2021 has given us many things. Some we didn’t want. But for many of us, it has given us time and the drive to get back to nature and into the garden. 2022 will see a change in the way we think of our food. Farms and Warehouses are struggling to keep up with demand due to workforce shortages. We have already begun to see shortages in the grocery stores and delivery delays. Some have experienced what it is like to not be able to obtain the things we want and need on a daily basis. While the fresh food that does get to the supermarket likely has sat in storage longer before being shipped, and therefore will not last as long on the shelves or in your fridge. It probably doesn’t taste or look as good as usual either. It is time to rethink how we obtain our food.
Over the past 2 years, there has been a mass resurgence in people wanting to grow their own fruit and vegetables. People taking back control over their food chain. From small window boxes growing 2 or 3 staple greens to large backyard vegetable and fruit gardens, home growers are reaping the benefits of growing fresh chemical-free produce, and you can too.
Harvesting vibrant, fresh and healthy fruit and vegetables have never been more important. The litany of herbicides, pesticides, and other chemicals used in commercial agriculture is quite literally making us sick. Everything from diabetes, cancers to leaky gut syndrome and so much more can be traced back to many of the commonly used chemicals in agriculture today. It is time we stopped allowing these poisons into our food chain and demand a better option. Such you can buy organic (if you can afford it) but have you actually seen what’s on offer in the organic section of the local grocer? Not much really. And it is usually hidden away in a corner somewhere out of the main aisles. This practice seeks to normalise the practice of providing chemically-laden foods over the better more flavoursome organic produce.
You could also try your local farmers’ market. This is a really good option if you have the opportunity as it allows you to speak to the farmer directly in many cases. Ask questions, develop a relationship and support your farmers. They will appreciate it trust me. For the rest of us – we must take back control of our food supply and our health as best we can by growing our own.
In order to grow flavour-filled, healthy vegetables we must also make sure we have healthy soil. Healthy soil is full of life, it breathes and smells fantastic. Life in the soil is so important that the FAO states,
“food availability relies on soils: nutritious and
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation 2015
good quality food and animal fodder can only
be produced if our soils are healthy. A healthy
living soil is therefore a crucial ally to food security
and nutrition”
Unfortunately, our land before our homes are built is almost always stripped of topsoil to make way for the building pad. This soil is often taken away and sold to landscape supply companies to sell back to you later. (Don’t get me started on that one) What is left behind when you move into your lovely home is DIRT, not soil. There is no life in it and mostly unless you paid for landscaping you will grow little but weeds. In fact, even if your home has had some soil improvements made it is likely still not optimal for growing your food. It is estimated, that 99% of soils globally are micronutrient deficient, bacterially dominated, and lifeless and by default, this makes our food nutrient-poor as well.
What should our soils be like?
Healthy living soil is full of microorganisms that not only feed your plants but they are your underground workforce or livestock as Nicole Masters refers to them in her book “For the Love of Soil”. So let’s follow Nicole for a few minutes as she explains just who is at work in your soil.
Viruses – making up the largest number of biological entities on the planet, these guys are not all bad. They are in fact contributors to the balance inherent in nature. Viruses play a central role in the control of bacteria, cycling nutrients and carbon, and the movement of energy in the soil. In fact, viruses account for 100% of bacterial death rates and carbon/nutrient cycling.
Bacteria & Archaea – first to arrive at the soil workplace and found in every environment. Yes, even sulphuric hot springs. Bacteria produce most of the enzymes required to break down compost and are integral in our guts as well. They are the brick breakers turning them into micro-aggregates. The bacterial imbalance referred to earlier creates very fine, structureless soil. These soils are more prone to erosion and surface crusting leading to air and water penetration issues. Archaea makeup approximately 10% of this group and have been identified to be responsible for methane emissions in wetlands and ruminants. There is still a lot that is not known about Archaea.
Fungi – When it comes to fungi they are much like the union worker who will only work under certain conditions. Fungi make up the neural network of soil, sending and receiving communications across thousands of acres. They share resources, communicate insect attacks to the plants, and bolster plant defenses. They help to create the sponge effect in soil by taking up extra water and nutrients to exchange with plants for energy and fatty acids. Some fungi are specialists and some are mutualistic. Some will assist in the breakdown of decaying matter such as chitin, cellulose, and lignin materials. They release powerful acids that break chemical bonds freeing minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, and zinc. Fungi are truly the powerhouse of the workforce but they are not alone and cannot work in isolation.
Protists are microscopic organisms such as flagellates, amoebae, and ciliates. Eating as much as 10,000 bacteria per day and fungi, these workers excrete nutrients for plants. They are the ones who set the bacteria: fungi ratio in the soil. A deficit in protists can lead to a boom in bacterial populations.
Nematodes are the cleanup crews of the soil, while some are also important builders of the soil structure. They control and balance microbial populations and drive the nitrogen cycle. Some 40,000 different species of nematodes have been identified.
Micro-Arthropods and Micro-Animals – not able to be seen with the naked eye, they are the demolition crews – breaking new ground, charting new channels for air and water. They also provide essential services of garbage collections and recycling. They include tardigrade, rotifers, insects, centipedes, mites, and spiders. They provide a lot of services such as speeding up decomposition, inoculating soils with bacteria and fungi as well as fertilising via the excrement.
All microbes in the soil are interconnected with the microbial workforce. One does not work without the other. The jobs just simply don’t get done correctly. So I ask you do you want to make sure your workforce is doing their job and building amazing healthy soil?
How to build the workforce?
If you are starting from scratch that is great and all the easier, but don’t worry if you think your workforce is slacking off this will also work for you. The aim of the game here is to build the workforce – they will build your soil. Then your soil will be perfectly healthy and so will your vegetables and other foods you choose to grow.
To get started from a clean slate prepare your raised garden bed in a location that gets at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. You can use window sill planters if you are in a unit block or even indoor planters if you don’t have outside access but just be sure the spot you chose has the right amount of sunlight. Next, grab a small bale of sugarcane mulch and place approximately 5cm deep in the bottom of your planter. This will assist with building soil and moisture retention. To this, we will add 20ml of produce store molasses and 10g of seaweed powder to a watering can and moisten the straw well.
The purpose of this is twofold. The workforce needs food to kick start their growth and energy that is what molasses is for. The seaweed contains lots of beneficial microbes and once mixed with water they will wake up. And they will be hungry. Seaweed is also an excellent mineral source. On top of this add a 10cm layer of mushroom compost followed by composted cow manure. These are easily obtainable at your local hardware or nursery outlet. This will form the foundation of your new soil. And your workforce will get to work pretty much straight away.
Depending on the depth of your raised bed or pots you can continue to build these layers until you are basically 5 – 10cm from the top. At the very top you will mix finished compost and organic potting mix together and fill to the top. Mulch with some more sugarcane mulch and water well with some more molasses and seaweed mix.
There you have it folks this will kick off your healthy soil and your workforce. To keep them going just water with molasses and seaweed once a fortnight. Plant into it straight away and enjoy the best and most flavoursome vegetables ever.
