There’s been a lot of sadness in our family this past week. While one relative was on his way to Dimapur for major life-changing surgery, an elderly grandfather died back in the village. My wife and I were too far away to be there. But they have been very near in our thoughts.
Grandfather was a saavy, hardworking man right up to within six months of his death at more than one hundred years old. I remember the day I met him. He was in front of his house in the village spreading paddy to dry. As I thought about him again today, I remembered my wife telling me about her long walks with him out to the Jhum cultivation to work when she was a child. He had a head full of wise old agricultural traditions. My wife told me things he used to teach her. I was impressed, even with my modern scientific knowledge that allows me to grow higher yields of more nutrient-dense food for better financial and physical health.
I’ve always had a deep respect and appreciation for the old agricultural ways. Many of them are as valid and modern today as when they were first used thousands of years ago. But every now and then, a few inaccurate ideas are mixed in with the old wisdom. And sadly, these mistaken ideas can hurt both the yields and the nutritional quality of food grown that way.
One idea that grandfather had, was to clear off the lumps of dirt that the earthworms leave behind on the surface of the ground. These lumps are called earthworm castings. They are really “earthworm dung.” But since the worms actually eat soil along with dead plant materials in the soil, their dung looks like soil and not like the dung of higher animals. It is soil. And it’s the richest, most fertile soil there is.
It is critical to understand the connection of human health to the soil. With this understanding in mind we can become more willing to give up old mistaken ideas, like the mistaken idea that earthworm castings should be cleared off the land. We’ll also become more willing to adopt more scientific and ecological ways of increasing both the yields and the nutritional quality of the food we grow when we understand more of the simple science of the soil. So let’s start with a simple lesson that comes from the introductory chapter of my book, The New Bionomic Grower.
One hundred and more years ago, the majority of the population in the United States still took their first steps on the farm, even if those steps eventually led them to the city. They understood, far better than we do today, that the roots of our very survival are in the soil. To put it quite bluntly: No agriculture, no human civilization. Computers may be a marvelous invention but they will never replace soil and seed.
But some people in this enlightened age, don't know that. A friend of mine once told me how he honestly thought, well into his teens, that carrots originated in the grocery store. He literally did not know that carrots are the root of a living plant with beautiful parsley-like foliage that grows in the soil of carrot fields. Same for corn and the rest of the vegetable and fruit kingdom.
It would be funny. But in today's urbanized world, not even credentialed nutritionists seem to be aware that the type of soil and fertilization that a carrot was grown with can and does affect its nutritional content for better or for worse. But, realize it or not, the roots of our health (and our disease), are in the soil. And we would do far better if we did realize it.
To better understand just how true this has always been, let's go back to ancient history. The ancient "cradles of civilizations" in Mesopotamia and Egypt were mostly flood plains that were not only well watered, but replenished with a fresh supply of minerals every year from silt-laden flood waters. But that was not true of much of the western end of the "fertile crescent" that sweeps down to include what the Bible calls a "land flowing with milk and honey."
Here, and even in the lands enriched by flood waters, it was the mysterious creatures called Lumbricidae that activated the soil's mineral reserves year by year for plant use. Lumbricidae are otherwise known as the humble nightcrawler that is used for fish bait in much of the world. This family of earthworms includes the most active of all earthworm species. In 1949, the USDA reported observations indicating that in the Nile valley, Lumbricid earthworms yearly contributed almost 120 tons per acre of high grade, organo-mineral fertilizer through their castings.
In stark contrast, the lazy worm species do practically nothing to improve fertility. Nightcrawlers not only digest old plant residues, roaming about on the surface at night to collect dead plant material, but they crush and pulverize the mineral soil that passes through their muscular bodies, making new minerals available for plant use.
You see, many soils actually have large stores of minerals, but in larger particles that are not available to the plants yet. Earthworms grind these particles up and make new minerals available to the crops. But it is mostly the recycled organic plant material that keeps earthworm soils rich in organo-mineral nutrients. That is the reason these properly managed soils could produce crops for centuries and not wear out.
The French researcher Andre Voisin, in his book Better Grassland Sward documents how the spread of the great civilizations followed the geographical spread of the Lumbricid earthworm. Several thousand years ago, this species covered only a narrow band across the earth from Europe to the southwestern portion of the Asian continent and Egypt, according to evidence unearthed by Voisin.
