Soil Health Sundays: More Than Dirt

 

(Image from Unsplash, author Eddie Kopp)

It's tough to think of something as looked down on as soil. We use derogatory phrases like dirt-cheap, dirt-poor, and dirt-farmer without even thinking about it. Dirt's, well, dirt. We even use the word "dirty" to talk about something unclean (soiled <-- see?). The truth is that anyone with a lot of dirt isn't dirt-poor. They're wealthy beyond imagining. 

That's because soil is the foundation of everything. Very little would exist on Mother Earth were it not for that layer of soil.

Without soil, we'd have no trees, no fruits or vegetables. There would be no herbivores grazing, and no predators preying on them. There would be no human beings, either. There's a meme floating around that says something like, "Despite all else, we owe our entire existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains." Sure, that's something of an oversimplification, but it more than hints at the truth. 

Without soil, there's nothing. 

Yes, I know. Hydroponics is a thing. But it's a stopgap solution at best. It's not sustainable over the long term (and by that, I mean centuries and millennia, not just a handful of decades). Hydroponics is also human-centric by design. It does nothing for the creatures we share the planet with, and it may actually be damaging if it hoards water that would otherwise nurture life in the wider world. 

If we want to ensure that we have healthy, thriving ecosystems and food for all species in the future, we must pay attention to our soil.

And that begins at home. Whether you're growing a vegetable garden, creating a "yarden", or building support for native pollinators, caring for the soil is the place it begins. Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms sums it up well. "You can't have a healthy society without healthy soil." I don't align with him on some things, but I've got mad respect for his willingness to buck the industrial food system and try to find something more holistic.

So, back to the point. If you want to make a positive change, first in your yard and then in the broader ecosystem, you need to pay attention to soil health. The problem is that human actions often (almost always?) degrade the soil around us. We raze forests and fill wetlands, then roll sod over everything and pretend like it's all okay. Then we wonder why what we plant doesn't thrive or dies outright.

It's because we turn soil into dirt (and by dirt, I mean a lifeless, nutrient-deprived, sterile mass) through our negligence and outright abuse of the world around us. 

What makes up healthy soil? What are the ingredients that help plants thrive and, in turn, support animal life, including our own? Soil usually contains:

• Minerals
• Organic matter
• Living organisms
• Air
• Water

Of course, the percentage of these ingredients varies depending on the type of soil in question. Down here in Florida, I have mostly sandy soil, although some areas of the yard have a type of humus. When we lived in Georgia, we had red clay. Interestingly, the predominance of clay is the result of human mismanagement. Clear-cutting most of the state in the 1800s meant that the topsoil just washed away, leaving us with what we have today.

But what separates soil from lifeless dust? In large part, it's the combination of ingredients. But what truly makes soil a living, dynamic thing is the presence of microorganisms within it. They're what break down organic matter into their constituent parts, what make those nutrients and minerals available to plants and other animals. A single teaspoon of healthy soil contains more living things than humans on the planet.

Soil Health Sundays will be an ongoing thing with multiple installments. I'd like to take a dive into the constituents of soil, how to determine things like soil type, and what you should do to create healthy soil around your home. Admittedly, I am NOT a soil scientist. This is all stuff I'm learning as I go and that I want to share. If any of y'all ARE soil scientists, please feel free to chime in!