Category: Living Ground Suelo Vivo

The Life Beneath Our Feet

Posted on by Leisha Living Ground
“A rainbow of soil is under our feet; red as a barn and black as a peat. It’s yellow as lemon and white as the snow; bluish gray. So many colors below. Hidden in darkness as thick as the night; The only rainbow that can form without light. Dig you a pit, or bore you a hole, you’ll find enough colors to well rest your soil.” — F.D. Hole, A Rainbow of Soil Words, 1985
From bacteria to fungi, snake-like mini worms, wobbly, jelly-like morphing cellules and hairy racing bubbles and balls the soil is alive, and when healthy, it teams with billions of microorganisms.    These living organisms feed on tiny minerals specks, plant material and each other to release life.   Their dance adds critical nutrients back into the earth.   Without these critters, the soil is nothing other than “dirt”.

When land and gardens are poorly managed and soil is left uncovered, over tilled, and laden with natural and ago chemicals, the beneficial organisms die. What we have failed to understand is plants, bacteria and fungi have a signally system that will adjust for its’ own needs. When we force the pH and neglect and alter this language dance, the biology of the soil dissipates. This results in a poor quality soil that is unable to produce nutrient rich food.  It is well recognised that soils are comprised of physical, chemical and biological properties. However, up until recently,  there has been disproportionate attention given to the chemical and physical side of soils, without due respect given to the biological aspects.   Even organic farmers and gardeners have unknowingly harmed the microbiome of the soil. Good news is we can reverse this with some understanding of what is going on in the soil food web.

Soil is a living, dynamic ecosystem comprising a complex diversity of life.   This diversity is the basis of the fertility of our soil.    Most of us actually have not experienced “food” that is fully alive and at its’ peak due to the biological infrastructure that created it.   But, we are entering a new era of understanding soil as a function of it’s biology and about to understand the taste of nutrition.

Although chemical tests and geophysical analysis of soil are useful for certain circumstances and queries,  biological analysis allows us to ecologically and effectively manage our agroecosystems. So how can we do this?

THE MAGIC OF LIFE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

Microscope soil tests give us a glimpse into the magical world of soil microbiology that has previously been very abstract and difficult to interact directly with. You are able to see the fungi, protozoa, bacteria and nematodes that play such a vital role in the health of your soil with (relative) ease.

Analysing your soil in this way will allow you to:
 

  • Analyse the quality of your compost/ compost tea 
  • Analyse compaction and anaerobic conditions
  • Find out about diseases before they become a problem
  • Find out about changes in your soil and how effective your techniques are
     

Analysing your soil can be as simple as bringing a sample to our lab for a look down the microscope. This gives us the information to figure out what management techniques are needed, which can then be administered and adjusted accordingly.    

Analysing your soil in this way is efficient, effective and helps you to get more in touch with the biology in your own soils, enabling a deeper understanding of soil functioning. And, crucially, knowledge of your soil will empower you to make the right decisions for you, instead of being dependent on third parties that may not have your best interests at heart.   

It is time we view and treat soil as a living being- in a traditionally regenerative manner – more biological activity is present., more biological activity is introduced. When organic matter is present, the soil can thrive and become the rainbow under our feet now and for generations to come.

We Can Not Take Over Nature

Posted on by Leisha Living Ground

It all depends how you look at it. “taking over everything” only logically is true when you look ay the fact that industrial chemical ag is what actually has already “taken over everything” and the unwanted side effects are what human hubris is guilty of picking on. Nature has its systems for cleaning up after itself. According to nature these trees are not worthy of survival. It is cold and it is a hard fact about nature which is unforgiving. Humans are the only species that work to ensure the weak survive. Humanity is based on compassion which strives to give everyone a quality of life no matter what. It is a truly beautiful thing about human nature to do that. But it also means we don’t understand that nature is brutal and about strength and numbers only. We just don’t get it.

Allowing it to do its job means not interfering with practices such as tilling, and certainly not the poisonous practices of injecting fracking 600+ chemicals into the soil by the energy industry, polluting water wells, polluting agricultural land, having cows die, using the big ag chemicals etc.

If all the people, who fight for world hunger, poverty, climate change, could understand what Dr Elaine pioneered in her research, and is called “soil”, this world would place Dr Elaine on all billboards along the freeways and other places, and sing her praises.  Once you fix the soil, you fix food problem, you fix nutrition problems which would eliminate many health problems, you fix air problem, you fix air pollution problems, you fix increasing trends in lung health problems, you name it.  The solution for all this is in one word “soil”. In some ways it is ignorance in other ways it’s arrogance that people are “above” the soil, and feel entitled to destroy it.  In fact, at the end of the day, these tiny creatures rule us.  Talk later.

We especially don’t get it when our livelihood is failing because we aren’t managing the earth with respect, only with a desire for money. It is a hard lesson we are learning. Avocado crops failing, coffee plantations failing, bananas gone sterile. Wine grape crops no longer viable in many parts ot the old country.

This is penance for mankind’s action. I sound heartless by saying it but i believe this to be true. I also believe that if we were to respect mother nature she would also turn around our plight faster than we created it. It just requires a leap of faith and a devotion to be a part of the earth instead of to be on top of it all the time. 

Posca – The Commoners Drink of Medicine

Posted on by Leisha Living Ground

The plebeians and the army drank the posca, a drink despised by the upper class. The posca was made from acetum which was a low quality wine that almost tasted like vinegar. Sometimes wine that got spoiled (because it was not properly stored) would also be used to make this Roman drink.

Posca was made by watering down the low quality wine and by adding herbs and spices. It was drunk from the 300-200 BCE and into the Byzantine period (in the Byzantine army the drink was actually called the phouska). Recent studies have shown that posca was actually quite healthy. It was full of anti-oxidants and vitamin C, the coriander seeds had health benefits, and because it was quite acid (giving it its sour vinegar taste), it killed all the bacteria in the water, bearing in mind that water back then was not clean like our faucet water is today (or at least is in most western countries).

As we previously pointed out, posca was the drink of the common people and the upper class looked down on it. It was also the standard drink in the army. Drinking quality wine was considered impertinent in the military and sometimes standard wine was totally banned from army camps in the provinces.

Roman posca recipe
We don’t know how posca was exactly made but based on what we know, it can be recreated and the recipe is as follows:
Posca recipe
1.5 cups of red wine vinegar.
0.5 cups of honey.
1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seed.
4 cups of water.
Boil it so that the honey disolves.
Let it cool down so that it reaches room temperature.
Filter the coriander seeds.

Your posca is ready to be served. You can get a taste of what the standard drink of the average Roman was like!