Soil

Of the knowlege I've gained so far with growing food in the backyard what stands out as the most important is soil. The tropics is tough on soil the heavy rain leaching out nutrients and leaving it baron if not looked after.
A rainforest looks lush and green with heaps of soil nutrients however the rainforest recycles all its nutrients within it's system. Take away the trees and the nutrient will only last a couple of years.
Organic matter in the soil tops the list of importance. Once you have organic matter in the soil it brings the soil alive with micro organisims. The soil food web retains nutrients and moisture in the soil that plants need.
The soils microflora including bacteria and funfi unlock the nutrients from the organic matter and minerial rock. The soils microfauna including nematodes and springtails then play a part in distributing these nutrients through out the soil.
I've built up the soil in my vegie patch through kitchen scraps via worms and palm fronds via the chicken coop and composting, methods I'll go into further detail later
See picture 1 the soil quality is great, supports plant growth.
Hoping to build another garden bed quicker I ordered on advice from garden supplies in Edmonton premium soil mix at 48.00 /m sq. Premium Joke as you can see in picture 2. It is sand mixed with chook manure that was still hot composting - buyer beware.
The Soil & Health library is a great source of information about soil http://www.soilandhealth.org/ check it out.
Another great book available from the Cairns library is "Teaming With Microbes"