“We are overlooking soil as the foundation of all life on earth”

— Andres Arnalds

Many of us have been regrowing spring onions or lettuce in the kitchen, (trying to) grow avocados from the stone or enthusiastically planting seeds and buying plants and then feeling disheartened when they wilt and die, but this failure and trying and testing is a completely necessary and natural part of this learning process. This has been a beautiful trend which picked up during the periods of confinement, the question is how do we keep this going? 

Successfully growing something from a seed is a simple, humbling process which brings us back to the earth, reminding us of our innate connection to our environment. Getting our hands dirty and watching the plants grow day by day can be a calming and healing process which brings a layer of mindfulness to our days, checking the leaves, the weather, and feeling awe as we watch the process of new life.

We began by getting our hands into some soil samples; comparing, feeling, smelling the soil and identifying what the soil consists of. 

“Soil is an almost magical substance, a living system that transforms the materials it encounters”

–George Monbiot. 

Turns out it is complex and very much alive, made up of organic matter, microorganisms, air and water (ideally). Anna and her assistant/daughter, Kira, demonstrated the effects of rain over poor quality soil and good quality soil, which got us all thinking about where our food is coming from and how can we regenerate and replenish soil or land that has been depleted by years of monoculture farming? 

Caring for the soil rather than just the plants is fundamental in the sustainability of our environment. It seems that no matter how we look at the topic of the climate crisis and ecological collapse, it always comes back to the soil, as Anna mentioned this quote in the workshop) 

“Despite all our achievements we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains” 

— Farm equipment association of Minnesota and South Dakota