Beneath my feet Sustainable living is a desired and attainable goal for any individual wishing to break out of the daily rat race and improve their life on the planet. Permaculture asks me to utilize the natural systems, already set in place by a higher authority, to increase production of the land organically, to be energy conscious and so much more. I am just beginning to conceive plans for my home grounds. Decisions must be made. Where do I put my pond? How can I place the down spouts from my gutters to water my gardens? Can I envelop the house without getting into a huge process with regional building authorities? Questions arise constantly and each answer furthers my vision, or checks my direction. In the meantime, while I am planning, I am building my soils in anticipation. In my new home, I have been focusing sustainable living visions and I need to build up the soil for jungle gardens. Fenced away from the resident deer herd, it will be easy for me to hand carry excess water to beds. My rabbit biosystem is right there ready to chow down on garden leavings. The back yard is the heart of my permaculture. Mulch put down in the front yard is a soil building effort, but it is truly to keep weeds at bay for now and reduce the water needs there. First things first. This vision is being built from the ground up and the ³back forty² comes first. So what is soil? To me, soil is the very foundation of this living, breathing planet. All life depends on the soil. Soil is dynamic, full of activity. Healthy soil happens on a molecular level, in an ongoing exchange of moisture, nutrients and gasses dancing between the roots of plants, offering just what they ask for. There are around six billion organisms in one teaspoon of healthy soil. Holding good soil in my hands feels so ripe and ready, makes me crave springtime. An urge to plant fresh roots into that goodness rises up in my gardening heart. Thoughts of vegetables, fruits and flowers go off like fireworks. Good soil smells of ancient forests and speaks the tongue of the underworld, if you will. Soil communicates to a gardener secrets unspoken, yet understood in the language of the organic. Ask any gardener about their personal home ground and listen as they light up with passion for tilth, structure and fertility. Beneath my feet the Earth embraces an active ongoing cycle of life, always consuming and renewing itself. Elements of rich soil are balanced and functioning as any ecosystem anywhere. Life swims in this mixture, pulling in new materials every day as the humus is broken down from the surface. Special delivery by insect, worm, and unseen soil fauna, or sucked down by the percolation of water nutrients are carried into the lower depths. All the decomposers and soil builders working for mother nature have a gardener¹s deepest gratitude. There are too many animals and microorganisms to name. They live on, in, and tunnel through the earth, living out their teeny lives, never knowing that the entire terra firma world stands upon their backs. Literally. The fertility and depth of the soil is built with their microscopic efforts. These consumers of organic matter and the predators of the consumers work together to create an underground Eden for my plants to spread their roots into. Soil organisms may be smaller than small, but they are giants on the planet. Without their niches filled, the planetary ecosystem would be doomed, leaving ³higher evolved² creatures without food or shelter, not to mention clean water, and, ultimately, clean air. Amending ³dirt² can reverse the trend of soil depletion and compaction by increasing fertility, improving structure, and reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. Organic amendments, such as compost, aged manure, wood chips, straw, and similar materials, improve permeability for both moisture and oxygen. Cultivating healthy soil in this manner provides bio energy sources for microbes, allowing the soil to hold more nutrients. The soil¹s stimulated molecular activity attracts earthworms along with other larger organisms, who, in turn, contribute to good soil structure. Amended soil can hold up to sixty percent more moisture which is good news in a drought year. Research shows organic amendments increase a plant¹s ability to resist soil borne diseases. To me, organic matter has far greater benefits to soil than chemical fertilizers, it just makes sense. Components of good soil include drainage, aeration, and organic matter (water, air, and food.)  Providing all three allows your soil to maintain a population of living beneficial bacteria and invertebrates, who will continue to improve your soil structure and help feed your plants. It¹s their whole focus in life. Amendments will improve soil whether clay or sand. Clay soil needs help staying fluffed up and ³breathing² while sandy soil needs help retaining moisture and nutrients. Turn in a good organic amendment (like compost) whenever planting. Truly poor dirt can be removed and replaced with better soil, and I always use mixes of soil and compost, perhaps even adding manures. Store bought soil needs to be beefed up with organics to bring it alive. Healthy soil gives healthy, beautiful results. Amendments are the cure for poor Colorado soils. Mulching the gardens when planting is done helps moderate soil temperature and moisture levels hold stable which is insurance for the root zone environment. Organic mulches will continuously break down, adding even more nutrients. Permaculture is creating a new home ground in this urban setting. I hold dreams of retrofitting the house to ³run² by itself, off the grid, using natural building techniques, I hope to eventually envelope the existing structure with insulating straw bale or cob design. I work at improving my little plot of ground. Ordering fruit trees, planting crops, herbs and medicinals, I intend to grow for myself and for the local wildlife, my personal vision for this personal piece of the planet. In permaculture, each part of the ecological system is interlocked. To have each element of a plan perform more than one function ups the overall yield and captures energy for reuse. Multi functioning plants and biosystems, like raising chickens or rabbits, add to the stability. The more returns from any given plant, building, animal (including myself) adds strength and support to the entire plan, allowing the possibility of more abundance from the ecosystem. Building the soil is just a primary step, the rest will follow. To live as close to the earth as possible, holding survival in one¹s own hands, is a personal responsibility. Living in the beginning of a new century, and a newly born millennium, in the midst of massive, man-caused problems, witnessing bad legislation with questionable science carve up and chop down unprotected wild natural places, moves me to seek better answers. Permaculture doesn¹t always promise an easy life, but it is a meaningful life. Whether one is rich or poor, permaculture speaks of the holistic life that enhances each and every day, honoring natural processes set spinning into motion by a higher power. Allowing the Earth to regenerate and reclaim itself is a principle of ethical living, leading the curious to the doorway of sustainable living. For now, let¹s just say that permaculture is a global happening that creates holistic living experiments. There are opportunities to bring balance to human impact on the planet. Permaculture as a process, an expansive and wonderful process of sustainable living, is a beautiful bouquet of ideals, truths,and science. Restoring soil to a wholesome, fertile state is worth all the effort. Love the Earth. Anticipate the harvest. Share the bounty.     c   becky elder    3-2003