Organikos soil regeneration view from above, early Tuesday morning
When we started the berm where the sugarcane grows now, we knew we had a multi-year project ahead of us. This morning, before the sun had risen enough to shine on the land, I snapped the photo above, looking down on the acreage where we have planted more than 100 trees to provide shade for coffee we will plant in the near future. Besides all that, plenty of good ideas for how and why to regenerate the quality of the soil on that land; here’s some more:
A springtail crawls over snail eggs. ANDY MURRAY
Nearly Two-Thirds of All Species Live in the Ground, Scientists Estimate
Soils are more rich in life than coral reefs or rainforest canopies, providing a home to nearly two-thirds of all species, according to a sprawling new analysis.
The study is the first to tally the total number of soil dwellers, large and small, finding that more than twice as many species live in the ground as was previously thought.
For the analysis, scientists amassed estimates of how many bacteria, fungi, plants, animals, and other creatures reside in soils. They found that 59 percent of all species depend on soil for their survival, including 90 percent of fungi, 86 percent of plants, and 40 percent of bacteria. The analysis was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The findings highlight the urgent need to protect soils, which are under growing threat from heat, drought, flooding, and intensive farming, said the study’s lead author Mark Anthony, of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research.
“Our study shows that the diversity in soils is great and correspondingly important,” he said, “so they should be given much more consideration in conservation.”
Organikos 
I’m not a farmer but I love plants, trees, nature and I’m trying to sort out my garden. I’m looking for more opportunities to know about soil etc. will read through your other articles. Thanks for sharing this post. 🙂
I am not a farmer either, so what I have shared in these short posts is what I have learned in the same manner: reading articles. Thanks for stopping by!
I have a couple of questions, is creating berms more effective and best use of soil? It seems to me so many developers level the soil in housing communities, is that damaging the soil?
The berm I have been sharing about is serving a very specific purpose. This mountainside land has waterflow during the rainy season that needs channeling. Even though there are not many homes built uphill from us, those that were built in recent decades have caused water to change course, and so this berm is taking water that would otherwise flow straight downhill and cause soil damage, and directs it along a more gentle angle to make its way to the river below. I am not an expert on why developers level soil, but always assumed it was just to make building easier.