The Solutions are in the Soil

a 4-day course

It was a sunny day in Alunișu, when we had the pleasure to welcome the participants (overall 16 people) of the second Soil Course on 26 – 29th June hosted by Provision Transylvania and facilitated by Marc Siepman – in this year ALPA also took part in the organization.

Because people were on time (we were very pleased by this, also to see some familiar faces) we could already start our program at the settled time by getting to know each other and Marc’s “Put yourself on the pirate-ship of the soil!” game. Then, interspersed with a few breaks and chats, we were thrown into the deep waters of the world’s complex system, in a playful way, of course. The task was hard: split into three groups, we had to define different types of relationships between several natural elements (like sun, rock, fungi, plant etc). We had to realize that we are unable to define such complexity! Here comes the teaching of Marc:

you can determine and control complicated systems, like you can disassemble an airplane and then after putting it together it is still functional. However, it is impossible to control complex systems, like nature itself, because a bird cannot be functional after tearing it to pieces and putting it back together – so complicated should not be mixed up with complex.

On the second day of the course it was a bit rainy (such happiness in a dry summer!), so we “hid” in the barn to listen to Marc, talking about the – amazing and for us fairly undiscovered world of the soil – there are 1 billion living beings in just one tablespoon of soil (!). No surprise that 59% of the species living on Earth spend all or part of their lives in the soil… Of course everything has to eat something, because energy is not less important in the soil either – and as we got to know about it, in every trophic level 90% of the energy gets lost (the eg. a meat eater get’s less energy from the food than a herbivore, so they need to consume more). In the process of food bacteria is really important, as they can “digest” for other beings, like for plants and mammals. Fungi can also help to break down complex organic matter – like the example of an entire ant that has been infected by a “zombie-ant” fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis), or the Nematodes that are causing damage in plant roots. We also learned that not all snails are bad – Marc is a bottomless container when it comes to interesting fun-facts about nature (can’t wait for his book to be published!)

We also had a short observing-tour in the garden, where we could see what the differences are between a sandy and a clayey soil. We had a long discussion if mulching is attracting the snails or not, but according to Marc:

DON’T EVER LEAVE THE SOIL UNCOVERED.

After all this play-time and fun-facts the more practical and chemical part came on the third day, having the nutrient and water cycle on the plate. Both of these substances are very much needed for life on Earth, but both too little or too much of them can cause problems and damage. Bacteria play a huge role in converting the atmospheric nitrogen (78% of the ait is N) into a form that can be absorbed by plants, and therefore plant eaters (like humans). Bacteria on the other hand are taking part in the water cycle as well (altogether with other organic particles) – providing surface for the moisture to condense on and causing rain. Are we still questioning that we are kept alive by bacteria?

Besides the facilitation of Marc and Caroline, his partner, Lars and Robyn also (even Carsten with the goat milking) provided some additional activities whether it’s haymaking, mulching or cooking – participants were happy to help, also finding opportunities to connect and chat in the meantime.

We closed the course with a meaningful reflection circle and lot’s of gratitude, as it is safe to say that we were lucky with the weather, the group and all the knowledge we could sponge up from Marc! We are looking forward to welcoming all of you again!