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Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on. Soil is living and life-giving. Listen as we unlock the mysteries...
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Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
show less
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
22 OCT 2024 · Are you interested in community collaboration and finding your agroecological voice and lens? Nicole Masters, founder of Integrity Soils and author of For the Love of Soil, discusses how an agroecological lens is used to view entire farm systems and value human dynamics with Jeff Ishee, Mary Sketch Bryant, and Eric Bendfeldt. Nicole has a love and fascination with soil but understands the risks involved with farming and starting new approaches to regenerating landscapes. Nicole highlights how "Biological Barbecues" were used in New Zealand to allow men and women to share their ideas and hear about emerging innovations in a comfortable environment while questioning existing dogma. Nicole emphasizes starting small and building soil health well because it just makes sense.
Nicole will be a keynote speaker and trainer at the https://www.4thesoil.org/copy-of-va-farm-to-table-conference in December and will present about agroecological leadership and resilience. Nicole will provide training and insight on the novel agroecological education methods and systems thinking she has practiced throughout Australasia, the United Kingdom, and North America in helping people align their dreams with their landscapes and contexts.
Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.
More information about Nicole Masters and Integrity Soils is available at https://integritysoils.com/along with links to how to order and obtain Nicole's book For the Love of Soil. Nicole also recommended John Kempf's Regenerative Agriculture podcast as a continuing education resource. The Regenerative Agriculture podcast can be accessed at https://regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com/
To learn about the 2024 Virginia Farm to Table Conference and to register to attend, please use the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2024VAF2TConfRegistration Visit https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html's website to learn about other educational programs, resources, and events.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. Recent 4 The Soil blog posts resources can be accessed athttps://www.4thesoil.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices, call or visit a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office.
As always, we encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement and do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, or community. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.
8 OCT 2024 · How do we create a love and fascination for the soil to better fit into the landscape? Nicole Masters, founder of Integrity Soils and author of For the Love of Soil, shares with Jeff Ishee, Mary Sketch Bryant, and Eric Bendfeldt how central people are to agroecology. Nicole grew up in New Zealand and developed an early love and fascination with soil. As an agroecologist, educator, systems thinker, and author, Nicole has extensive practical expertise and experiences in regenerative soil and landscape practices and coaching and training the trainers.
Nicole will be a keynote speaker at the 2024 Virginia Farm-to-Table Conference in December and will present her love for soil and the foundations of agroecological leadership. Nicole will provide training and insight on the novel agroecological education methods and systems thinking she has practiced throughout Australasia, the United Kingdom, and North America in helping people align their dreams with their landscapes and contexts.
Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.
More information about Nicole Masters and Integrity Soils is available at https://integritysoils.com/along with links to how to order and obtain Nicole's book For the Love of Soil.
To learn about the 2024 Virginia Farm to Table Conference and to register to attend, please use the following link: https://tinyurl.com/2024VAF2TConfRegistration Visit https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html's website to learn about other educational programs, resources, and events.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. Recent 4 The Soil blog posts resources can be accessed athttps://www.4thesoil.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices, call or visit a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office.
As always, we encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement and do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, or community. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.
24 SEP 2024 · Are you interested in improving the water and nutrient-holding capacity of your soil? Have you heard about biochar as a soil amendment? Dr. Wayne Teel of James Madison University has studied and researched biochar for more than 15 years. Wayne discusses the promise and potential of biochar with Mary Sketch Bryant and Jeff Ishee as a follow-up to their conversation about agroforestry.
Dr. Teel describes how biochar is formed through a combustion process with little or no oxygen present. Wayne distinguishes between types of biochar and those combusted at high and low temperatures as well as those types that may have nutrients already attached versus simple wood and plant-based materials.
Biochar has been used throughout history to improve soil fertility and carbon sequestration. Its first recorded use was by people living in the Amazon River basin.
Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.
To learn about Dr. Teel's education and research interests, please visit JMU's faculty expert site at https://www.jmu.edu/university-communications/faculty-experts/experts/teel-wayne/index.shtml. If you are learning about biochar, Dr. Teel recommended two books by Albert Bates: The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change and Burn: Using Fire to Cool the Earth.
For questions about soil and water conservation practices, call or visit a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office. You may also be interested in https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html's educational programs and https://foodsystems.centers.vt.edu/projects11/ARKExchangeNetworkVirginia.html
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. Recent 4 The Soil blog posts resources can be accessed athttps://www.4thesoil.org/.
As always, we encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement and do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, or community. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.
