This was probably the most crowded session I attended at the Homestead Festival. All the chairs were full, so people either had to sit in the grass between the aisles or stand in the back in the sun. We packed out the tent for Kevin Krause’s talk on living soil.
Soil is the bedrock foundation for all life on earth. Without living soil, nothing else would be able to survive. Yes, your soil is alive! It contains helpful bacteria and fungi that are essential to healthy crops.
These microbiomes can be disturbed or destroyed a number of ways–tilling, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides all kill off those healthy microbiomes. Not to mention that chemical products like roundup can be found in human urine after consuming a plant that has been sprayed with roundup. Yikes!
Nature hates bare ground, it’ll continue to bring in bacteria to grow weeds and other plants. Weeds grow best in bacteria-filled land, so if you have weeds growing all over your yard, it may not be a bad thing!
The highest chemicals per acre is found in cities, not on farms. All of the grass lawns in America total up to over 40 million acres. Imagine how many more gardens Americans could have!
Insects attack sick plants, so if your garden is filled with aphids and other pesky critters, your soil could use a little maintenance!
It takes all of the elements in the periodic table to create healthy living organisms like plants and animals–not a simple task at all!
Regenerative agriculture is extremely important to ensure our soil continues to stay lively. Using fertilizers such as livestock manure, earthworm castings, and compost can help regenerate your soil.
If you don’t know where to start, reach out to your local county extension office about soil testing! It’s cheap and can help you figure out what kind of nutrients your soil could use!
Roots of a Southern Kitchen 