Discover common ground - and the erotics of soils

By Rebecca Lines-Kelly, Environmental extension coordinator, NSW Agriculture, Wollongbar

"Soil is the connection to ourselves. From soil we come, and to soil we return. If we are disconnected from it we are aliens adrift in a synthetic environment. It is the soil that helps us to understand the self-limitations of life, it's cycles of death and rebirth, and the interdependence of all species. To be at home with the soil is truly the only way to be at home with ourselves, and therefore the only way we can be at peace with the environment and all of the earth species that are part of it. It is, literally, the common ground on which we all stand."
Kirschenmann F 1997. On becoming lovers of the soil.
(http://www.igc.org/wsaala/lovers.html))

It seems to be the case that once you get into soils, they inspire passion and commitment and won't let you go, but for the uninitiated, soils are brown, boring, and beneath notice. They are definitely not sexy. But if soils are the common ground we stand on, why aren't they our common knowledge? What can we do, as farmers and scientists passionate about soils, to make them sexier?

What we need to do urgently is celebrate our soils, while they are still productive and relatively healthy, by focusing on sensuousness and erotics of soils, the really sexy qualities!

Science philosopher Nicholas Maxwell says that the first lure of science is not its instrumental power, its brutal force, but its magic, its capacity to kindle awe, wonder and the desire for knowledge, for explanation. (Broderick D 1993. The erotics of science. Quadrant April 1993.)

Frederick Kirschenmann, American farmer, government adviser and something of a poet, takes this concept further and says if we are to inspire everyone with love of the soil we must discover the sensuousness and erotics of soil:
"Eroticism involves a level of 'seeing' that goes beyond ordinary sight- to penetrate the soul of being. Loving soil involves much the same kind of sight. To love soil requires that we see more than dirt. It requires that we become intimately involved with soil- see its life and beauty, smell its rich aroma, hear its voice." Frederick Kirschenmann 1997

The erotics of soil have long been acknowledged in poetry and literature. Soil is a metaphor for life, belonging, groundedness, richness and productivity. Loving the soil is shorthand for recognising our humanity, our fundamental need of land and our desire to worship where we live.

In our attempts to know and understand soils, we have used reductionist science to tear them apart, isolate their elements and learn what they comprise, but in doing this we have ignored the essence of soils as living landscapes, providing the means for new life and productivity.

Only now are we acknowledging the integral importance of soil biology in understanding soils. Only now are we looking at soil health as the paradigm for knowing and understanding soils, rather than soil nutrients or soil structure alone. Only now are we beginning to 'see' soils and all that they comprise.

Soils are only going to be sexy if we become impassioned about them, and engage our hearts as well as our minds in learning about them. We need to inspire everyone, not just farmers and scientists, with an understanding of their fundamental importance to our existence.

We can do this by using tools that harness our sensory understanding of our soils- particularly tools based on sight, touch and smell, backed up by good quality scientific knowledge to make sense of that sensory input. We need to acknowledge the complexity and interconnectedness of soil systems, and not look at isolated aspects of soil management on their own.

If we do this we will all learn what a healthy, living soil is so that we become more in tune with what our soils need. As a result we will be less inclined to ride roughshod over soils, showing our supposed scientific mastery.

Unless we become truly involved with soils, and make them sexy and erotic not only to ourselves but to everyone around us by our passion and commitment, we run the risk of destroying what feeds us physically and spiritually, and in so doing, destroying ourselves. As a Native American aphorism says: "If men spit upon the ground they spit upon themselves."

"Project your imagination into the soil below you! Think with compassion of the life that exists there. Think, the drama, the sexuality, the harvesting, the work that carries on ceaselessly. Think about the meaning of being a steward of the earth." Marjorie Harris

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