10 SEP 2024 · We all could benefit from reconnecting to soil, land, trees, and where our food comes from and how food is produced. Dr. Wayne Teel is a professor of geography at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He shares with Mary Sketch Bryant and Jeff Ishee how he works with his students at JMU to connect them to a farmer or field experience so the connection is real and tangible.
Dr. Teel shares stories of his own experience working on a farm in the Columbia River basin in eastern Washington and his international experience working with farmers in Kenya and Mozambique. Wayne discusses and defines agroforestry for us and how managing interactions between plants, trees, and livestock can provide multiple benefits. He encourages farmers and landowners who are interested in agroforestry and practices like a riparian buffer of trees and plants to start small and observe what is naturally in the streamside area.
To learn about Dr. Teel's education and research interests, please visit JMU's faculty expert site at https://www.jmu.edu/university-communications/faculty-experts/experts/teel-wayne/index.shtml. Dr. Teel's book "Regenerating the Ecology of Place" is available online and from independent bookstores.
For questions about agroforestry and soil and water conservation practices like riparian buffers, call or visit a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office. You may also be interested in https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html's educational programs and https://foodsystems.centers.vt.edu/projects11/ARKExchangeNetworkVirginia.html
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. Recent 4 The Soil blog posts resources can be accessed athttps://www.4thesoil.org/.
As always, we encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement and to reconnect with soil, land, trees, and the farm community. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.
Episode 24 - 18: Volunteering and Getting Your Hands Dirty with Tim Ohlwiler of VCE Fauquier Part II
27 AUG 2024 · Do you like to volunteer, dig in the soil, and get your hands dirty? Planting and harvesting vegetables, experimenting with cover crops, and reducing tillage can be great fun as well. Virginia Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and the Fauquier Education Farm offer two tangible ways to volunteer, dig in the soil, get your hands dirty, and give back to the community.
Tim Ohlwiler elaborates on how these volunteer-based programs serve as living laboratories where theory and hands-on practice merge for the benefit of participants and communities. Tim is an extension agent for horticulture with Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) in Fauquier County, Virginia. Tim was recognized as a friend of 4-H for his youth educational programming in 2023. Tim helps coordinate the local Master Gardener program and serves on the board of the Fauquier Education Farm.
To learn about Virginia Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener, please call your local https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html unit. Enjoy a virtual tour of the Fauquier Education Farm and learn about its programs and ways to support its mission at https://www.fauquiereducationfarm.org/.
For questions about soil and water conservation and the protection of natural resources, call or visit a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office near you to learn about education programs, funding opportunities, and the technical assistance offered.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. Recent 4 The Soil blog posts resources can be accessed athttps://www.4thesoil.org/.
As always, we encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement through gardening, farming, and volunteering in your community. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.
13 AUG 2024 · What are the realities for building soil health in orchards and vineyards? Tree fruit and grapes require different strategies for reducing competition from other woody perennials and weeds. Tension can exist between balancing crop needs and building soil health in orchards and vineyards.
Tim Ohlwiler is an extension agent for horticulture with Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) in Fauquier County, Virginia. Tim works with nurseries, landscapers, orchards, vineyards, small fruit growers, and vegetable growers in the Northern Piedmont Region. In this episode, Tim talks with Jeff, Mary, and Eric about horticultural realities and soil health and how he is working with orchards and vineyards to minimize soil disturbance, while also working to get school children excited and energized about soil science.
For specific follow-up questions for Tim Ohlwiler, his contact information is available at https://fauquier.ext.vt.edu/staff.html If you have questions about building soil health within orchards and vineyards or the benefits of following climate-smart principles in your cropping and farming systems, please visit your local https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html unit, a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office near you.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/.
To review the four core soil health principles and access the recent 4 The Soil blog posts that Jeff Ishee referenced, please visithttps://www.4thesoil.org/.
As always, we would love to learn about your soil health journey and encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement. Yes, we can all be 4 The Soil.
30 JUL 2024 · Farming and market gardening require continually learning and appropriately managing risks. Robert "Bob" Waring of Brandon Farms in Essex County, Virginia is a proponent of cover crops, soil health, and on-farm research. Bob states he sees the beginning of a movement, particularly as farmers learn from other farmers. He has embraced cover crops, and he consistently maps biomass yields and samples his fields' soil nutrient levels.
In testing theories and making observations through the years, Bob has been able to reduce external inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and lime, while increasing yields and return on investments. Bob attributes some of these results to improved biological activity in the soil and restored natural nutrient cycling. In addition, the summer cover crops he plants protect soil moisture, reduce soil temperatures compared to bare ground, and buffer soil pH.
