An article by Maureen Odendaal
In the 1950s the radio comedy Around the Horne regularly featured Arthur Fallowfield a.k.a Kenneth Williams as the gardening expert who gave the answer to every gardening problem as “Well I think the Answer Lies in the Soil”. Always a cue for canned laughter, this punchline became very famous. Back then when I listened to this, I only thought that Arthur was a silly old man with a bee in his bonnet. However, over the years it slowly dawned on me that in some weird way, he was actually right.
I went on to study pest management, as well as with soil science and agriculture amongst other things, but did not often get the opportunity to put the theory into practice. Fast forward to today and I find myself with time on my hands and a very small piece of soil in Lusaka, Zambia.
Books and Soil
I had also been reading: The Cry of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy, an eloquent plea for regenerative agriculture, with everything depending upon good soil. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake opened the doors for a much deeper understanding of how alive soil actually is. And For the Love of Soil – an impassioned plea by Nicole Masters for a soil-first approach to agriculture.
Armed with my various degrees and these wonderful books I bought some seeds, and using permaculture principles as my guidelines, I was in full expectation, because of my expertise, of total success.
How the mighty are fallen.
Fast forward several months and everything that I planted, well if not actually dead was stunted and pest infested. Spinach, beans, chillies, ginger, and many more. The only things that thrived were lemongrass and sweet potatoes.
To restore my damaged ego, I started growing in pots and did have rather better success, which sent me back to re-enquire of my soil as to what was wrong. I have two hypotheses, which both may be true to some extent. My house was built on what was farmland not so long ago. I’ve had an opportunity to observe the farmer’s methods – double cropping every year – wheat and maize with the occasional crop of soya beans as a nod to crop rotation – with the consequent need for regular use of chemicals; Tropical soils are unforgiving; they need care and attention to make them thrive. Could it be that my little piece of soil was completely depleted? Exhausted? Or it simply may be that when the house was built, the topsoil was removed/disturbed. Whatever the reason, this little piece of land has become my teacher.
Armed with my knowledge, and learning the hard way, I’m beginning to develop a real existential knowledge of soils, which I hope to share with you in this series of articles.
