Rich Soil Blog Post from Stan Slaughter

Rich Soil

This is an exciting time for the healthy food movement. The number of tools and techniques that inform organic farming and gardening is exploding. Evidence is pouring in that the conventional food system is broken and the interest in food that can lead to health grows daily.

While this curve is turning vertical now, it didn’t come out of thin air. Yes, Kansas City does have 43 farmer’s markets and a notable movement well in place, but the meetings that kicked this off started almost 30 years ago. The Mother Earth News started in the 70’s and Organic Gardening magazine started in the 40’s. Sir Albert Howard published his compost manual in 1931 based on his research and influence from Farmer’s of Forty Centuries which was based on a tour of China, Japan and Korea in 1905. The Biochar Solution, by my friend Albert Bates, details the soil preparation techniques practiced by Amazonian Indians more than a thousand years ago, which hold great promise for the long-term productivity and health of our soils today.

This legacy of information is a treasure to be built upon and shared. Too often we are like the farmer who was asked if he was going to the farming workshop and replied, “No, I already don’t farm as well as I know how to.” The time is ripe to practice what we know. Economics, demographics, and an out of balance food system are creating rapid change and exciting opportunity.

Songs about composting, rich soil, and other eco-friendly topics can be found on these great Stan Slaughter albums: 

Rot N' RollIn Tune With All SpeciesUnintended ConsequencesWater All Over the World

This post was submitted by Stan Slaughter, The Eco-Troubadour. See all Stan’s music here!