As a green thumb and a cooking enthusiast, it has always been my dream to grow my own vegetables in the backyard. I have always preferred the taste of organic, homegrown, and freshly picked produce over commercially ripened fruits and vegetables in large supermarkets. 

However, I felt like I wanted to gain sufficient knowledge about urban farming first before committing to growing my own produce. After successfully completing the subject “Food Production in Urban Landscapes” last semester, I finally gained the confidence to embark on my long-held dream of becoming an urban farmer. 

I also read every book I could about gardening, like “Grow Your Soil” by Diane Miessler, “The Urban Farmer” by Justin Calverley and CERES, and “Step-by-Step Veg Patch” by Lucy Chamberlain. 

The most crucial idea I gained from my learning journey is this: “You need to grow your soil first.” In other words, you have to make sure that you have a healthy soil before growing herbs, fruits, and vegetables in it.

I also learned that soil does more than simply serve as a growing medium for food; it helps our planet too.

The dark substance that quietly endures every kind of weather in our backyards not only provides us with food but also has the incredible superpower of saving our planet.

How does the soil do this? It takes the carbon from the atmosphere and stores it. Carbon dioxide is one of the gases in the atmosphere that contributes to climate change. In other words, the soil helps prevent global warming.

The process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it is possible through the microscopic food web that teems with life in the soil beneath our feet. 

Are you curious as to how this works?

Think of the game of Pac-man. Imagine a modified version of Pac-man where there are different game levels.

In the game, there are tiny dots that are eaten by the first Pac-man. These are the organic material like kitchen scraps or garden waste (e.g., leaf litter) that go into the soil as compost.

Pac-man Number One is bacteria, fungi, or nematodes (unsegmented worms) that eat organic material—also called decomposers because they break it down. They are eaten by a slightly bigger Pac-man (or Pac-man Number Two).

Pac-man Number Two is protozoa (single-celled organisms) or nematodes that feed on bacteria. They are ingested by an even bigger Pac-man (or Pac-man Number Three).

Pac-man Number Three is annelids (segmented worms) like earthworms or compost worms that feed on the protozoa, or the millipedes or centipedes that eat the nematodes, or predatory nematodes that feed on other nematodes. They are eaten by the final boss or Pac-man Number Four.

Pac-man Number Four is higher-level predators like birds that eat worms, centipedes, or millipedes.

What’s incredible is that this microscopic Pac-man game could occur anywhere soil is present. However, the soil must have organic matter for the Pac-man in every level to be happy.

The process of keeping the Pac-man happy is where humans come into the picture. The more organic material like kitchen scraps or garden waste are added to the soil, the more food each Pac-man will be able to eat in the soil food web game.

The result of this game is something priceless to the planet—carbon is pulled out from the atmosphere by plants by breathing in carbon dioxide, and when they decompose, the carbon is stored in the soil by the microscopic food web. This contributes towards less carbon in the atmosphere that could become carbon dioxide.

Despite its incredible mechanism to sequester carbon from the atmosphere, the soil is not the largest carbon reservoir on the planet.

The most efficient carbon reservoirs are the oceans (yes, carbon can be stored in bodies of water—but that is for another story). 

It is important to note that fossil fuels (the remains of ancient creatures buried deep in the earth’s crust) also store carbon. The latter is the reason why burning fossil fuels for energy releases carbon back into the atmosphere and contributes to climate change.

The soil stores the carbon.  As a reservoir, it helps prevent climate change consequences like the extreme heat waves that recently occurred in parts of Europe.

News about the widespread heat waves brought climate change to the forefront of the public’s consciousness once more.

Watching the policymakers and relevant stakeholders in the news discuss the consequences of climate change makes me question why there is not much media spotlight on more accessible solutions like working with the soil to reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

It is incredible to think that the humble soil in our backyards can do so much for our planet and yet a lot of people are not aware of how to harness its superpowers to combat climate change, which is an issue that affects all of us.

Sometimes the best solutions to major issues are not found in bigger nor better technologies that require a lot of funding, nor in policies that could take years to be drafted, deliberated upon, and adapted by relevant stakeholders and decision makers. 

Sometimes the most effective solutions involve resources that are easily accessible to almost everyone and cost almost nothing to make them happen.

We may opt for big sky thinking when considering solutions to global issues like climate change, but maybe the answers that we are searching for are right beneath our feet.

Maybe, just maybe…the humblest resource that we forget about half of the time could turn out to be our most powerful weapon in the fight to save our planet. 

Who would have thought that our soil has the power to save us all?