Protecting our Soil: Soil cover and mulching

    This is the market garden field which had crops in it before, now left alone for a while. Different beds at different stages. The ground is now covered in a carpet of a combination of grass, green manure and weeds(if you want). The one with the tyre marks is tractor damage and compaction. If you continue to observe nature, you can see that she is always trying to cover herself up. Common sense. The soil is like her skin and everything that grows on it is her clothing plus the leaves that fall down to mulch the soil.The soil(most)when left bare wants to be covered, to be protected from constant wind, rains, the sun- strong elements which can strip and deplete the soils of nutrients, structure and life which we depend on for our food and actually mostly every other thing.

    Also the soil has so much life and biodiversity of creatures and micro plants, networks, communities and world's(organic matter) which we cannot see which make the soil what it is enrich it and help plants grow to give us the best they can. When the soil is exposed and cultivated, ploughed or whatever, this life that is so essential for soil function, plant life and health is destroyed and they have to work to start over again to build a soil structure and cannot support the plants/nature as it should. I don't like to till the soil. It's like injuring yourself and opening up the wound again and again as its trying to heal. "A lot of our soil is moderately to highly degraded  due to erosion, loss of soil organic matter, nutrient depletion, acidification, compaction and chemical pollution. However, sustainable soil management and careful farming techniques can reverse the trend of soil degradation and ensure current and future global food Security"(unfao) as well as our health

    
     I know it's great and exciting that awareness, interest and development in agriculture and organic agriculture is increasing and on hype but let us please make sure we are working in harmony with nature and not doing the opposite- destroying for our profit. Or else there will be nothing left eventually.

   Let us not take our soils for granted. Every other thing depends on it. Farmers, gardeners let us live and practice agriculture & co. sustainably. Cover your soils, with green manure, or mulch with farm garden waste, weeds, woodchip, leave your crop in , till/cultivate less(another talk for another day) or not atall. This way you will build up and feed your soils not just feed the plants. this is how nature herself works. The creatures in the forest do not lack. Do whatever you can to protect your soil. A healthy soil produces healthy nutritious food. It even ends up being less work overall..and relatively though. I don't know much, I'm just trying to practice what is right. Be a steward of the earth.  

All the love💕, Folu, steward of the Earth.

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