Regenerate Soil, Regenerate Yourself,
Regenerate the Earth

My Why

Advocate(n): One who pleads another’s cause; from Latin vocare—to call.

I am a soil advocate. What does that mean to me?

It means that I speak for this holy ground that we all walk upon, that I’m giving voice to the countless multitude of micro- and macro-organisms that we inter-exist with on this planet.

Did you know? There are more micro-organisms in a handful of healthy soil than there are humans on the earth. That’s billions of life forms in a handful of soil. Billions.

I remember the first time I found a worm. I was three or four, toddling around after my Grandma as she poked and prodded in her garden. As I crouched down next to her, she plucked a fat pink and brown worm out of the rich soil, and put its squirming body into my eager outstretched palm.

Fast forward sixty years as I watch a video of my grand-daughter, Elowyn, holding a fat worm in her grubby 3-year-old hand, amazement in her sweet voice as she exclaims, “It’s so wiggly.”

It’s that amazement that I’m speaking of, it’s that wonder that I’m speaking for.

I want Elowyn to hear HER granddaughter exclaim in wonder at her first earthworm, “It’s so wiggly.”

The earth wants to regenerate. It does it so readily when we give it a chance. The process of growing healthy soil is natural and inevitable when life is not interfered with, when it is allowed to do what it’s always done since the first creatures slithered out of the ocean and began to create life on land.

But interfere we do—and our soil is degrading at an alarming rate. We humans haven’t been smart in our agricultural and farming practices. Over 20 major civilizations globally, throughout 8,000 years of our history, have collapsed due to soil loss. Modern industrial farming practices—heavy tilling that leaves the soil disrupted and exposed; pesticide, herbicide and chemical fertilizer usage that kills the micro-biome; mono-cropping that disturbs natural biodiversity—all lead to destruction of the healthy soil matrix. This leaves the land incapable of absorbing the rain that falls on it and, thereby, run-off and floods occur that carry away even more of the precious topsoil with them.

It’s a vicious and self-perpetuating cycle.

Regeneration is a self-perpetuating cycle too.

Healthy soil is like a sponge, it absorbs rainfall and filters our waters. From that sponge, seedlings emerge—their photosynthetic cells reaching toward the sun. They draw in carbon and other elements from the air and turn it into simple sugars for nourishment. Plants make more sugar than they need and they send it out through their roots into the soil to nourish the abundant network of fungae and other life that lives on or near their roots. In return, the fungae and other micro-life breaks down the minerals in the dirt to feed the plants. In time, the plants and other life dies, decomposes and creates more rich, fertile soil. This gives us nourishing, nutrient rich food; it leads to prosperous and happy farmers; it means thriving biodiversity and properly functioning ecosystems.

Healthy soil is how we grow the healthy plants that feed us. And by us, I do mean the complex system of life that exists within each and every living being. We, too, are inter-dependent eco-systems that need to stay in balance. In essence, we are all walking, breathing composters.

Regeneration is a complex, highly developed living system that works so well when it’s allowed to—when it’s encouraged, supported, and tended to with care.

My Promise

I’m committed to becoming ever more aware of how this beautiful, natural system works and to supporting it however I can: for myself, for my grandchildren, for my great-great-grandchildren, and for the gazillions of nameless, voiceless organisms that cooperatively, symbiotically sustain and support us all.

The earth is alive, so very alive. What each of us does affects us all.

Together we can do what we cannot do alone.

Kiss the Ground

Watching the documentary movie, “Kiss the Ground”, reignited a fire that’s burned in me my whole life. I’ve always been happiest outside in nature—gardening, hiking, swimming, watching bugs. But in the past few years I’ve become increasingly weighed down, apathetic, and discouraged by the enormity of the environmental problems that we, as humans, have created and now face. The future seemed bleak.

But this movie, and the regenerative movement, has given me hope. Completing the Soil Advocate Training has reinvigorated my passion for the preservation, no, the regeneration of the earth. The course has provided me with information, tools, community and support to advocate for the soil and to be a voice for this beautiful, living earth and for us all.

Check it Out: kisstheground.com

Get Involved! Here’s What You Can Do Right NOW.

As the Poet Rumi says,

“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

What’s yours? Not sure where to start? Send me an email and we’ll make a time to talk.

I’m not an expert, but we’ll have fun learning together.

Plant a Garden

Having your own garden can be as simple as planting a few boxes of herbs, joining a community garden, or building a multi-dimensional, raised bed, permaculture food forest. You decide.

Here are some links to give you ideas:

• How to Start an Organic Garden

• Design a Garden That Works With Nature

Connect with Farmers

Farmers are growing food for us. Finding and buying directly from them is a simple and important way of connecting with the the earth that grows us all.

Ust this link to find your local Farmer’s Markets:

• National Farmer’s Market Directory