Soil Stewardship is perhaps the single most important thing for the future of the earth and humanity.
For the soil scientist, soil has endless classifications; to engineers, it is a material; to potters, their basic resource; and to housekeepers, footprints on the floor, or part of the eternal dust. However we look upon earth, we will all return to it, and help create the soils our ancestors made, ruined, or form part of. Climate, vegetation, animals and soil are intimately connected, and each will have influence on the other. It is a great subject, like that of water… (p. 227). --From "Permaculture: A designer's manual", by Bill Mollison (https://www.tagari-usa.com/permaculture-designers-manual/)
Soil is a three-state system of solids, liquids, and gases.[3] Soil is a product of several factors: the influence of climate, relief (elevation, orientation, and slope of terrain), organisms, and the soil's parent materials (original minerals) interacting over time.[4]
It continually undergoes development by way of numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, which include weathering with associated erosion. Given its complexity and strong internal connectedness, soil ecologists regard soil as an ecosystem.[5]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil
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From "Permaculture: A designer's manual", by Bill Mollison (https://www.tagari-usa.com/permaculture-designers-manual/)
Soil Science concentrates very much on what is there (classifications), but not on how to evolve soil. Often it is left to amateurs – gardeners and farmers – to create good soil by water control modest aeration, and plant and animal management… Science is good at explaining why things work, and thus making skills teachable. It is not good at initiating field work, or in training people already in the field to work effectively (p. 182).
The only places where soils are conserved or increased are: In uncut forests; Under the quiet water of lakes and [[ponds]; In prairies and meadows of permanent plants; and Where we grow plants with mulched or non-tillable systems (p. 183).
Most gardeners and farmers who have developed sustainable soil systems allow 3-4 years for building a garden, and 5-15 years to restore a devastated soil landscape. This applies only to the physical restoration of soils and to the development of appropriate plant systems. There are far more lengthy processes to be undertaken where past chemical pollution has occurred (p. 184).
The mantle of soil and subsoil that covers the earth is as thin as the shine on the skin of an orange, and this mantle extends as living mud below the waters of earth as well as on land. It is composed of these elements: MINERALS, mainly silica, oxides of iron and aluminum, and complex minerals. SOIL WATERS, fresh, saline, and with differing pH, and dissolved minerals and gases. GASES, some from the atmosphere, others emitted by the breakdown of rocks and the earth’s interior. LIFE FORMS, from fungal spores and bacteria to wombats and ground squirrels, from massive roots to motile algae. ONCE-LIVING REMAINS; the humus of the earth; decayed, compressed and fossil organic material
The measurement of Acidity-Alkalinity (pH or hydrogen ion concentration) is basic to soil and water science, as it affects the availability **(solubility)** of other key or trace nutrients, and (at its extremes) the ability of life forms to obtain nutrition, or even to live. The pH scale ranges from 0 (acid) to 14 (alkaline), although in nature we rarely find readings below 1.9 (lime juice) or above 11.0 (alkali flats). In the presence of air, and in ploughed and aerated soils, both metals and non-metals form Oxides, and these dissolve in water or soil water (p. 198).
As all else depends on a stable and productive soil, Soil Creation is one of the central themes of permaculture. Soil erosion, or degradation is, in fact, the loss of production and hence of dependent plants and animals. Soil can degrade in these ways: **Wind ** **Water flow erosion** **Soil collapse** or Deflocculation from increased salt concentrations
# Designer’s Checklist for Soil 8.22 -1 It is a primary design strategy to prevent topsoil losses and to repair and rehabilitate areas of damaged and compacted soils. -2 Permanent crop, soil bunds, terraces, and low-tillage systems all reduce soil and mineral nutrient loss. -3 Soil Rehabilitation and pioneer green crop should precede other plant system establishment. -4 Adequate Soil Tests, plus test strips of crop examined for deficiency or excess symptoms, leaf analysis, and livestock health should be assessed to guide soil treatment. -5 If Soil Types can be specified, fencing, cropping, and treatment should coincide with these specific soil assemblies, and specific crops for such type researched. -6 Soil Life processes need to be encouraged by provision for green crop, humus, mulch, and the root associates (Mycorrhiza) of plants. A useful Earthwork may need to be introduced. -7 Drainage, hence pH and soil and water capacity, need specific treatment or assessment, and **will largely determine crop and tree types**. -8 Minimal use of large livestock and heaving machinery is to be recommended on easily-compacted soils, as is burning and clearing. -9 Use pigeon and animal manure where major elements are scarce, as in their world areas (and also use greywater and sewage, or wastes). -10 Before draining waterlogged soils, recommend crops to suit this condition. Never drain wildlife habitats, fens, or bogs, which are species-rich. -11 Choose the right soil-shaping or earthworks to suit crop, drainage, and salt threat. -12 Using an auger, check soils for house foundations. Using a (wetted) soak pit, time the absorption of greywater for sewage disposal at house sites. -13 Preserve natural (poor) sites for their special species assemblies; pay most attention to human nutrition in home gardens, and select species to cope with poor soil conditions on the broadscale. -14 Fertilize plants using foliar sprays containing small amounts of key elements, or pellet seed with the key elements which are deficient locally. Pelleted seed and foliar sprays are economical ways to add nutrients to plants (pp. 225-226).