in high C/N organic matter to match the needs of soil bacteria,
especially never enough nitrogen, so soil microorganisms uptake
these nutrients from the soil's reserves while they "bloom" and
rapidly consume all the new carbon presented to them.

During this period of rapid decomposition the soil is thoroughly
robbed of plant nutrients. And nitrification stops. Initially, a
great deal of carbon dioxide gas may be given off, as carbon is
metabolically "burned." However, CO2 in high concentrations can be
toxic to sprouting seeds and consequently, germination failures may
occur. When I was in the seed business I'd get a few complaints
every year from irate gardeners demanding to know why every seed
packet they sowed failed to come up well. There were two usual
causes. Either before sowing all the seeds were exposed to
temperatures above 110 degree or more likely, a large quantity of
high C/N "manure" was tilled into the garden just before sowing. In
soil so disturbed transplants may also fail to grow for awhile. If
the "manure" contains a large quantity of sawdust the soil will seem
very infertile for a month or three.

Sir Albert Howard had a unique and pithy way of expressing this
reality. He said that soil was not capable of working two jobs at
once. You could not expect it to nitrify humus while it was also
being required to digest organic matter. That's one reason he
thought composting was such a valuable process. The digestion of
organic matter proceeds outside the soil; when finished product,
humus, is ready for nitrification, it is tilled in.

Rapid consumption of carbon continues until the C/N of the new
material drops to the range of stable humus. Then decay