Healthy soil is more than just dirt we clean off our shoes after gardening; it is a living ecosystem in itself, full of an amazing variety of creatures necessary for healthy plant development. One teaspoon of healthy soil contains as many as 5 billion living organisms. These organisms are responsible for helping fuel enough plant life to oxygenate the air and feed the more than 6,700,000,000 people on earth.
On a recent trip to the The Field Museum of Chicago, I learned a lot about soil by visiting the museum’s Underground Adventure. This adventure shrinks visitors down to a tiny size, so viewing the soil up close and personal on the correct scale is possible. This is a particularly wonderful exhibit for families to see together.
Proof of this is when I met Jeff O’Connor, Organic Farmer and Certified Crop Advisor, and his family (photos above and to the left). He was at the The Field Museum of Chicago as a soil expert on the day I came in to tour the Underground Adventure. As working organic farmers, Jeff and his wife, Gina, hope to live an experience that puts their children Kelsey, Evan, and Morgan in direct contact with the soil and the natural world around them. They answered dozens of questions for touring children and adults alike.
Jeff and I spoke about the amazing process of how microbes flock to root tips to eat dead cells and drink sugar and amino acids, thereby creating a uniquely powerful symbiotic relationship which enables plants to support the human race. Promoting positive soil habits like utilizing less insecticides and weed killers will allow homeowners to build microbes and have healthier soil, and therefore healthier plants on their property.
The Field Museum’s Top Ten list of things you can do to improve soil quality at home is below. More detail and further descriptions of each of the items on the list can be found at this link - http://www.fieldmuseum.org/undergroundadventure/index.shtml
- Recycle.
- Start a worm compost bin.
- Start a regular compost pile.
- Support farmers who grow crops organically.
- Read and incorporate the principles of the International Earth Charter into your life - www.earthcharter.org/, environet.policy.net/.
- Learn about your local area's special dumping, run-off, and hazardous waste disposal rules, as well as what toxic materials you may have in your home..
- Grow things.
- Have a No Trash Lunch Week.
- Plant native species in your backyard or on your school campus.
- Plan a volunteer workday to help clean up a vacant lot, river
habitat, or other place in need of restoration.
The Soil Adventure Mobile offers community groups, schools, libraries, and neighborhood groups all over the Midwestern region a perfect way to extend the Underground Adventure exhibition experience. Have your community explore soil with a hands-on educational program (see the cool Soil Adventure Mobile to the right) – invite the Soil Adventure Mobile out to a community event to promote healthier living.
Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
Comments