Soil

Fertile soil is a complex ecosystem of the most extraordinary numbers and diversity, there may be up to 1 billion cells from 4,000 or more species of microbes in a teaspoon of soil. Organic and mineral materials in the soil are broken down by the various organisms that live in it. Most of the breakdown products are used by the plants as nutrients but some of them become resistant to further decomposition and create a stable structure to the soil known as humus, this is important as it aids the plant to grow and thrive by increasing the absorption of minerals and organic compounds. By enabling plants to flourish soil organisms are fundamental to our very existence.

The use of chemical fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides can inhibit the microbiological life in the soil which in turn affects the health of plants.

*Swiss researchers compared the soil between organic and non organic farming and found dramatic differences in the mass of soil organisms. On the organic land the mass of micro organisms which provide delivery of nutrients to the roots of crops was 25% greater.

*Pesticides have been shown to reduce earthworm populations by 60–90%.

Nourishing the soil and nourishing ourselves goes hand in hand.