The Joy of Soil
A Fine Tilth
The word tilth comes from till, meaning to work, to labour. Creating a fine tilth means to work at the soil until it becomes suitable for planting. Going back further, the word emerges from an Old High German term meaning to aim for, to strive.
Seed capsule from the team at Plant’agua, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Where I come from, we talk of black gold not as oil, the stored energy of plant matter and sunlight from millions of years ago, but as soil. The landscape in which I grew up has dark, rich, deep and fertile soil. There we call the soil black gold, because it is our riches, the promise of bounty and the hope for a plentiful future. Having soil on your hands isn’t dirty (regardless of what our American friends think about dirt), it's evidence that you love the world you live in. On World Soil Day, go and get dirty, plant a tree, make a mudpie, turn your compost. Plunge your hands into the richness of our world.
I don’t know about you, but I love soil. When I’m planning a planting scheme, one of the first questions I ask is ‘what soil do you have?’ – is it clay, chalk, silt, peat, loam - and what condition is it in? There’s a reason for that, aside from my personal affection for the stuff. If what you plant isn't suited to the soil, your plants won’t grow. A blueberry planted in chalk will be pale and spindly. A chestnut in waterlogged clay will fail. But plant a plum tree on well-drained loam, and life will abound with jam, crumble, chutney - and grateful neighbours.
Soil is the skin of the planet, a living, breathing system in constant renewal. Soil is complex, and amazing. It’s not just mucky brown stuff, but a dynamic living environment made up of a multitude of elements – mineral remains of shattered rock, organic traces of plants, soluble salts, oxygen, carbon dioxide and more. Healthy soil is full of life, with every teaspoon supporting around a billion bacteria, thousands of protozoa and scores of nematodes, and yards of fungal threads connecting the roots of plants into a vast underground network.
Creating soil
Soil provides the living ground for the plants that feed us, that enable the gas exchange in our atmosphere that allows us to breathe, that protect the earth from the sun’s heat. In turn the roots of those plants anchor the soil, prevent it from being washed away by rain, and slowly, slowly, they help form more soil. In a mild climate, it takes 200-400 years to form just one centimetre of soil; in a tropical climate a mere 200 will do it. But for that soil to be considered fertile takes even longer – as much as 3000 years. We should think of soil as a finite, non-renewable resource. Abuse it, we lose it. Only 7.5% of the planet is covered in soil that is capable of producing food. Life on earth relies on this patchy skin, just 20cm deep. And we are not caring for it – our methods of agriculture exhaust and exploit soil, draining it of nutrients and stripping it of roots and mycorrhiza. Our soil is stretched, overworked and tired.
Comparing microbial activity in degraded soil (right), normally farmed soil (left) and the soil of an agroforestry plot (centre)
But it can recover. RAIN works with local partners to support and improve their soil, to ensure resilience and diversity for generations to come. Our partners work with agroforestry, an agricultural practice that nurtures and feeds the soil. Multiple species grow together, their roots plunge deep into the earth to lift nutrients to the surface, and the organic matter that they produce enriches the soil. Their leaves shade it, and the interactions between species create a thriving, diverse and dynamic ecosystem. The soil flourishes, worms wriggle. Communities have enough food, the economic security to thrive, and hope for the future.
How can we support the soil?
Students and teachers at St. Brendan’s Sixth Form College, with a large pile of manure
We work with schools in the UK and Brazil to educate and inspire young people. Our schools develop environmental restoration projects that enrich soil, grow food, restore forests and support biodiversity. Kids soon learn that soil is really important, not just grubby.
Our Indigenous partners grow native trees in RAIN supported nurseries. They know exactly which trees to plant, and where, and why. These plants go into agroforestry and reforestation schemes, feeding the land and its inhabitants. Feeding the rich, dark matter that supports us all.
At RAIN, we recognise just how important soil is to us humans. We use a wide range of knowledge and techniques to support soil, from traditional Indigenous wisdom to scientific laboratory analysis. When we say we love the earth, we mean it.
Please, remember to give back to the soil that feeds you. Support projects that nurture the soil, put compost on your garden rather than chemical fertilisers and give the worms your respect.
