As this simple primer begins, “…It has been said that we know more about the moon than the soil under our feet.” Today, with growing concern for dwindling resources, there is a new sense of urgency to better understand and care for soil (what many of us misguidedly call “dirt”) and our very real connection to it. In fact, “our lives may depend on it.“ Apfelbaum and Dunlavey’s easy-to-read and delightfully illustrated primer is a good place to start.
Written for high school and older students, and lay, business, and professional audiences, “S” is for Soil! and its cast of soil characters—the pointy-nosed “springtail” prominent among them—guides the reader with clarity and humor through the essential and often complex understandings
about soil, employing a conversational narrative that poses questions like: What is soil and how is it made? How can you tell healthy from unhealthy soil? How is our health dependent on healthy soil? How can improving soil health solve many of our environmental problems? And, what can we do to improve soil health and save the planet?
In section one of “S” is for Soil!, the book reveals the remarkable story about the abundance of life—from billions of microscopic organisms to burrowing animals—that occupies the thin layer of soil on the planet and that represents 95% of all terrestrial life on Earth! Not to mention the important soil forming relationship between those organisms and the living roots of photosynthesizing plants that capture the “free” energy of the sun to co-manufacture from Earth’s rocky surface the life-giving substance we call soil.
For readers interested in understanding the role healthy soil can play in addressing the challenging problem of climate change, section two of “S” is for Soil! can help. Here the reader gets to “dig a little deeper” into the soil story to learn about the historic role that Earth’s grasslands have played in storing large quantities of carbon deep in the ground and about innovative ranching and farming practices that are now being employed to “regenerate” or build-back soil health by putting all of those “unemployed” soil microbes and deep-rooted grasses back to work to rebuild the lost carbon stores of the past.
Perhaps the most important message in the book is the link between soil health and the economic and personal wellbeing of farmers and ranchers, and that of the consumers of their agricultural products. With that growing awareness, we can begin to recover a healthy planet starting right in our own backyard.
“S” is for Soil! was produced in partnership with the Lower Sugar River Watershed Association with funding support from the Janelia Foundation. Up to 60 copies of the book can be purchased online HERE or in larger discounted quantities by contacting LSRWA at 608.897.8641 (ask for Susan Lehnhardt). A companion teacher’s guide entitled Digging into Soil: A Garden Practicum has been created by KidsGardening of Burlington Vermont in cooperation with the authors and with LSRWA and is available to download at no cost on the KidsGardening website. All funds raised from the sale of “S” is for Soil! will benefit LSRWA’s watershed science and educational programming at the Three Waters Reserve.
The Lower Sugar River Watershed Association is a not-for-profit conservation organization, located in Brodhead Wisconsin, dedicated to the care and enjoyment of our water resources and to empowering citizens with experience and knowledge to steward land and water resources in the Lower Sugar River Watershed.