Tending to the Soil

We all need to be active members in taking care of the earth.

When I say the earth, I don’t mean the current state of this planet, which has been steeped in a plethora of money and strained through the patriarchy for hundreds of generations. I am talking about the ground beneath our bare feet, the rich earth burying itself under our soles, the soft mud squelching in between our toes. I am talking about the soil.

When I was four years old, my dad introduced me to the concept of erosion. We bundled up in our Autumn outdoor clothes, mine complete with a yellow raincoat with about ten pockets, and headed out into the rainy Pacific Northwest Day. At the park across the street from our home, we found some sticks and leaves, and we fashioned them into mini, makeshift sailboats. The soccer field, which was basically a giant plot of dirt, was slowly turning into a giant plot of mud. The water trickled down the sloping ground, demonstrating what happens when rain hits the earth. As the water made little channels through the dirt, my boats went with it, meandering through the eroded field.

In this memory, not once do I remember my dad saying, “Now Olivia, this is erosion. Erosion is the action of surface processes that transports pieces of earth to new locations. The water moved the dirt to a new place. You saw that with your sailboat.” And yet, somehow I understood.

There are many similar memories packed away in my brain, but the most important ones have migrated to my heart. They sit there, with a sort of sweet sadness, wishing that other humans would have the same love for the earth as I do.

When we truly love something, we take care of it.

As a society, we are slowly learning new ways to take care of the earth. We use paper straws to save the turtles. We bring refillable water bottles to work and fill them at the water station. We go to the local farmer's market more and frequent the big box chain grocery store less. These are all small things that individuals can do to help keep the earth in a state of homeostasis, to sustain life as we know it.

But this is not enough. In a time when global climate change is threatening to perpetuate famine, flood waterways, and increase global pandemics, finding ways to fix the planet is becoming more and more urgent. How do we convince each other to dig deeper into helping the dirt? By learning to love what is right beneath our feet.

To love something, it's important to spend time with it. In my experience working with children and families, I encourage as much outdoor time as possible. Eat meals as picnics, even if only go so far as the front porch. Bring a tent on your road-trip and camp at a national forest instead of staying in a hotel. Go on family walks, starting with Sundays, and seeing if you want to add in any more days. If you're an individual living alone, invite your friends for a hike. If you're living in an urban, cement jungle, try to find a tree to sit under. Get to know that tree.

My passion is bringing plants and people together.

In graduate school, I studied Expressive Arts and Ecotherapy in relation to child and human development. Bill Plotkin, a depth-psychologist and wilderness guide, developed something known as the “Eco-Soulcentric Developmental Wheel.” In this view of human development, people and nature are not two separate entities, battling for a seat at the outdoor table. People and nature develop together, from the time a baby is born to the time they surrender and pass. When we live life in accordance with the rhythms of nature, our souls form an attachment to it. We want to tend to the earth because we are innately tied to it.

This reconnection may seem like a daunting task. Most of our days involve sitting at an indoor desk, spending time outdoors only in “good weather,” and picking up hobbies that involve more screen-time. We watch movies on-demand, order food through our phones to be delivered straight to our doors, and pick our kale from the plastic box in the fridge. None of these things are inherently bad, and they are in fact quite convenient for the modern day family. I love a good pizza and movie night. However, when done without reflection, these small habits accumulate and bring us farther from both ourselves and the earth.

This is where my hope flourishes.

Having worked with children and families in nature directly for over five years, I have seen the resistance and the resilience. I know what it takes to support breaking up with an indoor lifestyle and integrating small steps toward reconnection and regeneration. I want to share with others realistic ways that they can connect to the earth.

It begins, and ends, with dirt.

Dirt is commonly thought of as, well, dirty. But in fact, soil makes us happy. Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacterium commonly found in the dirt, has been shown to help release serotonin. When serotonin is released, we feel an improvement in both our mood and brain function. The more our skin gets in contact with that bacteria, the better we feel.

The beauty of this is that you don’t need a large plot of land to reap the benefits. People in apartments or townhomes can dig in pots and grow vegetables or flowers on their patios. Those without access to personal outdoor spaces can grow herbs along their windows. Neighborhoods can work together to form community gardens and allow families to rent plots to grow their own food. Children can be encouraged to play outside in rain or shine, splashing around in a mud kitchen or planting wildflower seeds for pollinators.

At my home, we are currently in the process of turning all of our front lawn into a regenerative, urban flower farm. We are building beds that will have flowers blooming during their appropriate seasons, and cover crops during their downtime. Our plans are not difficult to replicate, but they can be difficult to move from dream to reality.

If given the opportunity, I would help others rebuild the soil in their lives.

You don't need a lot of land, but you do need healthy soil. Each time we apply chemicals or till the land, we are literally destroying opportunities for happiness. In contrast, if we apply regenerative agricultural principles to our seemingly small interactions with soil, we begin to heal the earth and ourselves. On a large scale, regenerative agriculture consists of no-till planting, composting, perennial crops, pasture cropping, and more land-use practice that support natural ecosystem development. By working with the land in this way, the organic matter within soil is rebuilt, biodiversity in the ground is restored, and carbon is drawn down from the atmosphere. As carbon is sequestered by the dirt, there is less in our atmosphere. Climate change can be reversed.

I aim to help people realize that with the land that they have, they can make big differences. When you walk through a suburban neighborhood, you often see similar houses with even similar lawns. These lawns have the capacity to be changed into regenerative, urban farming plots. Imagine raised garden beds, designed specifically for rotational gardening, encouraging seasonal living and eating. Instead of needing to run to the store and grab a tomato in the summer, it’s right in your front yard. That kale from earlier, the one stashed in your fridge? Even in the winter, it’s outside in your garden, nutrient dense from healthy soil, just waiting to be picked. The beauty of connecting with the earth by working with soil is that the entire process is reciprocal.

When you help the earth, the earth helps you.

With both small and large steps, the soil can be rebuilt. The carbon can be sucked down. The climate can change back to something that’s somewhat predictable.

By becoming active members of the earth, by rebuilding the soil in our own unique ways, we will have an earth to live on. We will have an earth to love.