Back in August three of our Kaicycle staff (Rose, Ellie, and Hannah) had the immense privilege of attending the Earthworkers 101 course run by For the Love of Bees with the generous support of Wellington City Council. It was an amazing week of full on, science based, learning that was super relevant to the mahi we do - regenerative urban farming. It was also a great opportunity to connect with other people doing similar mahi in our region, and beyond. Transforming our local food system is going to take a network of practitioners and courses like this help us connect and upskill to tackle this essential work as a collective. Now we’ve had a bit of time for our learnings to percolate, (or decompose if you will…) we wanted to share some key concepts that you could employ in your own māra. One of the lightbulb moments for me was the idea that we haven’t really seen plants growing at their genetic potential - how wild is that. Our soil systems are so degraded that our plants aren’t getting what they need to be the best they can be. They’re growing to the potential that their environment offers, but what if we could improve that environment…..
Microbes in the soil are what feed our plants. They make nutrients available and ensure that plants are getting the right balance of nutrients. First things first - don’t kill them! Using pesticides, herbicides and fungicides are all extremely destructive to the soil micro-biome so don’t use them. The same goes for fertilisers. Secondly, add things to your soil that will boost your micro-biome levels e.g. living compost, biological brews, innoculating seeds and seedlings with beneficial microbes and Mycorrhizal fungi.
Diversity of plants on the surface = diversity of microbes in the soil = healthier soil. If you can’t fit diversity into the same bed at the same time, diversify over time e.g. planting a mixed cover-crop in between planting your next mono-crop.
Maximise your biomass! All plants photosynthesise, and through this process generate sugar. Much of this sugar goes into the soil to feed microbes. More plants = more photosynthesis = more micro organisms. Yay!
Microbes are the immune system of the soil - we must look after them at all cost. Microbes have amazing ways of communicating with each other. They know who else is sharing the soil with them and who their friends and enemies are. When you’ve got lots of friendly microbes they communicate with each other and turn on beneficial behaviours that we don’t see if there aren’t enough of them! So your soil might just be waiting for the critical mass of good microbes to be reached for the soil ecosystem to really take off.
And so much more. If you're keen to learn more and want to nerd out with us about the wonders of soil, come along to one of our volunteer sessions, workshops, or events!
