Black gold is not oil, it's soil

The present agro-industry practices have to go. Every time I see a row of lanky plants on naked soil, I just can't believe it. It's wrong in so many levels that it's hard to think how such idea could've even been conceived.

Civilization (which means these practices *sigh*) is said to have started in Mesopotamia, which was located by the Euphrates river about six thousand years ago. It was supposed to be a wonderful place, the land of milk and honey. Where is it now? Oh yes, Irak, a desert.

How could it happen? If you read my previous article: "Designing an edible garden, what to do first" (and possibly if you didn't) you might have a fair idea of what happened: erosion.

Top soil is the most valuable thing in the world for us because it supports life as we know it. But not all top soil is made equal. The soil needs to be alive to support life.

How do we know if it's alive? Simple. It's black. Black soil is spongy. It holds the right mixture of water and air, and it's full of microbial life.

What happens when we take out the vegetation cover of the soil? The sun kills the microbial life (the soil becomes grey, hard and brittle), water and wind moves the exposed dirt away. Uncovering the soil, turns gold into dust.

The role of microbes in the soil

Realizing why the microbes were important was another duh moment for me, transformed into aha as the complete scope of the information sank in.

Here it goes: Plants don't have stomach, nor intestines.

There I said it. Stated the obvious. Now what does it mean?

it means that the roots will only be able to take in nutrients dissolved in water and of the size of the absorbent hairs of the root system. And what takes care of extracting the nutrients from decaying life and making them available? Microbes. So they play the part of the gut flora.

This is why the salts used in agro-industry are water soluble. So the roots can take them in directly, without the need of bacterial help--which by the moment this is required has been for the most part decimated.

Now, plants are fairly self-sufficient beings. They only need around fifteen nutrients to make things happen. We, on the other hand, need a lot more nutrients between minerals and vitamins (around 90 give or take). These are essential for the proper function of the body and we do not produce them. So, when the plant is in a great soil with a rich biology, the soil will have available the minerals that the plant needs and the ones that we need. When available, plants take in additional nutrients (different plants have different preferences) and they go right to us when we eat them. You probably saw charts about what plant carries what mineral, etc. Well, that's not necessarily true. Spinach can have a natural ability to carry iron, for example, but if it's not in the soil, guess what? it will not be there.

I realized when I learned this that agro-industry was essentially a scam. Because plants treated with artificial amendments (with exceptions) will not contain the nutrients that the plant is able to carry and pass to us, so it's fake food devoid of the nutritional density we really buy it for. It's the equivalent of buying a gold ring that it's gold on the outside and lead in the core.

Wrapping up

To have a healthy beautiful garden, we need to dedicate thought, time and space to grow a healthy soil. A healthy soil will give a plentiful bounty of beautiful plants that need little tending and pass that health to us.

Thanks for reading. :)

All comments are more than welcome.

Imgs: stock photo from Canva.