News coverage about our California storms has resulted in a new kind of social media post, the “marked safe” post. Safe from the deluge, a mudslide, or, maybe, a hundred-year flood. We’re happy to report that we are completely safe in the gorgeous green Capay Valley (no mudslides or hundred-year floods here).
As I drove into town this week, I was reminded of lessons from my Healthy Soil Program courses. Lessons about erosion, runoff, soil depletion, and the importance of taking steps to protect the soil. This area is rich with orchards and groves. Along the way, the difference in farming practices seemed obvious. On some farms, there is a lot of standing water. On others, cover crops are steadily absorbing the water into what we call live soil.
We organic farmers plant cover crops to keep erosion to a minimum and to draw nutrients from the air, rain, and topsoil into the root layer. They love the rain! We can almost hear them and our baby olives growing as we walk the farm.
