Sustainability Spotlight - May 2021 - Dig Deeper Into Soil Health
By: Karen Berry, Sustainable Wheat Ridge member
Soil is a living and life-giving natural resource. By doing four simple soil conservation measures, you can sequester more carbon, increase water infiltration, improve wildlife and pollinator habitat—all while harvesting more veggies and enjoying a healthier garden.
Managing for soil health (improved soil function) is mostly a matter of maintaining suitable habitat for the myriad of creatures that comprise the soil food web. You can increase your soil zoo by disturbing the soil as little as possible, growing as many different species of plants as practical, keeping living plants in the soil as often as possible, and keeping the soil covered all the time.
Manage More by Disturbing Soil Less
Soil disturbance can be the result of physical, chemical, or biological activities. Physical soil disturbance, such as tillage, results in bare and compacted soil that is destructive and disruptive to soil microbes, and it creates a hostile living environment for them. Overgrazing reduces root mass, increases runoff, and increases soil temperature. All forms of soil disturbance diminish habitat for soil microbes and result in a diminished soil food web.
Diversify Soil Biota with Plant Diversity
Plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates that serve as the building blocks for roots, stems, leaves, and seeds. They also interact with specific soil microbes by releasing carbohydrates (sugars) through their roots into the soil to feed the microbes in exchange for nutrients and water. A variety of plant carbohydrates is required to support the diversity of soil microorganisms in the ground. Different plants must be grown. One key to improving soil health is growing several types of plants.
Keep a Living Root Growing Throughout the Year
Living plants maintain a rhizosphere, an area of concentrated microbial activity close to the root. The rhizosphere is the most active part of the soil ecosystem because it is where the most readily available food is and where peak nutrient and water cycling occurs. Plant roots exude microbial food to attract and feed microbes that provide nutrients to the plant at the root-soil interface, where the plants can take them up. Since living roots offer the most accessible food source for soil microbes, growing long-season crops or landscape plants feeds the foundation species of the soil food web as much as possible during the growing season. Healthy soil is dependent upon how well the soil food web is fed. Providing plenty of easily accessible food to soil microbes helps them cycle nutrients that plants need to grow. Sugars from living plant roots, recently dead plant roots, plant residues, and soil organic matter all feed the many and varied members of the soil food web.
Keep the Soil Covered as Much as Possible
Soil cover conserves moisture, reduces temperature, intercepts raindrops (to reduce their destructive impact), suppresses weed growth, and provides habitat for members of the soil food web that spend at least some of their time above ground.
May Sustainability Updates
- Unused paint or varnish? Join us for a paint recycling event hosted by the Sustainable Neighborhood Network on Sunday, May 16 from 9a-1p at Prospect Park in Wheat Ridge. This is a drive-thru event - stay in your car, turn off your engine, and pop the trunk. Volunteers will do the rest. Voluntary donations benefit the Sustainable Neighborhood Network and community sustainability projects. For more information, click here.
- The City of Wheat Ridge and the Sustainable Wheat Ridge resident advisory committee are funding the capital and installation costs for bicycle racks in Wheat Ridge. Bicycle use reduces automotive traffic and pollution, while increasing community engagement and improving resident health. By improving the available bicycle facilities in Wheat Ridge, we aim to increase bicycle use throughout the City's public spaces. Applications are open now and are due by Friday, May 21, 2021 (National Bike to Work Day). To learn more about the program or to start an application, click here.
More about Sustainable Wheat Ridge Sustainable Wheat Ridge is a resident-led committee that was established in 2018 to provide the city with recommendations to enhance the environmental sustainability of Wheat Ridge. Included in these recommendations are goals around preserving Wheat Ridge’s agricultural history, connecting local producers and consumers, and establishing partnerships to support local food production. Check out the full Sustainable Wheat Ridge action plan here!
