Soil – The Green Tau

31 Days Wild: 4th May 2025

Growing up, our home had a lovely scented honeysuckle that climbed over the front door. Its rampant growth required periodic heavy pruning. I too have planted a honeysuckle near our front door. Its growth is sedate and its scented qualities unproven as every year its blooms attract a mass of aphids.

Aphids are meat and drink to lady birds – or so I am told – so I am loath to use an insecticide. Thinking about the aphid as part of wild nature, I googled aphids and honeysuckle. Apparently aphids on honeysuckle point to poor soil which is preventing the honeysuckle from outgrowing the aphids.

Wild honeysuckle grows in woodland environments, where the soil is rich in humus, and where the roots are shaded whilst the stems climb up to the light. So I guess I need to replant my honeysuckle in a more homely environment!

Counting on … Lent 7

13th March 2025

“I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land and made My inheritance detestable.” Jeremiah 2:7

Degraded soils create vulnerable habitats for people and animals. Without good soils, plants do not thrive and hunger and starvation follow. Microplastics are now to be found everywhere across the globe. Where they infiltrate the soil, they are polluting the soil and damaging the growth of plants. For the convenience of our lifestyle we are damaging the very thing – the land – that provides us with the means of sustenance.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/10/microplastics-hinder-plant-photosynthesis-study-finds-threatening-millions-with-starvation

Counting on … Lent 4

10th March 2025

“… when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” Genesis 2:5, 6, 9

What can we learn from the way the Earth produces and sustains life?

The story in Genesis understands that it is God who enables the soil to become life sustaining. Today scientists continue to explore and discover how the earth and plant life are interconnected in a symbiotic relationship that begins with the soil. Physiologically active compounds produced by soil organisms and plants work to promote plant development, immunity and growth via reciprocal signal emissions. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0929139317311290

Good – successful – outcomes depend upon cooperation and communication. This holds true for both soil organisms and humans.

Counting on …day

22nd April 2024

Today is Earth Day. The first Earth Day was celebrated in the USA in 1970. It is now an international day of celebration (always 2nd April) calling on people to protect the planet.

Do we understand and value the importance of the earth to our continued life and wellbeing?

For example do we care about the health of the soil? A healthy soil has:-

1. Good structure: A healthy soil has a crumbly texture with a good balance of air, water, and pore space. This allows water, nutrients, air, plant roots and microorganisms to move through it.

2. Nutrient content: A healthy soil contains the right balance of nutrients essential for plant growth. These can include nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.

3. Organic matter: Decaying plant and animal material improves soil structure, water retention and nutrient cycling.

4. Good soil pH: A pH range between 6.0 to 7.5 is ideal for plant growth.

5. Active soil microbiology: A healthy soil contains a diverse range of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. All of which play important roles in nutrient cycling, soil structure and plant health.

6. Low levels of soil compaction: A compacted soil can restrict root growth and reduce water infiltration.

7. Low levels of soil erosion: A healthy soil is not easily eroded by wind or water, which can lead to loss of topsoil and nutrients.

8. Good water-holding capacity: A healthy soil can hold water, preventing it from running off the surface or being lost through deep percolation. (https://insight.study.csu.edu.au/healthy-soil/)

If we use our farm soils in such a way that it diminishes or destroys these attributes, then we will not be able to grow enough food to feed ourselves. Further we will find that we have also diminished or destroyed local ecosystems leading to a reduction in biodiversity – ie of wild plants, birds, animals and insects. And that will have a knock on effect increasing risks of flooding, of accelerating climate change, and – particularly with the loss of pollinators- further risks to food security.

Earth Day reminds us that we must live in harmony with the earth and its natural systems.

Counting on … day 75

27th March 2024

Agroforestry offers another approach to farming that enables the long term increased sequestration of carbon dioxide. Agroforestry has two main forms:

“Silvo-pastoral agroforestry: which means the grazing of animals under trees. The animals enrich the soil while the trees provide shelter and fodder for the animals.

Silvo-arable agroforestry: where crops are grown beneath trees, often in rows which are large enough for a tractor to tend to the crops without damaging the trees. This is farming in 3D, the trees and the crops occupy different levels above ground, and also below ground where the tree roots will reach down deeper than the crops.”(1)

The additions of trees in the farm enhances the amount of carbon dioxide that is being . At the same time the practice also benefits the condition of the soil. “Tree roots reach deep into the ground, releasing much-needed carbon into the soil. They cycle nutrients and bind the soil together, preventing it from being eroded by the wind or the rain.”(1)

(1) https://www.soilassociation.org/causes-campaigns/agroforestry/what-is-agroforestry/