Why Soil?
Soil is a vital part of the natural environment! Therefore, building and maintaining healthy soil is important.
Below are a few benefits healthy soil provides for our environment, according to Kiss the Ground:
Soil carbon sequestration is possible when soil is healthy. Plant photosynthesis uses sunlight to combine carbon dioxide and water to produce carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are used to build plant structure and 30-40% of them are pushed through the roots to feed fungi and bacteria who use it to build soil organic matter (storing in carbon in the ground).
Healthy soil contains soil organic matter. Soil organic matter (humus) can retain 20x its weight in water, allowing for continuous, easy access for plant/micro-organism use. Additionally, healthy soil allows infiltration of water, reducing runoff into oceans and restoring our water tables.
Soil organic matter (humus) is 50% carbon. In the soil, carbon acts just like your own home carbon water filter, capturing heavy metals and toxins that are unwanted in the water supply. Additionally, healthy soil reduces the need for toxic chemicals and the consequent contamination of our watersheds.
Healthy soil is full of life. In fact, it’s the most biodiverse place on earth. There are more organisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil than all of the people on planet earth. When the soil food web is activated, diverse plants and animals can return and above ground habitats can be restored.
You can’t have healthy, nutrient-dense food, without healthy soil. The healthy soil matrix is full of life, working in concert with the plant. The plant feeds the organisms and the organisms access minerals with enzymes, etc, for the plan from the soils substrate. For example, today you can find oranges grown from poor soil that don’t contain any Vitamin C.
Visit Kiss the Ground to learn more about the power of healthy soil.
