

Leave for a few days then work about 5 - 7 inches of leaves into the soil with a hoe or shovel

Let the soil rest for the winter months.

This simple process of working leaves into the soil together with twigs, branches ashes and charcoal builds your entire soil ecosystem beneath the surface which lives and breathes. This material in the raw was the foundation for enormous Jurassic Forests.

THE MODERN METHODS

The Indian proverb summarized it well: "We don't own the earth, we simply inherit it from our children." Yet in our parks and along our streets leaves are gathered for removal and disposal. Tons and tons are sent to landfill every year, removing a precious resource form our soil - plant - foodchain. Without good soil we loose the foundation for nutrient dense food and the real heart of human health. The power to create strong soils that global warming effects of commercial fertilizer production is at our fingertips.

 "A nation who destroys its soil, destroys its people."(Rooselvelt)

Scientific research shows the sheer volume of carbon capture by soils While commercial fertilizer production is one of the most rampant destroyers of the ozone layer this simple addition of leaves to the garden soil can do your part to save the planet.

The balance can be struck with proper soil testing to determine the needs of the particular soil. In fact recently a B6 Vitamer has been discovered acting as a signaller to the plant when sufficient amonia has been absorbed, redcuing the need for nitrogen absorption.

ANCIENT SOILS
In the Jurassic World there was no commercial fertilizer and no folilar sprays. There were no herbicides or pesticides. Nutritionists believe jurassic soils contained up to 30 times the minerals, trace minerals & trace elements of todays' soils.

Trees grew literally the width of a house....and reached for the sky. They poured out phenomenal amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. They were the lungs of a thriving planet.

An entire world grew stronger by the hour feeding off these forest greens - leaves, plnts, ferns, moss. The creaking of growing jurassic forests made decible level noise.The relentless renewal took place on the forest floor and built soils with immense nutrient density.

 Its no wonder vegetarian dinosaurs or herbivores could maintain their incredible strength and power on these immense greens on offer.

THE LEAF GARDEN 

And here is that garden area  a few months after the leaf appliction. As you can see, the extra serving of manganese, carbons, silica - in the exact for the soil uses, paid off very well indeed!

THE GREAT DYING

Life on earth today is decendent from the 4% of species that remained after this catastrophic event. 

As a result of the events of The Great Dying, the course of life on earth was altered dramatically:

• an extreme reversal of the seasons
• poisoning of the atmosphere
• suffocation of life on land and in the ocean
• the collpase of entire food chains
• starvation 

Life on earth was almost wiped out forever. What little that survived didn't do so for very long.

The whole course of life on earth shifted forever. Beginning at The Siberian Traps, thousands of square miles of lava burst through layers of coal and spewed out toxic gasses like a giant exhaust pipe from the centre of the planet.

The planet cooked - then rapidly froze. The ocean heated up, releasing toxic methane buried deep in its sediment. These poisonous gases pillaged the oxygen and finally dumped carbon dioxide into the ocean. 

The following over-acidification of the seas was the kiss of death for the remaining life in the ocean. It is the closest life has ever come to being wiped from the face of the earth forever.

After The GREAT DYING, it was absolutely not the strongest who survived. It was the most opportunistic, the most adaptive and ecologically tolerant species who bounced back. 

Known as disaster taxa, these tolerent species adapted faster and evolved intricate strategies for survival. They filled the empty spaces in the evolutionary gaps.

The Horseshoe Crab for example tolerates very low

levels of oxygen to survive in habitats of fluctuating salinity. Its blue blood coagulates when it encounters bacteria. It is a true survivor from the land that time forgot.

Another among the reptile species that survived The Great Dying is the recently discovered resilient Teyujagua Lizard. This 250 year old fossil of a dinosaur relative is also called the 'Fierce Lizard'.

Another distinct group who adapted quickly was known as the therapsids. Examining their bone microstructure before and after extinction a team of palentologists found the genus Lystrosaurus evolved remarkable strategies on how to survive extinction.  These included reducing its physical size and breeding younger increasing its lifespan by up to  40%.

Biologist Dr. Peter Ward suggests that while crocidilians and mammals merely survived in the post great dying world, dinosaurs survived the major mass extinction. They emerged, and even evolved. They adapted with a unique air-sac system we call 'bird-lungs' in response to the oxygen depleted air of 12% - 16%.

