Years back, my sister-in-law, Rebecca, gifted me with a book on permaculture. Reading it was some of the best education I’ve ever come across on soils and growing food. One thing in particular was on the use of fertilizers or not to fertilize. I learned that in conventional agricultural practices, “plants often use only 10 percent of the fertilizer that’s applied and rarely more than 50%. The rest is washed into the groundwater which is why so many wells in our farmlands are polluted with toxic levels of nitrates. Applying fertilizer the way nature does with the use of organic matter uses far less fertilizer and saves energy consumed in producing, shipping and applying it. It also supports a broad assortment of soil life, which widens the base of our living pyramid and enhances rather than reduces biodiversity. In addition, plants get a balanced diet instead of being force-fed, and are more healthy. It’s well documented that plants grown in soil rich in organic matter are more disease resistant than plants in carbon-poor soil.” Learning how to build healthy soil life is key to our production of high quality food.