Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Handling aggregates is important. Those that feel rounded and light in weight are
usually good, whereas sharper, flatter, heavier aggregates are less good. The ultimate
way to make contact with the soil is to roll in the mud and rub it over yourself, a
primal activity where you are absorbing the land through your skin.
Lines-Kelly (2004) believes that touching the soil literally earths us, connect-
ing our human spirit to our core. She believes that we have a subconscious link to
the soil that goes deep into the core of our being and connects us with the spirit of
what it means to be alive. She also quotes Wendell Berry, who considers that any-
one who contemplates the life of the soil for some time will see it as analogous to
the life of the spirit. Many have handled and worked with soil for a long time, yet
the soil is such a complex organism that we still have a very poor knowledge of it.
Lewandowski (1998) thinks that soils are wild in that they are unknown territory,
self-regulating, and beyond our control—just like Spirit.
After handling the soil, I try to avoid saying that my hands are dirty or soiled. In
the Maori language, there are no words to say this anyway. Nevertheless, the hands
are no longer clean, particles stick to the skin, and the organic matter leaves dark
markings. I feel uncomfortable, a bit contaminated, so I wash them or rub them
in wet grass. Perhaps it is not really necessary. Lines-Kelly (2004) believes that if
we can rid ourselves of the connection between soil and dirt or excrement, we may
improve our connection with the soil.
Smell is also important. I sometimes teach the spade test in lecture rooms or vil-
lage halls, where I will have up to 20 slices of soil. If the room is kept closed, the soil
produces a strong smell as it breathes, making all aware of its life. When doing the
test, I encourage people to smell the soil. They soon learn the difference between the
mellow, clean, sweet smell of a soil rich in organic matter; the fainter, earthy smell
of most agricultural soils; and the yucky, sulfurous smell of soil that has been water-
logged and is in poor condition (Shepherd 2009).
Another connection to the soil that is perhaps less obvious is through hearing. I
have already mentioned the sound of soil being cultivated. Other direct sounds can
occur after heavy rainfall, especially in cereal stubble. As the water drains out of
the very large pores and they fill with air, bubbles make their way upward through
the pore system. As they burst at the soil surface, they can produce a series of plops.
Peasants in ancient Slavic tribes used to listen to what “Moist Mother Earth” was
telling them by digging a hole in the ground with their fingers and placing an ear to
it. Swan (1993) considers that listening to this language was part of their worship of
the Earth. He also thinks that there is a voice deep within us that understands nature
and our own nature and that we should listen to its promptings.
These connections to the soil or any other being or thing are enabled by “spirit”
and increase our awareness of the environment, motivating us to care. We hear regu-
larly at funerals the words “ashes to ashes” and “dust to dust.” This reminds us that
we are from the Earth and will return to it in spirit as well as body. Boff (1997)
believes that when we become conscious of ourselves as Earth, we can start to feel
at one with Creation and recognize that some of the mountain, of the sea, of the air,
of the tree, of the animal, of the other, and of God is in us. This is also an important
definition of the human spirit in deep ecology, the means of consciousness where one
feels connected to the whole and which I call Wholeness.
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