A study by E. Huntington of Yale University in 1945 confirms Voisin's theories. Huntington took a world map and rated each region according to the best climates and soils for supporting high living standards for human beings. Each region rated very high, medium, low, or very low for favorableness. Then, on a second map, he charted the standards of living that had actually developed in each world region. As expected, there was a strong correlation between the two. The areas where the world's great civilizations have developed have the best climactic and soil conditions.
The most interesting finding, however, was that five world regions had not fulfilled their promise. They had the right climate and soil but remained essentially undeveloped until they were colonized by peoples from the highly developed areas. These five unfulfilled areas are the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in South America, large parts of the United States, including the Great Lakes region and California, part of South Africa, southeastern Australia, and all of New Zealand.
According to Voisin, it was not just the European influx that made the difference in these areas, but the Lumbricid earthworms that they unwittingly brought with them. They came in the root balls of plants shipped over, and were transplanted from the tiny Lumbricid egg capsules stuck in their horse's hoofs. In the new lands they quickly multiplied and spread, transforming the rich but dormant soils into agricultural super soils capable of sustaining high physical and mental health levels. There is documentation to support the theory.
According to an article by Robert Rodale in the January, 1961 issue of Organic Gardening and Farming, a word of mouth tradition in New Zealand, passed from father to son, says that the country's soils suddenly became more fertile, about a century ago, without any fertilizers being added. Many suspected that the European earthworms were changing the soil.
One farmer, whose isolated land had not yet been invaded by the foreign worms, conducted an experiment to find the reason for the improvement. Voisin reports that over the twenty years of worm implanting, from 1925 to 1945, the originally poor land was totally transformed. The pastures grew better grass and could stock vastly more cattle than before, i ndicating an improvement in available nutrients.
R. L. Nielson of the Rukuhia Soil Research Station went to the farm and checked the results. Nielson concluded that earthworms were truly the cause of the enormous improvement of the farmer's pasture land. There is every reason to believe that the same thing happened in the agricultural zones of the United States before chemical farming killed them off again.
The obvious conclusion here is that what was stated at the start of this chapter is supported by the evidence: the type of soil and fertilization that a carrot was grown with, can and does affect its nutritional content for better or for worse. And just as better pasture grass from richer soil can support more and healthier cattle, so better carrots from richer soil can support more and healthier people.
Until next week, be wise, be healthy and God bless!
Grandfather was a saavy, hardworking man right up to within six months of his death at more than one hundred years old. I remember the day I met him. He was in front of his house in the village spreading paddy to dry. As I thought about him again today, I remembered my wife telling me about her long walks with him out to the Jhum cultivation to work when she was a child. He had a head full of wise old agricultural traditions. My wife told me things he used to teach her. I was impressed, even with my modern scientific knowledge that allows me to grow higher yields of more nutrient-dense food for better financial and physical health.
I’ve always had a deep respect and appreciation for the old agricultural ways. Many of them are as valid and modern today as when they were first used thousands of years ago. But every now and then, a few inaccurate ideas are mixed in with the old wisdom. And sadly, these mistaken ideas can hurt both the yields and the nutritional quality of food grown that way.
One idea that grandfather had, was to clear off the lumps of dirt that the earthworms leave behind on the surface of the ground. These lumps are called earthworm castings. They are really “earthworm dung.” But since the worms actually eat soil along with dead plant materials in the soil, their dung looks like soil and not like the dung of higher animals. It is soil. And it’s the richest, most fertile soil there is.
It is critical to understand the connection of human health to the soil. With this understanding in mind we can become more willing to give up old mistaken ideas, like the mistaken idea that earthworm castings should be cleared off the land. We’ll also become more willing to adopt more scientific and ecological ways of increasing both the yields and the nutritional quality of the food we grow when we understand more of the simple science of the soil. So let’s start with a simple lesson that comes from the introductory chapter of my book, The New Bionomic Grower.
One hundred and more years ago, the majority of the population in the United States still took their first steps on the farm, even if those steps eventually led them to the city. They understood, far better than we do today, that the roots of our very survival are in the soil. To put it quite bluntly: No agriculture, no human civilization. Computers may be a marvelous invention but they will never replace soil and seed.
But some people in this enlightened age, don't know that. A friend of mine once told me how he honestly thought, well into his teens, that carrots originated in the grocery store. He literally did not know that carrots are the root of a living plant with beautiful parsley-like foliage that grows in the soil of carrot fields. Same for corn and the rest of the vegetable and fruit kingdom.