If you have questions about building soil health and the benefits of following climate-smart principles in your cropping and farming systems, please visit your local https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html unit, a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office near you.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/.
To review the four core soil health principles and access the recent 4 The Soil blog posts that Jeff Ishee referenced, please visithttps://www.4thesoil.org/.
As always, we would love to learn about your soil health journey and encourage you to join the 4 The Soil movement.
16 JUL 2024 · The economics of farming are always tenuous and subject to many market and climatic forces. Robert "Bob" Waring of Brandon Farms of Dunnsville, Virginia describes himself as a return-on-investment (ROI) kind of guy. With the tenuous, volatile nature of farming, Bob is constantly evaluating Brandon Farms' cropping system as a whole and looking for sound input reduction strategies. Over the past fifteen years, Bob has focused on growing his fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and farm profitability through timely cover crop mixtures and management. Hairy vetch and black oats have worked well in his corn and soybean rotations and helped Brandon Farms dramatically reduce fertilizer and pesticide costs. If you are new to cover cropping, Bob recommends finding a legume like clover, cowpeas, or Austrian winter pea that fits in your system as a starting point.
American Farmland Trust's Soil Health Case Study of Brandon Farms is accessible at https://farmlandinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/brandon-farms-soil-health-case-study.pdf
If you have questions about the economic and climate resilience of your cropping and farming systems, please visit your local https://ext.vt.edu/offices.html unit, a https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app, or a https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/soil-and-water/swcds office near you.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. To access the recent 4 The Soil blog posts that Jeff Ishee referenced, please visithttps://www.4thesoil.org/. As always, we would love to hear your experience and perspective on ways you have invested in soil health and what financial and ecological returns you have experienced.
2 JUL 2024 · To know where our food comes from, we are encouraged to know the farmer who grew our food. Nicolas "Nico" Melas of Mill Song Bakery approaches his craft as a farmer-miller-baker in the tradition of the artisans he apprenticed to in France. Nico emphasizes that you should know your local baker to fully understand and appreciate the quality of wheat and other grains. Nico reflects on how the growing, sourcing, processing, milling, fermenting, and mixing of grain and flour all play a role in the artisanal baking process. For Nico, flavor and health go together; and bread needs to smell and taste like freshly milled grain.
Mill Song Bakery's inspiring story, values, and bread-baking techniques can be accessed at https://www.millsongbakery.com/about-us The video Jeff referenced https://youtu.be/McDvnNFDbmk?si=wPHjBcXJWRygKFL0 outlines farm-to-table connections from local soils and farms to a local stone-ground mill and local bakery.
Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman is available online or can be ordered from a local bookstore.
To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and join the Coalition's quarterly meetings, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. To access the 4 The Soil blog and the more than seventy episodes of the 4 The Soil: A Conversation podcast, please visithttps://www.4thesoil.org/. We would love to hear your experience and perspective on how flavor and health go together, particularly as we learn more about meaningful connections related to nutrition and human health from the soil up.
25 JUN 2024 · Nicolas "Nico" Melas of Mill Song Bakery is a thought leader within Virginia's regional food systems and a catalyst with the expanding Common Grain Alliance. Nico and his family, along with a growing network of farmers, millers, bakers, and food businesses in Virginia and the greater Mid-Atlantic Region, are working through artful farming, milling, and baking to seed and feed a strong, resilient, diverse localized food grain economy. Jeff Ishee and Eric Bendfeldt talk with Nico about his journey in farming and baking and how healthy grains and bread benefit soil health, water quality, food security, and community nutrition.
To learn more about Mill Song Bakery's inspiring story, values, and bread baking, please visit https://www.millsongbakery.com/about-us The video https://youtu.be/McDvnNFDbmk?si=wPHjBcXJWRygKFL0 outlines farm-to-table connections from local soils and farms to a local stone-ground mill and local bakery and how food eventually makes its way to local tables.
To access the 4 The Soil blog and the more than seventy episodes of the 4 The Soil: A Conversation podcast, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/. To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. We would love to hear how your artful and healthful foodways support soil health, water quality, local farmers, and community-building.
Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on. Soil is living and life-giving. Listen as we unlock the mysteries...
show more
Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
show less
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
Information
| Author | Eric Scott Bendfeldt |
| Organization | Eric S. Bendfeldt |
| Categories | Science |
| Website | 4thesoil.org |
| ebendfel@vt.edu |
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