Soil Contains a Living Universe that Needs to be nurtured

We came across the following blog post on The Living Seed Company’s website The Living Seed Company is “dedicated to the preservation of the genetic diversity in our food chain through the distribution and growing of open-pollinated seeds and educating about the life-affirming art of seed saving.” We felt this article did a great job of simplifying and explaining the importance of an often-overlooked yet truly essential component of lawn care: Soil!

THE UNIVERSE UNDER OUR FEET – SOIL

Posted by Living Seed Company on March 8, 2012

Did you know that soil was alive? Many people do not realize this, something that on the surface may look look dead, but upon closer inspection is bustling with life! Many people have misconceived notions about soil, it is usually associated with words such as something being dirty or soiled.  An inaccurate correlation to an element of our life that is so critical and that is such a dependent element to our survival.  Healthy soil goes hand in hand with a healthy environment. “The nation that destroys its soil – destroys itself” (Roosevelt 1937) The first and most important step in improving soil health is to recognize that soil is a living organism and all parts of our ecosystem depend on it – it is vital to our survival, the growth of our food, and the maintenance of our ecology. There are billions of microorganisms that make up a whole network below ground.  In one spoonful there are 600 million bacteria! Imagine that – there is an entire network of life below the ground, right underneath our toes.  A network that works together with the trees, the plants, the fungus and so much more, all to be able to sustain life above ground for us – amazing! Soil, for example, is the measure of the health of biological systems. In other words, the soil is the metaphor for our environment, if we have healthy soil we have a healthy environment. Annually, we are losing 1 percent of our topsoil per year, due to industrial agriculture, the process of mono-cropping, heavy chemical use, and erosion of our soils.  Just to put things into perspective –  it takes thousands of years to form one inch of topsoil. Life in the soil provides the structure for more life and the formation of more soil.  Soil is equated to food and food is equated to life. The fertility and the quality of soil will determine the health and stability of all life that is relying on it  – just as the health of each human being will determine fertility and the quality of their life. The reality is that a simple way to help maintain healthy soil and manage waste in your home is by simply composting. In essence, it is an excellent free resource of nutrients for our plants and the earth. It doesn’t smell, but mainly, it reduces the amount of waste going to a landfill, all creating the fertile ground for a microcosm universe to exist and for soil sustainability to flourish! Don’t know where to start? Check out our simple DIY Urban Vermiculture Composting post! We are all organisms working within one larger organism – called Planet Earth. Seeing on the micro and macro level gives us a wider perspective into the many realms that are living in harmony here with us.