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4 The Soil: A Conversation

By: Eric Scott Bendfeldt
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  • Summary

  • Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.

    Soil is living and life-giving.

    Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.

    “4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.

    Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.

    The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.

    Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
    Copyright Eric Scott Bendfeldt
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Episodes
  • Episode 24 - 9: Community, Dung Beetles, and a Good Steady Rain with Dr. Elizabeth Heilman of Wichita State University Part II

    Episode 24 - 9: Community, Dung Beetles, and a Good Steady Rain with Dr. Elizabeth Heilman of Wichita State University Part II
    Apr 23 2024
    Have you ever been on a walk and observed a dung beetle or two rolling a bit of dung down the path? Have you wondered what conditions make a good steady rain? While many things are out of our control, we can control some things if we are willing to learn and work together as a community.

    Dr. Elizabeth Heilman, Professor of Education at Wichita State University, elaborates on the power of observation in ecology and farming with Mary Sketch Bryant, Jeff Ishee, and Eric Bendfeldt, specifically as the power of observation relates to weather patterns, peer-to-peer learning, and creating more stable farming systems.

    Dr. Heilman shares how a "community of practice" can be a safe place to share experiences and build relationships that can help farmers "balance out the weather cycle" and "reduce drought and flooding."

    For a description of Dr. Heilman's teaching, research, and recent publications, please visit https://www.wichita.edu/profiles/academics/applied_studies/School_of_Education/Heilman-Elizabeth.php

    For the free soil health resource guides that Dr. Heilman referenced, please visit Green Cover Seeds at https://greencover.com/freeguides/ The tenth edition is currently accessible. Copies of the fifth edition are available in English, French, and Spanish.

    To access the seventy episodes of the 4 The Soil: A Conversation podcast and additional resources on soil health-building principles, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/. To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. We would love to hear how you work to balance the water cycle on your farm, ranch, or garden.
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    19 mins
  • Episode 24 - 8: Calm Your Lizard Down with Dr. Elizabeth Heilman of Wichita State University Part I

    Episode 24 - 8: Calm Your Lizard Down with Dr. Elizabeth Heilman of Wichita State University Part I
    Apr 9 2024
    Are you resistant to change or risk averse? You may need to calm your lizard down and understand how important safety and security are to change, risk aversion, and the adoption of new behaviors.

    Dr. Elizabeth Heilman, Professor of Education at Wichita State University, talks with Mary Sketch Bryant, Jeff Ishee, and Eric Bendfeldt about how our "lizard brains" relate to farming and ranching. For farmers and ranchers, many day-to-day factors (i.e., markets, weather, public policy, etc.) are out of their control. The lack of control can cause stress and anxiety that activate our lizard brains.

    In thinking about emotional and environmental ecology, Dr. Heilman shares several strategies for self-care and calming down the anxious parts of our brain and nervous system. The strategies include keeping a done list; a gratitude list; your mission statement visible; and remembering to Eat That Frog.

    For a description of Dr. Heilman's teaching, research, and recent publications, please visit https://www.wichita.edu/profiles/academics/applied_studies/School_of_Education/Heilman-Elizabeth.php

    To access close to seventy episodes of the 4 The Soil: A Conversation podcast and additional resources on soil health-building principles, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/. To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. We would love to hear your stories about self-care and strategies for regenerating the ecosystem health of your farm and organization.
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    19 mins
  • Episode 24 - 7: A Passion for Gardening with Bill "Pops" Patterson of Virginia USDA-NRCS Part II

    Episode 24 - 7: A Passion for Gardening with Bill "Pops" Patterson of Virginia USDA-NRCS Part II
    Mar 26 2024
    A passion for gardening and tasty, flavorful tomatoes, cucumbers, and hot peppers continues to drive Bill Patterson's experimentation with crop rotations, mulching, composting, and winter and summer cover crops in his home garden. Mary Sketch Bryant and Eric Bendfeldt talked previously with Bill about his conservation work with soil health and grazing lands. Bill is equally passionate about his home garden as he is about farmers' grazing lands.

    He uses his garden as an experimentation station to test and observe the soil health-building principles. Bill emphasizes: "rotations, rotations, rotations," and allowing the critters to do the tillage for you. With his love for building soil carbon and enjoying a great-tasting tomato, Bill's gardening rotation includes a diverse mixture of summer and winter cover crops.

    To learn about winter and summer cover crops, please visit the Southern Cover Crops Council's website at https://southerncovercrops.org/ The site includes a selection tool for vegetables, grazing, and row crops. For information about careers and programs of the Virginia USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, please visit https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/virginia

    To access close to seventy episodes of the 4 The Soil: A Conversation podcast and additional resources on soil health-building principles, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/. To learn about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, visit https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. We would love to hear your stories about the passion you have for experimenting with the four core soil health principles in your garden, cropland, and grazing lands.
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    17 mins
Science
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