##Notes
– Manzano Mountains, Central New Mexico, USA
– Michael Martin Melendrez, founder of [Soil Secrets](http://soilsecrets.com)
– Michael is also well known for his coining the phrase and writing the first paper ever on the Soil Food Web titled ‘Soil Ecology and the Soil Food Web’ in 1974
– sugar maples, drop leaves to provide a protective mulch
– we are told we need to change our soils from their natural alkaline state to a more acidic pH
– but the organic matter dropped by the maples hasn’t changed the pH of the soil where they grow
– the organic matter is turned into humus
– topsoil under the maples is very thin, with only a thin layer of humus
– so we don’t need to make a huge change to soils in order for them to support our plantings
– these forests provide an example of how we can use permaculture to alter a landscape without a huge amount of effort – we don’t need to completely change the soil in order to be successful
More videos about soil can be seen at the [Soil Secrets](http://soilsecrets.com) web site.