A Gift of Soil

Rolf brought his Grain Truck Loaded with Aged Cow Compost today. That equals Soil. That is the 3rd Truck Load he has brought these last 2 years. He even added more to this Load. We were gleeful, grateful, and reverent to this Gift of Creation.

Every step we take to replenish our Soil brings us to a level of Satisfaction and Outcome that cannot be described. When we arrived here, we found the Soil "tired". Can you even imagine working since the mid 1800s (which the Soil in these parts has done), and not having anything you have given added back? That's 160 years. What are we Humans with our Supposedly Superior Brains thinking?

If we were to use a Trusty and Powerful Work Horse without nourishing it, the Poor Old Horse would not last long. Folks in these parts would call that abuse. Many would be outraged. If we ran our Cars or Trucks without putting Fuel in their Tanks or attending to routine Maintenance, we wouldn't be going anywhere. We surely wouldn't be getting a very good return on our investment. Folks around here wouldn't think that was very smart.

If we don't take care of ourselves, we may have a fine and super-charged day today, but we will not last for the Long Haul. One can see parallels in the way we Humans in this Culture treat ourselves and the Land that sustains us. It is time for a Change. Yet, one could ask: Do we still have time? Never mind, we need to do what we can.

With Rolf's Gift of Soil today, we just stood there, looked at it, and talked about what we saw and how we felt about it. The Stuff was alive. We found all kinds of Living Organisms, including a Tiger Salamander which had surely settled into its Winter Home over on Rolf's Farm. Most Salamanders don't get picked up by a big Shovel, migrate 44 miles in an hour, and get dumped by a Grain Truck.

We reflected on the changes we have seen in the Soil here and its Food Production since Rolf's initial gift in the Spring of 2008. The addition of the Compost has made us Believers in such things.

As per our experience, the Compost also yields some unexpected Treasures. We found 2 parts of a Fishing Pole in this batch. That Pole seems a metaphor for the Fishing we have been doing to learn and grow on this Little Farm. Fishing surely must be an act of Faith.

Restoring the Soil is perhaps the single most important activity that we will do while we are here. Thank you, Rolf. Thank you, Cows. Thank you, Soil. Thank you, Creator, for these Sacred Gifts.