You might know soil remembers and has a long memory but do you know soils continually tell stories? Soils often tell an overarching story based on history and geology that includes how soils were formed due to factors such as parent material, climate, landscape position, time, and the presence or absence of soil organisms. Current and past management of topsoil and the soil ecosystem adds new chapters to a soil's history and memory.

Clare Tallamy, a recent graduate of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences (SPES), shared several stories from her experience as a member of Virginia Tech's Soil Judging Team and the team's time in many different soil pits in Virginia and across the U.S. and world. In Part I, Clare described how a soil pit is dug and shared a way to understand a soil profile. In this episode, Clare explains further how soil remembers but also how a soil's story can be adversely altered through mismanagement and neglect or significantly improved by following core soil health principles that enhance overall soil biology and focus on what you can change in the system.

For more details about Virginia Tech's Soil Judging Team and how soil judging in various agricultural and engineering contexts, please visit https://gobblerconnect.vt.edu/organization/soiljudging.

To learn about the long memory of soil, please refer to Dr. Henry Janzen's recent Soil Science Society of America Journal article titled, 'The Soil Remembers' at https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.2136/sssaj2016.05.0143

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, join the 4 the Soil conversation, and read the latest Soil Health Tip Tuesday blog post at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org.

Do you have a vision and picture of what happens in a soil judging pit? Clare Tallamy, a recent graduate of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences (SPES), shared her passion for soil health and soil judging in this episode. Clare was a member of Virginia Tech's Soil Judging Team and helped the team win its seventh collegiate national championship. Clare also distinguished herself as the individual winner at the 2022 International Soil Judging Contest that was held in Scotland. As an avid gardener growing up in Northern Virginia, Clare took a keen interest in soil science and joined Virginia Tech's Soil Judging to follow her passion to learn more about soil physics, chemistry, and ecology in a very practical way -- as part of a team down in a soil pit.

Clare describes how a soil pit is dug and shares a picture to understand and judge the different layers of a soil's profile. Additionally, Clare emphasizes that we can learn a lot about the history of how the soil was formed and why keeping soil covered is important to building soil health through the soil judging process down in the pit.

For more details about Virginia Tech's Soil Judging Team and its recent national championship, please refer to the following article: https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2022/05/soils-soil-judging-2022-champs.html.

To view the winning submissions of the recent Healthy Soil, Healthy Life art competition sponsored by the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, please visit the 4 The Soil blog at https://www.4thesoil.org/post/va-association-of-soil-water-conservation-districts-names-winners-of-healthy-soils-healthy-life.

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, join the 4 the Soil conversation, and read the latest Soil Health Tip Tuesday blog post at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org.

What are the foundations of happy soil biology? Jon Stika of UnderstandingAg, a part-time research professional at North Dakota State University's Dickinson Research and Extension Center, and author of A Soil Owner's Manual shares his perspective on keeping soil biology alive and happy.

Jon draws his soil biology insights from his career as a conservationist, agronomist, soil scientist, researcher, and teacher with USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. He discusses how integrating livestock as a means of energizing with diversity can stimulate plant growth and biological activity when grazing is properly managed.

For Jon, feeding the soil is integral for feeding the plants -- and ultimately people. Once the soil is properly fed without being disturbed, key soil functions begin to be restored and regenerated, which can be good for farmers', ranchers', and gardeners' financial bottom lines as well. In Jon's experience, happy biology is foundational to sustaining food and farming systems from the soil up.

A Soil Owner’s Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health is published independently by Jon through Amazon Books and is available on UnderstandingAg’s website. Jon's soil biology mentors include Drs. Jill Clapperton, Elaine Ingham, and Kristine Nickols.

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, join the 4 the Soil conversation, and read the latest Soil Health Tip Tuesday blog post at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org.

How does soil actually function? Jon Stika of UnderstandingAg (recently retired from USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service) emphasizes that all of us as students, managers, and caregivers of soil need to understand how soil functions as a living ecosystem with biological, physical, and chemical processes. All of us must become students of what makes soil healthy. It’s that simple and there are no shortcuts. Jon states from this starting point farmers, graziers, gardeners, and landowners will then be able to treat the problems limiting soil health and not just the symptoms.

In Jon's career as a conservationist, agronomist, soil scientist, researcher, and teacher with USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, an eye-opening experience was just how important biology is to the overall soil ecosystem and how carbon serves as currency to drive nutrient cycling, soil aggregation, and so many other processes.

Jon encourages people to not be overwhelmed by the complexity of the system but to start small, follow the four soil health principles, focus on one principle out of the four that can be improved, and experiment with that principle on a section of your farm, pasture, garden, or backyard.

A Soil Owner’s Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health is published independently by Jon through Amazon Books and is available on UnderstandingAg’s website.

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, join the 4 the Soil conversation, and read the latest Soil Health Tip Tuesday blog post at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org.

Who inspired you in your soil health journey? Lee Rinehart sustainable agriculture specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) shared about two people who inspired him in his journey into sustainable, regenerative agriculture and soil health. In sharing about his maternal grandfather's influence and the writings of Wendell Berry, Lee reiterates stories about the care of land and people being critically important for affecting change, building camaraderie, and inspiring new ideas that can be adopted and implemented.

Lee also emphasized how we need to learn from one another what has worked, what continues to be a challenge, and what emerging opportunities are there to build soil health and regenerate landscapes.

