Dirt music

Earth song: An interview with Matthew Evans

Matthew Evans’s latest book Soil is an expansive, accessible meditation on the life-giving qualities of the dirt beneath our feet – and the threats it faces. A farmer, cook and activist, Evans appeared at Byron Writers Festival 2022. in antibiotics, and weather, and mental health. I also became aware of how imperilled our soils are, and wanted to find out if there are good ways to improve and even replenish soils. The good news is, there are! What other authors or books did you turn to as models or influences for Soil? Mostly I read scientific papers, rather than books, because many books are for the nerdy end of the market,

What was the initial inspiration for Soil? What in particular were you curious about? I was inspired by how much we, on our farm, relied on healthy soil, and then I discovered that there was so much amazing stuff going on in soil that humans are just beginning to understand. Ninetyeight per cent of what lives in soil is still a mystery, but we know enough to be astounded. Like soil’s role

like soil scientists, and have a very narrow focus instead of the broad appeal I was looking for. That said, I really enjoyed Dirt: The Erosion of Civilisations by David Montgomery, and For the Love of Soil, by Nicole Masters, which is a great resource for farmers.

In what key ways was the writing of Soil a different experience to writing your many other books? What particular creative challenges did you face? For Soil I had to go back to scratch. For a recipe book, every mealtime is research, as you test and eat and test and eat. For something like this, I had to learn to decode complex scientific reports, cover plant biology, climate science, the human microbiome as well as soil biology as well as geology. Making the topic really interesting for the lay person, for everyone who eats, was my goal, and that was sometimes a challenge, but one I really relished. Can you tell us about your intentions with the tone of the book, and striking a balance between being humorous yet informative, entertaining yet scientific? I’m one of those people who went to uni and slept through a few of the more intense lectures. I think of reading a book myself, how my brain is tired from my day-to-today existence, and how reading a book is part of how I spend my time off. I want to be entertained, maybe learn something, and feel inspired. I also want to have a reason to care. So all of that was my intention. And the response is astonishing. I get amazing feedback from people all over the world who expect a dry tome, and are delighted by the tone, so I feel I’ve achieved that on some level. Was there anything that especially surprised (or frightened) you in your research about soil? I think I was in denial about the parlous state of the world’s soils. We lose topsoil multiple times quicker than it is made by nature (nature is constantly making it). The fact Australia has lost half its topsoil (the magic bit that does all the land’s growing) since European colonisation, and we’re due to lose the next half in decades for much of the continent, really made me sit up and take notice. And I was also shocked to find that growing grains and vegetables is often quite a good way to deplete soils, despite some of the more plant-based headlines you read in the popular press. We know that on our farm it takes way more effort and input in the garden to improve soil, but it was a surprise to find that is the case more generally. It shouldn’t be a surprise, considering soil evolved around animals, and that removing them can be bad for soil, but I hadn’t really considered the ramifications for farming more generally. Are you happy with the way the book has been received? Do you think it’s been understood and appreciated? I’m stoked at the book’s reception. I get contacted by people who now envisage soil differently, who shop differently, who garden differently. The book has been reprinted multiple times, and it got a five-star review in the UK, and sold out on release. It was one of three books shortlisted for the UK Guild of Food Writers’ Food Book Award, too. So, yes, who would have thought a book on soil could fire up imaginations? (Well, I really hoped it might, but …) What was the pathway to publication of Soil like for you, and how was the process of interacting with your publishers? My publisher Jane Morrow was super supportive. It took years of discussion, a lot of convincing other people at the publishing house, Murdoch Books, of its merits, and I did a massive re-write and cull to get the book into the shape that it is. I really wanted it to be for the general population, not just for growers, and it’s been a great leap of faith for the publishers to get behind something like this. Their faith has been rewarded, however, and we’re very excited by the response. I have to pinch myself at the way it’s gone, actually, to remind myself it’s not a dream.

What is your next project? What are you working on at the moment? I’m not working on another book at the moment, because I’ve just sent a fully revised book off to the press. It’s called The Real Food Companion, written as a love letter to my unborn child over a dozen years ago. It’s the what, why, and how of choosing and cooking food – 65,000 words plus 200 recipes to demystify what to put on the plate. The book was a real winner when it came out, but it’s been out of print for years. This new edition is due out with Murdoch in November. And after that, I think I’d like to do an illustrated children’s book on soil (with someone else doing the drawings!) … though I’d also like to go fishing for a bit.

Soil is published by Murdoch Books.