It's the first time in a long while since I have had the opportunity
to sit at my computer to do something other than check my email, pay
bills and write up invoices. It doesn't seem like it was too long ago I
felt tethered to my computer as I was preparing presentation after
presentation for our
Spring Gardening Series
at the New Canaan Library. I'm not complaining at all - I have been
blessed with nine weeks of solid gardening after a winter of 60+ inches
of snow. Our time following the thaw started off in April amending and
seeding our raised beds and those of our clients. Amending the soil on
an annual basis is what we consider one of the most important steps in
the process.
“Essentially, all life depends upon the
soil ... There can be no life without soil and no soil without life;
they have evolved together.”
Charles E. Kellogg, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1938
Before
becoming a full-time professional gardener and an accredited organic
land care professional three years ago - I used to research food, water,
and agribusiness companies for my brother's investment company. Over
the course of a decade or more of reading about companies directly
involved with our food production, my understanding of the importance
soil plays in growing healthy fruits and vegetables has grown
exponentially.
Today we find ourselves in a situation where the US
and much of the world’s inventory of arable topsoil has been lost due
to erosion, overuse of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers and other farming
practices that leave the soil depleted. Our planet is losing its usable
topsoil at a considerable rate [75 to 100 GT per year]. What does that
mean - basically it means it's estimated that there will only be
about 48 years of topsoil left, if we keep up the pace.
“The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.”
Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America, 1977
Fact:
Food grown in nutrient deficient soil lacks the nutrients necessary to
keep people healthy and declines in the nutritional values in food have
been attributed to mineral depletion of the soil, loss of soil
microorganisms along with changes in plant varieties.
Our food
system is rapidly losing the ability to produce food with nutrient
levels adequate to maintain the health of families because over the
extreme levels of soil degradation we experience in the US.
“The
alarming fact is that food – fruits and vegetables and grains – now
being raised on millions of acres of land that no longer contains enough
needed nutrients, are starving no matter how much we eat from them.” US
Senate Document 264 (1936)
This is not a new
problem, as the quote from the US Senate Document 264 stated back in
1936! Soil degradation has been talked about and debated for decades and
is a problem that is not solely in the United States but is a global
issue.
Deforestation,
overgrazing and over cultivation have resulted in the degradation of
soils in every region of the world. The 68th UN General Assembly
considered it worthy enough to turn their attentions to soil importance
by declaring 2015 the International Year of Soils.
The fact of the
matter is that soils have been transformed by human activity. Whether
it's been through physical degradation by removing natural vegetation,
leaving surfaces exposed to the elements or biological degradation where
soil has been exhausted of nutrients.
With erosion comes
desertification in some areas - I'm sure many who live in the west
probably have noticed the increasing number of dust storms. National
Geographic recently covered a story,
American West Increasingly Dusty
comparing dust emissions to be reminiscent of the Dust Bowl Days. In
other areas, we see increased flooding or mudflows. In the end, all
culminating in a loss of soil and biological diversity which directly
threatens our overall food security.
Today, the nutritional value
of harvested food is a major issue. Over the course of a half a century
of the over use of petroleum-based synthetic fertilizers - the
commercial farming industry has brought about the destruction of the
natural balance of carbon reserves in our soil.
Why is carbon so important in our soil?
The role of carbon is two-fold holding valuable nutrients as well as
moisture for plants. The destruction of carbon has caused our soils to
lose the ability to grow healthy food since plants get their nutrients,
important minerals from the soil.
Recent studies including one by
the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry showed that there have been substantial declines in the
amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B2 and vitamin C
over the last century. The study goes as far as to point the finger at
the multitude of agricultural practices used to improve traits like
size, growth rate and pest resistance.
“Be it deep or
shallow, red or black, sand or clay, the soil is the link between the
rock core of the earth and the living things on its surface. It is the
foothold for the plants we grow. Therein lies the main reason for our
interest in soils.”
Roy W. Simonson, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1957
Many
other studies conclude similar and startling findings considering that
they say an adult woman eating two peaches in 1951 would have to eat 53
in 2002 to get the same nutritional value! If that doesn't make the
point clear, I don't know what will.
