'Teaming With Nutrients'

Soft Secrets
20 Nov 2013

The sophomore effort from Jeff Lowenfels will educate readers on nutrient uptake, following his beloved tome that explains the soil web.


The sophomore effort from Jeff Lowenfels will educate readers on nutrient uptake, following his beloved tome that explains the soil web.

Jeff Lowenfels's Teaming With Microbes has become one of the better known and accepted go-to books on soil web principles. There is every reason to expect that Teaming With Nutrients will follow in kind and become one of the standard reference books on nutrient uptake.

Teaming With Nutrients explains the basic scientific principles involved, in simple language that can be easily understood, while taking the reader further 'down the rabbit hole' than most non-textbooks. An excellent choice for curious gardeners, there is a distinctly organic spin to the book, but the arguments he makes for organic gardening are difficult to dispute.

The explanations of the processes involved build upon each other one step at a time. Chapter one starts with the basic plant cell structures that set the stage for the chemical and physical reactions of later chapters. A plant is a collection of cells, so a basic understanding of its cell structure is critical to learning about the rest. The chemistry involved is explained in chapter two, and the third chapter covers various plant tissue structures.

Macro- and micronutrients are discussed in chapter four, water in chapter five, and an explanation of how nutrients move from the environment and into the plant in chapter six. Chapter seven explains how the collected nutrients are used to create the molecules of life. By the time the final pieces are explained, the whole system is shown to fit together.

The final two chapters outline practical applications based upon the previous chapters. Explanations of common organic nutrient sources and balanced recipes for homemade fertilizers are included. Instead of a single 'best' solution, the book explains the basic principles involved and leaves room for individuality.

Understanding what nutrients are - and how the plant uses them - can help gardeners make better choices in selecting fertilizers for their gardens, while reducing nitrogen pollution.

This is not the sort of book that is read once and then put away; Teaming With Nutrients is also a valuable reference book, where favorite chapters will be read and reread. Consider keeping a highlighter handy while reading.

Gentle reader, this is a book for those who want to learn what is really going on inside the plant. It is explained simply enough for non-science majors to follow, but thorough enough to provide an edge above most other laymen. While it may be a bit more in depth than a casual gardener might care to go, this is a must-read book for those who want to consider themselves well read on the topic.

I learned a lot from reading this book, and I expect to reread most, if not all of it, again during the coming year.

 

S
Soft Secrets