To join a dynamic community of people in Virginia and across the world who are curious about water and soil practices, please visit National Center for Appropriate Technology's Soil for Water initiative at: https://soilforwater.org/

The 1977 classic book that Lee referenced by Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture, can be obtained online or from a local independent bookstore.

To read the latest Soil Health Tip Tuesday blog post that Jeff mentioned about what to do with leaves, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog/soil-health-tip-tuesday-ways-to-save-the-gold-and-red-and-brown-leaves.

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and hear the conversation on our websites, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts!

What are appropriate and inappropriate technologies for soil to benefit water? Lee Rinehart of the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) shares the history behind this question as well as how the question relates to their ongoing Soil for Water initiative. People may hear of appropriate technology in relation to an international context but Lee reminds us that no matter the context appropriate technology should be locally-adaptive, place-based, and people-centered to be most beneficial socially, ecologically, and economically.

Lee tells several stories of when technologies were introduced and did not have the desired anticipated benefits but disrupted relationships that were naturally more integrated such as the carbon cycle and the integration of livestock in agricultural and rural landscapes.

To learn more about the National Center for Appropriate Technology's Soil for Water initiative and join a dynamic community of people in Virginia and across the world who are curious about water and soil practices that create resilient, profitable agricultural systems, please visit: https://soilforwater.org/

The classic book by E.F. Schumacher that Lee referenced, Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, can be obtained online or from a local independent bookstore.

We can all be 4 the Soil, 4 the Water. Therefore, we encourage you to do your place-based, locally-adaptive part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, and in your landscape. Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition and hear the conversation on our websites, please visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts!

If you were an earthworm, what type of farm would you like to be living on? This question was posed to Mike Phillips of Valley View Farms in Mauzy, Virginia, who is a student of history and a champion of soil health. Jeff Ishee was able to catch up with Mike at a recent Soil Health and Cover Crop Field Day in Rockingham County to learn how Mike seeks to mimic nature in his farming and soil health principles.

Mike is always cognizant of keeping soil covered, nurturing soil biology, and managing his above and below-ground livestock. He encourages us all to know we are part of a system and that all living things are sacred. Therefore, we should manage our lives, farms, and soils to be in harmonious balance. Mike has been inspired by many people throughout his life and he is fiercely intent on inspiring others, particularly young and beginning farmers, to farm and live as part of the land and sacred system.

Context is a critical precept for customizing soil health to your farm and landscape. To learn more about Mike Phillips's passion for farming and care of the land, please take six minutes to listen to two of Virginia Cooperative Extension's Soil, Conservation, and Place videos at https://youtu.be/Sgbqt_AnA8s and https://youtu.be/HyW858Hb12k

Learn more and hear the conversation on our website www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts! As always, we encourage you to do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, and in your landscape.

The 4 the Soil: A Conversation podcast was collaboratively launched on October 12, 2021, to bring farmers, graziers, market gardeners, agricultural professionals, educators, researchers, conservationists, and community leaders together to hear and share stories about agriculture, soil health principles, and shared values. The First Anniversary Edition is aimed to be a "best-of" episode to celebrate the milestone and offer a sample of memorable conversations of the first year.

Special thanks to all of our guests and listeners. We hope you will join us in this celebration and continue to support and share the 4 The Soil: A Conversation podcast as we work together for the common good and health of the soil and the future.

Learn more and hear the conversation on our website www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts! As always, we encourage you to do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, and in your own backyard.

Will soil health work on your farm? That is a question that farmers often ask related to soil health-building principles and practices, particularly in relation to multi-species mixtures and diversified enterprises. Brian Downing of Crooked Row Farm is a second-generation farmer located in Randolph County in central North Carolina. He shares his perspective on farming by the square foot and making soil health work on his farm. Faced with a soil compaction resource concern, he began experimenting with cover crop mixtures, a diversity of livestock and crop species, and enhancing the carbon currency on his farm. Brian highlights the need to understand what is happening on your farm by the square foot and to realize your farm has its own micro-economy that requires investments and savings in carbon and soil health. Additionally, farming and soil health accounts require sound recordkeeping to know where, how, and if wealth and health are growing and accruing as part of a stable micro-economy that naturally includes deposits and withdrawals.

Learn more and hear the conversation on our website www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts! As always, we encourage you to do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, and in your landscape.

What do you want to accomplish on your farm, in your garden, or in business? Do you have a specific resource concern such as lessening tillage? Do you want to provide your family, friends, and customers with nutrient-dense food? Cover Crop Coach Steve Groff shared in the previous episode about keeping the soil alive and well. The conversation continues with Steve emphasizing that farmers need to learn all they can and understand how soil health concepts, principles, and practices are applicable to their individual farms and context. Similarly, Steve encourages farmers, graziers, and gardeners to visit with other farmers locally as well as virtually for camaraderie and peer-to-peer networking. There are many ways to learn and continue to self-educate ourselves as we face challenges of living longer than ever, and unfortunately, in many cases, being sicker than ever.

For more information about soil health for your farm, pasture, garden, or backyard, please visit the Virginia Soil Health Coalition's Tips and Resources website at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/resources-1. To take the pledge to follow and educate others about the four core soil health principles, please visit the 4 The Soil website at https://www.4thesoil.org/take-the-pledge.html.

To learn about Steve Groff's soil health journey, mindsets, and the changing context of farming, you can read his new book The Future-Proof Farm: Changing Mindsets in a Changing World, which is available online at https://stevegroff.com.