What can I do to generally improve my soil?
You have to be ready to cultivate healthier soil. In the pursuit of sustainable and regenerative agriculture, prioritizing soil health stands as a foundational principle.
In the last two decades, five ecological soil health principles that are based on biomimicry (to mimic life) have been shared.
Healthy soils function with five principles that are:
- Minimise soil disturbance: limit chemical, physical, and biological disturbance;
- Maximise crop diversity: add diversity of plants and insects;
- Maintain soil cover: keep the soil covered like nature does using mulch;
- Nurture living roots year-round: keep a living root in the soil as long as possible;
- Integrate livestock: integrate animals into your system using holistic grazing.
Understanding these five key principles of soil health unveils a world where the soil becomes more than just a medium for plant growth; it becomes a living, breathing entity that nourishes and sustains life.
These self-healing, self-organizing and self-regulating principles enable ecosystem health and functioned long before humans were on earth.