Here we present some photos of the first Microbe 101 Workshop presented at Madre Tierra November 24th and 25th. There were 29 participants in the workshop from diverse and different backgrounds. The intention and mission of the presentations was to help others enter into the paradigm shift of understanding the importance of the microbes instead of being afraid of “germs”. The Soil Squad feels this mission was successful. We are looking forward to presenting many more workshops and refining and improving our work.
We’re in trouble. Our over-reliance on fossil fuels and our taste for foods with a high carbon footprint is causing disruptive climate change. Our throwaway society has flooded the land and seas with plastic pollution. And we face a growing public health crisis triggered by the rise of disease-causing microbes that we cannot kill with antibiotics.
Now for the good news. Living Ground is entering the busy-ness of selling food…but our primary intention to provide a system where people can have ready and affordable access to gut food – that is food grown in microbe rich soils.
Our guts are a real brain. They form part of an intelligent control system which manages our bodies, particularly our appetite and so decides how much and what food we want to eat and how much and where we store fat. Our guts are also home to the bulk of our immune system. Poor guts health is at the source of modern chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and its related heart attacks, dementia etc. A health gut is really important.
But to have a healthy gut means we need the right biology in the first place and we need to feed it the right sort of food. When people find out how gut food is grown the whole idea puts most people off, which is why you can’t buy gut food from the supermarket or in a bottle from the chemist.
Healthy gut biology starts in the guts of creatures that live in the soil. Read that again! This microbe biology passes from the guts of the microbes and into the plants where if we eat them soon after they are harvested they will enter out guts and the plants will provide them with food so they will flourish.
We, and all animals, have been doing this for millions of years but the whole idea is totally at odds with our modern antiseptic society so eating gut food will always be for a minority group. And, humans will diminish! We can not duplicate Nature as much as science and technology tries.
We know how to grow gut food, you have to have soil which is full of creature of the soil. To feed the creatures, the soils must be full of organic matter. We don’t have to be concerned with minerals..there is plenty of that!
And we have to avoid chemicals which will harm the beneficial biology – modern chemicals may not hurt us but they can be a disaster for micro-biology. And, I will add that Natural insecticides also are harmful.
And we have to eat the plants shortly after they are harvested before the beneficial biology dies.
All this is a more expensive process than modern chemical industrial farming and supermarket system and to many people quite revolting, which is why we don’t see gut food products on super market shelves.
Good and nourishing food is really about growing food to feed our brain. To do that we have to feed the microbes that already are living in our gut – that’s a pre-biotic.
But we also have to breed new microbes in the soil, which will go into the plants that we will eat and hence from part of our gut brain – that’s a pro-biotic.
To breed these microbes we have to feed and water them – for that we need plants that take the energy from the sun and covert it into microbe food. The plant will exchange this food for the food it needs. So, the microbes go get the plants food. Now the snag is that there are good bugs which will make us strong and healthy and bad bugs which at best just want to use as a comfy home to breed in – but unfortunately they often get it wrong and kill us.
To breed the good bugs – without the bad bugs taking over – we have to manage the conditions, which means food and water. The good bugs like oxygen and a little water….but not too wet (aerobic) while the bad bugs breed when it is wetter and no oxygen (anaerobic). How is oxygen transported in the human and what does it need to transport oxygen? Iron. But parasites love stored iron. Is this a rabbit hole or what?
Let’s get to the nitty gritty of true health! That means a paradigm shift. It is a 360 on our beliefs about health and microbes. Well, remember, Douglas Adams wrote : “The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42.” We probably only know 5% or less of how Nature works..but we do have some good information to change our ways NOW. And, NOW IS THE TIME TO DO IT!!!
I write to you today with humbleness and courage. What we have done to the earth is “immoral” and non-life-supporting. We’ve harmed ourselves. How can we support and restore our earth so that it restores and supports us?
The Living Ground Project is about this…and it is a legacy that I continue with all my might and hope it continues without me (the true meaning of success). It is time to connect and get this work into full action!
Here I present a short over view of the project.
Two of our members of the Soil Squad team have studied with Dr Elaine Ingham and we are completing the master’s program with her
At a dedicated lot in Masanamaca, we are currently active in mass producing microbe rich compost and teaching locals the art and science. We are offering and doing microscope soil tests and consulting on local lands.
Organic is not enough. Our tests show that our soils are depleted as they are all over the world. It is a critical situation. So, our primary mission is to return and restore the soil food web and educate everyone.
Recently, we chose to launch (earlier than anticipated) due to a gas company that is prospecting a site we feel is perfect for our mission. This one hectare property sits an the main highway, with 1005 m2 of structures that could be easily converted to become the Microbe Center for Ecuador and South America.
It is Microbes vs Chemicals situation…..little guys vs the big AG guys.
Living Ground is a project that can (and will) positively impact our local community, Ecuador and South America. We believe we can (and we are) co-creating an ecosystem business that enables an entire bio-region to thrive, restoring balance to Nature, nourishing microbes, plants and people, and generating improved conditions for future generations. The project puts people and microbes before profits as it is created as a collaboration and cooperation project where everyone wins.
Our Project Overview:
We have created PODS that are operations that rise form the microbe rich soils. All PODS will be inter-dependent connected to the Microbe Rich Compost and Consultancy POD. We will train and raise leaders for success in each POD (ALL PODS are underlined)
Education Center: Offering Apprenticeships and Certification (locally and globally)
A Microscope Laboratory for testing soils. We will train leaders in art and science and raise Consultants to go out with this message and work. We have a give back program to help locals convert and sell their harvest to Living Ground (those that can not afford this work)
Restore and Protect Sacred Sites. A real estate POD dedicated to protection and teaching about restoring contaminated lands.
Collaborate/utilize microbe rich plant harvests to produce gourmet foods. (Weekly Garden Cooperative, Restaurant and Tienda) (imagine sugar cane and corn fields with microbe rich soils and healthy plants) Our Restaurant and Tienda will be fashion of the Sacred Commerce operation of Cafe Gratitude. A commercial kitchen to Package Gourmet Food (elixirs, tonics, nutrient dense foods) in a fun and trendy manner.
We intend also to convert local lands also for Plants for Essential Oil Production (export).
Globally we want to be an experiential education center for Eco Tourism where families and individuals can experience Microbes in a full and intricate way (Hostel and Dormitory Rooms)Our business model can be replicated and duplicated and that is our intention…go grow far and wide.
Our first mission is to spread the microbes and regenerate land by spreading the knowledge that the soil food web (the microbes) is the foundational for ALL health Chronic disease is rooted in a loss of soil microbes. Our second is to train and raise leaders to successfully do this work. We intend to employ 40 people local and gringo. Our team is ready!!
If we lose this land to the Gas Company, we will continue. it will be a shame but will stay focused on this solution putting soil and people before profits.
Can you help us? Can we meet about potentials?
We are willing to share our Business Model Plan built on Sacred Commerce. We are open to investment discussions and sharing the Project Costing and Projections. We are asking for you to become a Soil Squad Team member and help support this project for everyone’s benefit now and in the future.