OCEAN ANOXIA

The overall recovery however was first thought to have been a painfully slow process. 

The planet's oceans were so incredibly starved of oxygen. Also abundant soil run-off into oceans as a result of the lack of plant life caused further delay.

Massive algae blooms were the result, starving the oceans beneath of precious oxygen. And this lack of oxygen was thought to dramatically slowed the rate of recovery. (However scientists also believe that the varying evels of oxygen at different depths supported more diverse forms of life.)

Their findings recently published have suggested that widespread ocean anoxia caused oxygen levels to take nearly 5 million years to return to normal levels. "Explaining the 5-million-year delay in the Earth system's recovery to pre-extinction conditions after the Permian extinction has been a challenge," said Kimberly Lau, a PhD candidate in geological sciences at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. 

2017 GREAT DYING STUDY

A new haul of diverse fossils in Idaho has caused a dramatic re-think. According to a recent discovery at the Paris Biota site, life recovered more quickly than we thought.

Lead Patentologist Daniel Stephen from Utah Valley University said: "The information that my colleagues and I have gathered tell us that at least in some places the recovery was relatively rapid."

THE RECOVERY ON LAND

Unsurprisingly recovery on land was characterised by a tremendous fungal spike. Fungi and microbes recycle dead matter and return their nutrients to the eco system. This creates fantastic symbiotic relationships with plants and acts as vast extensions to plants’ root systems. 

Fungi today have been discovered to play a significant role in both the clean-up and detoxification of toxins and poisons on the planet. 

FROM THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT

The paleontoligist Richard Fortey gives us a remarkable insight into how species have adapted and survived the mass extinction events that have shaped our world today.

Ancestors of crabs an lobsters like trilobites and brachiopods developed structures and systems that gave them and advantage with tough thick exo-skeletons that protected them.

THE HORSESHOE CRAB

 

The closest living decendent of these creatures called the horseshoe crab evolved with many of their ancestors' characteristics. Evidence shows they go back 400 milion years. 

Fossilized remains of horseshoe crab from the jurassic period show that they haven't changed a lot since then. Having surived at least 2 great mass extinctions they are extremely tolerant to environmental change.

 

The blood of the horshoe crab is not based on iron and red like ours - its blue - and based on copper. When confronting bacteria, it clots.

THE GINKGO TREE

Particularly interesting is the survival of the ginkgo tree. It grew in Jurassic Earth and dinosaurs once feasted upon its leaves. 

So incredibly resilient and adaptive, this tree actually survived the atom bomb in Japan, producing new shoots soon after it was dropped. 

The ginkgo tree is known as 'the tree that time forgot' . It has remained unchanged for an incredible 200 million years.

 

It is known as a living fossil and the oldest tree on earth. It's adaptabilty to different environments is quite remarkable, having thrived in radically different ecosystems since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. 

Today, its toughness and ability to withstand pollution is legendary. 

GINGKO GENOME

Recently a team of researchers drafted the genome sequence of the ginkgo. They discovered a high level of gene duplications and gene clusters possibly responsible for:

• enriched stimuli response - including defense
• multiple defense mechanisms against pathogens and insects
• enhanced resistance and adaptibility

Palentologists made a recent discovery of an extremely rare petrified ginkgo bark dating back 160 million years in Western Liaoning, China. Published in nature.com it revealed a cell structure virtually the same as it is in today's ginkgos. Scientists are now able to mark some of the earliest steps in ginkgo evolution as can be seen in nature.com.

GINKGO BRAIN POWER

Revered for its brain boosting properties, it is used widely in the treatment of mild cognitive impairment, alzheimers disease and dementia. In a remarkable study, Gingko Biloba extracts' powerful ability to alleviate brain changes brought by aluminium chloride may be down to specific anti-oxidant properties.

 

The leaf contains an extract called EGb-761. Standardised to contain about one quarter flavone glycosides and 6% flavone lactones, this is where the magic is found. Avoid products extracts containing gingkolic acids, from seeds and poor quality leaf. These have been shown to be dangerous and even carcinogenic.

  

At The Pittsburgh Ginkgo Festival celebrating a living fossil and educating all ages on the cultural history of the tree is the aim. They aim to protect this trees' rich heritage for future generations.