It would be funny. But in today's urbanized world, not even credentialed nutritionists seem to be aware that the type of soil and fertilization that a carrot was grown with can and does affect its nutritional content for better or for worse. But, realize it or not, the roots of our health (and our disease), are in the soil. And we would do far better if we did realize it.
To better understand just how true this has always been, let's go back to ancient history. The ancient "cradles of civilizations" in Mesopotamia and Egypt were mostly flood plains that were not only well watered, but replenished with a fresh supply of minerals every year from silt-laden flood waters. But that was not true of much of the western end of the "fertile crescent" that sweeps down to include what the Bible calls a "land flowing with milk and honey."
Here, and even in the lands enriched by flood waters, it was the mysterious creatures called Lumbricidae that activated the soil's mineral reserves year by year for plant use. Lumbricidae are otherwise known as the humble nightcrawler that is used for fish bait in much of the world. This family of earthworms includes the most active of all earthworm species. In 1949, the USDA reported observations indicating that in the Nile valley, Lumbricid earthworms yearly contributed almost 120 tons per acre of high grade, organo-mineral fertilizer through their castings.
In stark contrast, the lazy worm species do practically nothing to improve fertility. Nightcrawlers not only digest old plant residues, roaming about on the surface at night to collect dead plant material, but they crush and pulverize the mineral soil that passes through their muscular bodies, making new minerals available for plant use.
You see, many soils actually have large stores of minerals, but in larger particles that are not available to the plants yet. Earthworms grind these particles up and make new minerals available to the crops. But it is mostly the recycled organic plant material that keeps earthworm soils rich in organo-mineral nutrients. That is the reason these properly managed soils could produce crops for centuries and not wear out.
The French researcher Andre Voisin, in his book Better Grassland Sward documents how the spread of the great civilizations followed the geographical spread of the Lumbricid earthworm. Several thousand years ago, this species covered only a narrow band across the earth from Europe to the southwestern portion of the Asian continent and Egypt, according to evidence unearthed by Voisin.
A study by E. Huntington of Yale University in 1945 confirms Voisin's theories. Huntington took a world map and rated each region according to the best climates and soils for supporting high living standards for human beings. Each region rated very high, medium, low, or very low for favorableness. Then, on a second map, he charted the standards of living that had actually developed in each world region. As expected, there was a strong correlation between the two. The areas where the world's great civilizations have developed have the best climactic and soil conditions.
The most interesting finding, however, was that five world regions had not fulfilled their promise. They had the right climate and soil but remained essentially undeveloped until they were colonized by peoples from the highly developed areas. These five unfulfilled areas are the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in South America, large parts of the United States, including the Great Lakes region and California, part of South Africa, southeastern Australia, and all of New Zealand.
According to Voisin, it was not just the European influx that made the difference in these areas, but the Lumbricid earthworms that they unwittingly brought with them. They came in the root balls of plants shipped over, and were transplanted from the tiny Lumbricid egg capsules stuck in their horse's hoofs. In the new lands they quickly multiplied and spread, transforming the rich but dormant soils into agricultural super soils capable of sustaining high physical and mental health levels. There is documentation to support the theory.
According to an article by Robert Rodale in the January, 1961 issue of Organic Gardening and Farming, a word of mouth tradition in New Zealand, passed from father to son, says that the country's soils suddenly became more fertile, about a century ago, without any fertilizers being added. Many suspected that the European earthworms were changing the soil.
One farmer, whose isolated land had not yet been invaded by the foreign worms, conducted an experiment to find the reason for the improvement. Voisin reports that over the twenty years of worm implanting, from 1925 to 1945, the originally poor land was totally transformed. The pastures grew better grass and could stock vastly more cattle than before, i ndicating an improvement in available nutrients.
R. L. Nielson of the Rukuhia Soil Research Station went to the farm and checked the results. Nielson concluded that earthworms were truly the cause of the enormous improvement of the farmer's pasture land. There is every reason to believe that the same thing happened in the agricultural zones of the United States before chemical farming killed them off again.
The obvious conclusion here is that what was stated at the start of this chapter is supported by the evidence: the type of soil and fertilization that a carrot was grown with, can and does affect its nutritional content for better or for worse. And just as better pasture grass from richer soil can support more and healthier cattle, so better carrots from richer soil can support more and healthier people.
Until next week, be wise, be healthy and God bless!
(Ian Anthony Jones is a health educator and missionary from the US now married to a Naga. He will be contributing every Friday to the Morung Express under the column: Health & Healing. You may contact the Health and Healing columnist and give him feedback at: edenbarak.ngo@gmail.com)
