I don’t know what made us choose the chemistry route over the biological route when it comes to the soil and growing food. And I don’t want to bore you with my theories unless you ask for them.

What we do know is that the soil life portion was largely unknown. Much of the discoveries on how plants grow (and require nutrients) were based on chemical analyses, starting with carbon and moving to Justus von Liebig’s Law of the Minimum theory and the Haber-Bosch process of nitrogen fertility.

Somewhere along the way, discoveries were made about how plants photosynthesize and theories were made about what role roots played in plant growth and survival. But these weren’t as important as the theory of nutrient fertilization for maximum yields.

Again, if you want me to delve into the history of this, let me know.

Conventional agronomy relies heavily on the chemistry perspective of growing crops. Recommendations on how much synthetically derived forms of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulphur (S) are to be applied are all too common. Great focus on soil pH or how acidic or basic (alkaline) your soil is also extremely common, using graphs (like below) to determine nutrient availability.

The “biological” or life portion has only been considered “important” by the diseases and pests that reduced crop yields. But even then, chemistry was (still is) involved in finding ways to kill these pests and diseases, even if it’s only a temporary solution.

But what if these areas of common knowledge are false? What if these recommendations are based on laboratory analysis that ignores real-life soil conditions, as well as the influences of soil biology on soil and plant roots? And, what if that biological portion that was once considered a mere “pest” to growing plants is, in fact, the best solution we have to be regenerative, sustainable, or similar?

Only in the last few decades have we begun to see that these solutions only do more harm than good. No complicated chemical compound created in a lab and sold in a jug has eradicated any weed, insect pest or fungal/bacterial disease. Insect populations are on the decline. Waterways are polluted with chemical and fertilizer runoff. People’s health is suffering. More weeds are resistant to pesticides. There are many more issues I don’t have time to mention here, but I trust you get the picture.

Some brave souls started wondering if biology is the solution, instead of the problem. They took the knowledge already acquired over thousands of years by indigenous peoples worldwide, and got curious. They also looked to nature, and got curious. How are plants growing so well and being so healthy without all the man-made chemical inputs?

What’s going on that conventional agronomy doesn’t see? And, can it truly be applied to gardening (and agriculture)?

Folks like those at the Rodale Institute and like Sir Albert Howard, among other notables of the 20th and 21st centuries (few earlier) made some astounding discoveries in this area. Sadly these were/are dismissed by the industrial, conventional conglomerate as “foo foo dust” or “unscientific”.

Fortunately, they never gave up. They knew they were on to something, so they continued their studies up to today. No doubt there’s so much more to be discovered in the future near and far.

With more of these studies coming out, and more of this knowledge being shared, the greater the impact of these past, present, and future studies will be on our ability to grow food… naturally. Or, as naturally as we can do it.

What does this mean for your garden, then?

The operative question, what does this mean for you?

This means changing the way you see things, and learning more about soil biology that you won’t normally find in most “trusted” resources, like your average gardening books and gardening magazines. Sadly, much of these still provide the same conventional agronomic advice that encourages gardeners to treat their soil like a lifeless growing medium.

I will try to be a voice of science and reason for this area of gardening, but I would highly recommend resources like Kiss the Ground (the book is best, movie is decent), Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown, Soil Food Web School by Dr. Elaine Ingham (most is good, I have some disagreement with Dr. Ingham’s “science” and assertions on a few things), YouTube webinars and podcasts by Advancing Eco Agriculture/John Kempf, presentations by Dr. David Johnson, Ray Archuleta, Dr. Christine Jones, Jill Clapperton, and others. It depends on how deep into the science you want to get. Permaculture channels like Verge Permaculture and Canadian Permaculture Legacy are also worth checking out.

For you, as it has been for me, it will be a long road of unlearning, relearning, and learning. And believe me, there’s so much to learn.