Homemade Dirt
Bradford Grant
form textured topsoil can reach as deep as 6 feet or more. In this area, as compared to the Palouse, our topsoil generally reaches only inches deep and is not always suited for Before the start of this school year I moved from the Washington and Northern Idaho area (an area called The such intensive forms of agricultural farming. So, the question you may now be asking is - what does this all mean Palouse) where soil loss and its effects on the area were among the largest concerns within media and the minds of for us in Athens, Ohio? Well, this is the thing that I have the people who lived there. Every year, about this time of observed. With less topsoil and area for intensive agriculyear, the Pacific winds mixed with no rain, dry farmlands, tural farming, we have less people growing foods, which means that our food isn’t nearly as, how do I say this… dirt and the vigorous crop harvest meant the start of dust storms. On the windiest days you could taste the soil in the cheap! air and you couldn’t see a distance much longer than the distance of Court Street in Athens Ohio. Then the next Did you know that Ohio University already processmonth, the rain would show up and wash out all the loose es nearly 100% of the campus’ food waste to make dirt. Such scenarios cause massive amounts of erosion. its own soil amendment? We can currently divert Despite the dust storms and erosion in this area, it has up to 6 tons of food waste from the landfill every some of the deepest and richest fine grain water retaining day and turn it into nutrient rich compost. Check topsoil suitable for growing agricultural crops. In southout what the compost at OHIO looks like when it is eastern Ohio, as compared to the Palouse, we don’t do almost ready to be re-introduced to the soil in orsuch intensive levels of agricultural farming and so we have more room for trees (as well as other layers of bioder to create nutrient rich topsoil. mass), which protect topsoil from the massive levels of erosion that plague the Palouse.
Why should I Compost?
Have you ever considered making your own topsoil? - The cost of food in the Athens area has recently led me on a quest toward finding ways to make rich topsoil for my own food production. Essentially you can easily do this at home by combining the top layer of dirt with a layer of compost. Compost is a nutrient rich organic matter filled with microorganisms that breaks down organic matter. It’s created by the combination of food waste mixed with bulking materials like wood chips, saw dust, or shredded newspaper. People, in places like the Palouse, use compost as a way to improve soil structure and thus protects from erosion factors like wind and water. However, people in this area also use compost as a method for diverting waste to the landTopsoil is the top layer of soil that has the highest concen- fill, for creating topsoil better for food production, and to be used in landscaping for healthier plants and soils. trations of organic matter and microorganisms. It is the layer of soil where most plants set their roots and draw the majority of their nutrients from. In the Palouse, uni-
What is topsoil?
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