Soil
Soil is critical to nutrient cycling, creating vibrant ecosystems, healthy food systems, cooling the climate, and ensuring a balanced hydrological cycle. Materially, soil is comprised of: minerals, water, organic matter, microorganisms and gasses. Its cultivation depends upon trillions of invisible microbes in the soil that decompose organic matter into dark, rich humus - the nutrient-rich component of soil which allows flora, fauna and fungha to thrive and upon which the entire ecosystem depends for continuous regeneration.
Soil’s texture, whether loamy, sandy, crumbly, clay-like or “hard pan” and compacted, is determined by: mineral composition of sand, silt and clay particles, and the presence (or lack thereof) of water and microbes. Healthy, balanced soil appears dark in color, feels and smells moist and earthy, and is possessed of living roots, soil aggregates, and pore spaces that allow water and gasses such as oxygen to permeate and flow through it. We intuitively recognize healthy soil given our bodies’ innate connection to and physical need for it to survive. Supporting soil fertility is the regenerative key to life for future generations to thrive and to reverse the perils of human-induced climate change.
We can dream in a vibrant, regenerative and ancestral future by reciprocating to and feeding the soil in sacred and deliberate ways. In returning abundance to the soil, we can collectively exist on this planet in Divine harmony.
“Fertile, healthy and living soil is central to facing the social and ecological challenges of today: climate change, desertification, and environmental degradation. Caring for the soil also contributes to the supply of healthy food, clean water and protects biodiversity. That is why a future-oriented farming strategy must have the protection and regeneration of healthy soil at its centre.”
Alysoun Barret Bolger, Executive board member at Biodynamic Federation Demeter International