by Keri Sapsford

P PL LA AY Y I IN N T TH HE E D DI IR RT T

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” – Audrey Hepburn.

I plant a garden every year, and I have since I was a kid and I do believe in tomorrow. The reason that I do believe in tomorrow is that humans are so powerful, we have both the power to destroy and the power to build up and regenerate. We have seen the power of humans to destroy landscapes to turn lush landscapes into deserts and beautiful locations into polluted wastelands. But I have also seen amazing people improve soil and the health of the planet through regenerative agriculture and permaculture, and through these practices, greening the desert, turning wastelands into productive and abundant landscapes, and regenerating our landscapes and soils instead of destroying them. And it all comes back to what is beneath our feet.

“Despite all of our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of top soil and the fact that it rains” -Paul Harvey

I think this quote really underscores that soil is truly the foundation. Without it we do not exist, our food does not exist, our water does not exist our planet does not have life. To fix anything we need to start at the foundation, and it is becoming more and more evident that our environmental problems can be helped if not solved by paying attention to the soil and keeping it healthy. Not only can healthy soil grow nutrient dense food, that can grow healthy humans and ultimately healthy communities, but it can also clean our water, store carbon instead of having carbon in the atmosphere (causing the greenhouse effect), it can also hold more water to minimize the impacts of flooding and drought, it can host a diversity of microorganisms that have been found to decompose pollutants. The list can go on and on. As a society maybe we have forgotten that everything comes from the soil, our food and medicine is grown in the soil, our food eats what is grown in the soil, our water is filtered through the soil, the microorganisms living within the soil have been providing scientists with our medicine (i.e. Antibiotics etc…) But soil has been treated like dirt and it’ s been allowed to erode away, it’ s been treated with chemicals that kill the microorganisms in the soil, it’ s had its nutrients removed and not returned. But as I mentioned before, we have the same power to regenerate and have a positive impact on our planet. One way that we can do that is to take care of the soil within our own sphere of influence.

T TA AK KE E C CA AR RE E O OF F Y YO OU UR R S SO OI IL L

Cover the Soil

Any bare patches of soil between plants can be covered with mulch, plant residues, or by plant cover. This helps to keep the soil cooler, retain moisture and as an added bonus reduces weeds.

Leave roots in the soil

There are more micro-organisms in a tsp of soil than there are humans on the planet! Just like our gut microbiome micro-organisms in the soil keep it healthy. Leaving roots in the soil ensures that these microorganisms have food to keep them active and thriving!

Plant with lots of diversity

A diverse planting ensures a more robust and resilient eco-system. When we plant a diversity of plants above ground, we give those micro-organisms in the soil a diversity of things to eat below ground as well. That means we get a diversity of micro-organisms that are helping to support the soil and the plants. (So instead of lawns, plant literally anything else)

The soil is home to many microscopic organisms, such as Bacteria, fungi, arthropods, microarthropods, nematodes etc... When tillage or soil disturbance is reduced, the soil profile and soil eco-system stays intact and does not need to re-establish every time it is tilled. While tillage is sometimes required in an unhealthy soil, tillage is reduced as the healthy soil micro-organisms start to create their healthy and beneficial eco-system underneath the ground.

Reduce or stop the use of chemicals meant to kill or destroy

While these chemicals are sometimes necessary to achieve a certain outcome they should be used sparingly in order to maintain the microbial, and plant diversity required to keep the soil healthy.

Make and add Compost

Like Mufasa said, it’ s the circle of life. What is taken out of the soil can be returned as compost to return the nutrients and inoculate the soil with microorganisms. This can boost the productivity of the soil, and help to reestablish those healthy soil eco-systems!

So next time you go outside, take a moment and put your bare feet on some land and reflect on that soil underneath your feet and your power to make a difference.

Keri Sapsford is a compost nerd, who loves to get her hands, fingers and toes in the dirt. She is always in awe at all that nature has to offer and teach us.

Owner of the Backyard and Compost Corner, Keri's passion is helping people to create abundant and beautiful outdoor spaces.

40 yrs ago we had a female crow named Lulu. At that time, I had weaned my son and was feeling sad so my sweet husband brought me Lulu thinking that it would help with my melancholy . It certainly did and that Oct. our Daughter was conceived .LulMy husband brought Lulu to me as a baby so new she didn’t have pin feathers. I put her in a shoe box with a piece of flannel and placed the box on top of the fridge. We didn’t touch her .. we fed her soft dog food every two hours and used an eye dropper for water. I loved how she would lift her bum up so I could put a piece of Kleenex under and catch her poop. Eventually when her pin feathers showed up I would let her step onto my finger while still in the box . I even took her with me in the box if I had to go pick up our daughter at school . She graduated to the back of a chair as her feathers showed up and as soon as she could jump from the chair , I took her outside to the garden . She loved green peas and would stay on my shoulder with a pea pod and pull it open to get at the peas. She was free to be outside but would hop up the steps to the door and tap on the door with her beak to come in. We live in a small town and when I walked down to the grocery store , she would fly above my head about the height of a telephone pole , then wait on the roof of the store and fly back when I walked home. She loved being out in the yard with our 13 mo. Old son and would hop around with him while he toddled around. My husband heard a rumour going around amongst the Christian sect that I must be a witch ,can you imagine ? I wonder what they thought when my husband went for a walk around town one day in his kilt with Lulu riding along on his shoulder . That fall we went away first week end in Sept . When we came back , she was gone. I cried myself to sleep the rest of the week. I like to think that she came back the next spring with her family . Jayne Graham is a prairie woman, born in Tisdale Sask. She lives in Birch Hills where she and her partner Hamish run a Haskap orchard. Jayne is a musician, a singer songwriter, and writer of poems and short stories. At heart, Jayne says she must be a gypsy .She and her husband split their time between 3 mobile homes,one in the forest, one in town and one which is a solar powered former city disability bus that serves as a camper. Jayne has many friends in the music community of Sask.and also on Vancouver Island where 3 of her children live by: Jayne and 6 Grandchildren.Graham -12-

Those who journey within rarely come back emptyhanded....