Our future
A letter to all naturalists

There are huge environmental problems facing mankind today. However, if we study to understand Nature and Her positive laws, we can perform a critical role in attacking these problems.

Anyone who loves Nature soon learns to see Her deeper beauty and greater fascination. You learn to observe and understand the cycles of life-death-decay then new birth. No living thing, plant or animal, escapes death. In Nature, every dead thing is usually deposited in the very place it dies. There it serves as mulch protecting the soil until it finally decays. In due time, it is covered and replaced by still later deposits of expired life.

In a natural environment, there is no waste. Everything is reused and is usually made into something of still greater value for the sustenance of life on Earth. Dead things furnish the organic matter to supply energy, food and structure for the beneficial soil life. The beneficial soil life creates the conditions for healthy, abundant plant life to feed the animal life.

And the life cycle continues. In a natural environment the life cycles add to the past and build a future. Without continued, death and decay, future life species and systems would de-generate, eventually, to non-existence.

Earth is covered mostly by water, only 20 percent is dry land. In the beginning the dry land consisted of lava, basalt, granite or other hardened, once molten, material. There was no soil on earth. Only life forces can make soil. But, there was no life because it takes soil to support life.

At some point in time the Almighty saw fit to breathe life onto earth, very meager and primitive life, but life with a crucial mission. As these micro-forms of life lived and reproduced, they fed on and etched away at the rocky mineral earth surface, and as they died, their remains formed humus and mild acids to etch away still more minerals. This process went on and on until very small amounts of our first soil was formed.

Even though extremely small, the life-death-decay of each preceding life form has been creating better conditions for future life forms than where there before. The decay process builds with added interest to the soil’s bank account and after countless centuries of creating conditions for higher and more complex forms of life, Man, the most complex of all life, was able to exist and be sustained.

Man…does he know? And can he trace his life support systems far enough back to understand the life cycles? Man has accumulated much knowledge, but in areas of his healthy existence he seems to be slow to learn. Man sees death as a loss, or something to be sorrowful of, and he considers decay as something ugly. He doesn't fully understand why Nature always returns the dead back to the soil from where it came.

Our biggest problem worldwide is that most of our farmland no longer has the organic matter for life and energy it once had. As little as 200 years ago, all of the farmlands across the United States had an organic content of 3.0% to 8.0%. The once fertile Rio Grande Valley is wasting away with a soil organic content that is testing at 0.2% to 0.8%. Now most farmland everywhere is down to 20% or less of what it should be. As recently as the 1940’s, the organic content was ALL ABOVE 3% and closer to 5%. This represents a drop in organic content of between 70 to 90 percent in 60 years.

Topsoil Lost to Erosion is an increasing problem faced today. As the soil loses its organic matter, it becomes unable to hold and trap water. Any water allowed to run off carries the topsoil with it. It goes into the rivers and streams and is lost forever. Then we are left with barren unproductive sub soil.

Fresh Water Shortages are Worldwide and are increasing daily. Scientists and politicians both predict the next wars will be fought over water. The earth is covered by 74% water. ALL IS SALTY EXCEPT 3%. Between 80% and 90% of that small amount of fresh water is used in irrigation. Irrigation needs could be cut 30% or more if only proper soil organic matter was maintained. Storing water also helps prevent shortages. The safest and most efficient place to store our annual rainfall is in the soil under a mulch cover.

A mulch layer of leaves, twigs, grass, compost, or any organic material from man’s waste stream will protect the soil from the baking sun and drying winds. The mulch holds heavy rains in place until they soak in. This prevents floods and soil erosion.

Water amounts greater than the soil can hold filters on down and slowly drips into our aquifers to keep them at a constant level during dry spells. Water allowed to runoff carries topsoil with it, then both end up in the salty sea. Or, if trapped in lakes, we still lose 4 to 6 feet of water each year to evaporation and the soil carried with it silts up the lake.

At the soil level, under the mulch, the grubs, earthworms, termites and numerous other soil life are chewing up the mulch and churning up the soil. Then the microbes take over and compost it. The composting activity creates mild organic acids that dissolve minerals from rock in the soil, and then it all becomes healthy, rich fertile soil. Decaying organic material on the soil surface saves water and builds fertile soil.

How Nature saves water.

Because of the increased carbon dioxide release under plants from organic rich soil the pores on plant leaves stay open less and shut longer. This causes plants to transpire less, allowing them to draw less moisture from the soil while growing. Even though, organic rich soil can absorb and hold more water, plants grown in organic rich soil actually require less water to grow.

Air Pollution.

Carbon dioxide is admitted to the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels in our factories and automobiles. Carbon dioxide is believed to be changing our weather patterns. Soil scientists have calculated that carbon in the excess carbon dioxide now found in the atmosphere is nearly equal to the carbon lost from our farmlands.

Scientists have also calculated that all we have to do to offset the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to increase the organic content of our farmland JUST ONE TENTH OF ONE PERCENT EACH YEAR. Conservation tillage, especially ‘no-till’ farming and/or the use of mulch and compost does just that.

Nitrate Toxicity and Other Toxic Products are detected in water wells and aquifers everywhere. In many cases, the nitrate is high enough to cause health problems. This is caused by over-using high nitrate fertilizers in poor soils. Soil microbes must process fertilizer in order for a plant to use it properly. If the soil is low in organic energy the microbes cannot do the processing. Then the plants become stressed, which usually invites pests and diseases. The sick plants are then treated with yet another toxin. Eventually, the unused nitrates and other toxins, seep down to pollute the water table. Low organic content causes this cycle to be repeated over and over.

The quality of our life is connected to the quality of the soil. The quality of the soil determines the quality of the air we breathe, water we drink and food we eat. If we allow the quality of the our top soil to degrade to any degree, the life it supports goes with it.

Soil quality is determined by the amount of life, mineral, and energy it contains. Understanding and properly using the energy, carbon, and life cycles to maintain quality soil can solve the major problems facing mankind.

World economy is connected to the soil. The only virgin wealth a nation has, is what is grown on the soil using sunshine, air, and water. And what is pumped or mined from the ground. However, the wealth pumped or mined will be exhausted some day. But, at the hands of skilled growers, the wealth grown from fertile soil, such as fruit, nuts, grain, vegetables, flowers, trees, grass, and farm animals can be renewable forever and ever.

Recycling organics or recycling anything, for that matter, is also creating new wealth. New wealth is what sets an economy in motion. Everything else is buying or selling a service.

Is mulching and conservation farming too simple an answer to so many problems?

As gardeners, farmers and ranchers who love, understand and work with Nature, We can make a difference.

Planet Earth Needs Our Help!"

Malcolm Beck