This feature length documentary takes us on a journey through the soil and our relationship with it. We begin by learning that it's rare for a planet to have soil - something I've never considered, but ultimately true.
Not all soil is the same and we're told that of the 12 mentioned in the film, Mollisol and Alfisol are the most productive soils. It's the plants that make the soil productive and the roots that slough off provide food for some of the many members of this massive, but mainly microscopic ecosystem.
The artwork throughout the film make it really enjoyable to watch and is used effectively to visually show concepts explained. The film is a worldwide endeavour with scientists and farmers providing the narrative and real world examples of how feeding the soil can not only provide the same harvest as fertilised land - but much more. One farmer we meet is growing potatoes on his land, but also plants purely for wildlife, with 50% of the land going to each.
Legumes are used expensively to gather nitrogen from the atmosphere, which is then available for use by plants. A history of nitrogen fertiliser use is also covered.
One of the most interesting points of the film was a simple, but well done demonstration that showed the difference in water run-off and water supplying aquifers. The soils used were: conventional soil, organic soil, organic soil with compost, and organic soil with compost and a cover crop. There was lots of run-off from the conventional soil and no water supplying aquifers. With the other 3 soils there was less run-off, to close to none with organic soil with compost and a cover crop and a fair amount of water reaching the underground aquifers.
The film closes with a nice explanation of Adam and Eve. With Adam being the masculine of Adama, which means earth and Eve meaning life. So the writers of the bible knew that life came from the Earth. They lived in the garden of Eden, with Eden meaning delight. I hope we can get back to a place where the earth is a garden of life that we can delight in and be proud of our existence on it.
At 1 hour 44 minutes, this film proceeds at a pace that keeps interest, but allows time for the viewer to grasp the topics and concepts covered. You can rent the film to stream from Vimeo here and watch the trailer below:
I wrote this because I'm trying to learn more about soil as it's International Year of Soils.For more information about it, click here.
A very interesting subject, like the lady says on the video clip, looking through a microscope just shows you how much life there is in soil.Will be having a look at further information.
ReplyDeleteAmanda xx
It's like another world down there, isn't it! I hope you find the information you want. :)
DeletePerfect post for this time and this year. I find soils incredibly fascinating, and of course they're where it all begins. It's amazing how soils can vary so greatly within a short distance from each other. My soil at home is near perfect silt/loam, while the soil about an hour north at our cottage is extremely sandy. It's fascinating to see which plants thrive in both places. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks :) Our soil is thick clay and very difficult to work with - I'm envious of your ideal soil!
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