Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Although the soil is most exposed when it is freshly plowed, it is most vulner-
able after it is cultivated to produce a seedbed. The soil aggregates are small, and
the surface is usually level and fairly firm. The seed and fertilizer are then sown a
few centimeters below the soil surface. Everything connects together in hope when
seeds are dropped into the soil, and everything is at risk at this stage. The seed can
be eaten by birds, the soil can be eroded, and the fertilizer washed away by the rain
or blown away by the wind. At this time, the connection between farmer and soil is
at its greatest, and the call of nature is most keenly felt.
Hildegard von Bingen was highly creative, composing music, writing topics and
poetry, healing, learning philosophy, and seeing visions. She first became aware of
having visions at the age of 5 and explained that she saw all things in the light of God
through the five senses of sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing. All the senses are
involved in engagement with the spirit. She was a remarkable woman, describing the
characters of soils from their colors. A red soil was best as it had the right mixture
of moisture and dryness and so produced a lot of fruit. A black soil also had a good
mixture of moisture and dryness but was cold and less productive. A green soil was
the worst because it was both cold and dry.
I believe that by studying the Earth and getting to know it better, we develop a
personal relationship with it. When we really observe the soil, we begin to love it and
then to treat it with respect and reverence. The theologian Boff (1997) summarized
this well: “when you are studying the soil, the cosmos is studying itself.”
The act of digging up a spade full of soil and gently pulling it apart as in using a
spade test (Ball et al. 2007) is a positive, peaceful, and even a healing experience.
This feeling depends on time and place but leads to a sense of the sacred, the “holy
ground.” I like to handle the soil gently, to treat it with reverence, so that it will reveal
more of its true character.
The other way to get up close and personal with the soil is to dig a soil pit. Soil
creation takes a very long time. It takes about 10,000 years or longer for ice, rain,
wind, sun, vegetation, and bugs to make 30 cm of soil. So when you dig a pit, you
dig through thousands of years in a couple of meters of soil (Shaxson 2006). As you
look down the sides of the pit, you can imagine how the soil was made, the movement
of the ice, the scraping of the rock surface, the particles floating down through the
water, the roots spreading down. You are looking through time as well as through
space. The other advantage of being in a pit is that you become aware of being held
within the biosphere rather than on a planet (Sewall 1995). Sewall believes that this
produces a feeling of vulnerability and liberation, as well as a feeling of perception that
is like a communion with the soil and that can be experienced as a spiritual practice.
Connection is established to the soil not only by sight but also by the other senses,
which need to be reawakened to renew our bond with the Earth. Many people learn
about the soil by walking on it, especially when it is soaking wet and you are ruining
your good shoes! I reckon that by walking across a harvested field, I can judge what
type of tillage is needed to establish the next crop. Hard, smooth areas or areas with
wheel ruts will need tillage, whereas softer areas, which sink a little beneath the feet
and crumble around the stubble of the previous crop, may need little or no tillage.
In spade tests of soil structure, a lot can be learned from touching the soil. The
ease with which the soil breaks up is critical to assessing the quality of the structure.
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