It's no wonder that our food
has scarcely any nutritional content - in today's global food system,
consumers are guaranteed to find a ripe tomato any day of the year, in
most any store across our country. The average produce travels
1500-2500 miles to reach the grocery store; being harvested well before
the fruit is properly ripened.[Pirog et al 2001] Most fruits and
vegetables contain 70% - 90% water and once it is separated from its
source of nutrients - the tree, the vine or the plant - they undergo
higher rates of respiration, moisture loss, quality and nutrient
degradation and potential microbial spoilage.
Chemical
preservatives are used to make produce look better to consumers, despite
the loss of nutritional value. While full color may be achieved after
harvest, nutritional quality can not. Tomatoes harvested green have 31%
less vitamin C than those allowed to ripen on the vine. (Lee and Kader,
2000) Plus commercial produce producers selects seed varieties for
transportability, shelf life, not nutrient content or flavor.
So what can you do about this global problem?
The answer is as simple as looking in your own backyard or perhaps you
get better sun in the front yard. Grow Your Own Food. It doesn't take a
lot of space and the time you put into it is so rewarding and healthy
for your body, mind and soul.
Food gets their nutrients from
healthy soil and healthy soil leads to higher nutrients in crops. A
growing body of research supports Sir Albert Howard and J.I. Rodale, the
founders of the organic movement who first hypothesized that soils rich
in organic matter produce more nutritious food higher in antioxidants,
flavonoids, vitamins and minerals.
Healthy
soil is biologically alive and balanced in minerals and carbon
content. Soil organisms play an essential role in the breakdown of
organic matter and other complex molecules. These activities are also
linked to processes that lead to the aggregation of soil particles into a
friable soil structure that is beneficial for the growth of plants.
The inter-connected activities of soil organisms improve soil stability
and underpin nutrient cycling on a global scale.
It’s a fact that
healthy soils are responsible for the production of food borne
antibiotics, vitamins, phyto-chemicals and amino acids – all of which
are crucial the the health of humans. The right soil will yield the
most nutritious and flavorful food possible. Old techniques which many
still prescribe to today: things like roto-tilling and hoeing on soil
can be very disruptive to soil organisms. That's just one of the
reasons we like to use raised beds since they help avoid soil compaction
which also effects soils organisms and the soil can be worked more
easily without disrupting soil organisms too much.
Decomposition of organic matter
is
the organic content of soil, as decomposing organic material increase
carbon content into the soil . This is also one of the many reasons
people should compost. I'd get more into composting but I can go on and
on and I will leave that for a soon-to-be-coming blog post.
But
composting and compost play a vital role in having healthy nutrient-rich
soil year after year. The soil we use when we install new raised
garden beds is a combination of ingredients we mix together. The compost
is the food, the nutrient source that will feed the growth of the
plants coupled with peat which holds water and help keep the soil
loose. We also include some vermiculite, a rock which is mined and
heated into little pieces that have nooks and crannies that hold water
and nutrients in the soil. It also helps keep the soil friable and less
dense. Vermiculite also adds a touch of potassium and magnesium but
not enough to disrupt pH levels. When we start with this mixture we
have created a weed free environment that is organically balanced for
growing food. The only thing on an annual basis which is replaced each
spring is the compost, since it holds the nutrients. This is why Mark
and I went around to all our clients' gardens this spring and
replenished the beds with fresh new compost.
By
growing even a small amount of vegetables you can boost your vitamin
and mineral intake significantly. There is no travel time involved and
you have controlled the environment in which it has grown. You save
water as well, since home gardening is much more efficient than
commercial farming systems.
When veggies are grown in your own
garden soil enrich with compost, you pick them when you need your
veggies minutes before a meal. They are ripe and ready when they are
highest in nutritional content. Vine ripened red peppers have 30% more
vitamin C than green peppers. (Howard et al. 1994) and vine ripened
tomatoes have more vitamin C as well as more antioxidants and lycopene
than those harvested prematurely, which is what happens daily in
commercial agriculture. (Arias et al 2000).
Soil is a non-renewable resource; its preservation is essential for food security and our sustainable future.
“We are part of the earth and it is part of us ...
What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.”
Chief Seattle, 1852
We
love helping others learn the joys of edible gardening and discovering
for themselves the nutritional benefits from even growing just a little
of their fresh produce. If they need our guidance - we are always there
to help. We have often said we consider ourselves to be gardening
coaches to our clients. We love helping people discover their green
thumb.
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| Photo credit: Daphne Sampson 2015 |
