By RYAN RAINMAKER
Los Alamos Sustainability Alliance

Soil here, Soil there, Soil everywhere!

Soil health has become one of my favorite things to learn about over the past five years and it keeps getting more and more interesting. I’d like to share some of the most amazing things I’ve learned and how you can implement them in your own spaces.

Soil, although small in nature and often overlooked, is a foundational piece of our ecosystems. Soil plays a vital role in the health, vitality, and productivity of our environment. It is also one of the most powerful tools for watershed restoration as it is an excellent medium for retaining moisture and reducing erosion, similarly, it is excellent at carbon capture by supporting the growth of healthy trees and plants.

Soil has everything to do with the quality of food you eat, and the abundance of life in the places we live, and helps with wildfire prevention.

In New Mexico where arid conditions prevail, the conservation, rehabilitation, and building of new soil becomes even more vital as we move into hotter seasons with more intense weather events.

By understanding the significance of soil and its health, we start to understand the need to take small yet impactful steps as individuals, and communities. We can implement long-term change by supporting our local government to prioritize the foundation of our ecosystems and our homes!

The Importance of Soil Health in New Mexico:

1. Water Conservation: Healthy soil acts as a sponge, holding water and preventing excessive runoff. In a state where water scarcity is an ever-present challenge, maintaining healthy soil is a critical step to recharging our aquifers as well as creating space for vegetation to take hold. This maximizes water availability for vegetation, agriculture, and recreation.
2. Nutrient Cycling: Healthy soil is rich in organic matter and beneficial microorganisms that enhance nutrient cycling. This enables plants to access essential nutrients for growth, leading to healthier crops, natural vegetation, and more resilient microclimates which can help with cooling our spaces.
3. Erosion Prevention: New Mexico’s landscapes are prone to erosion due to high winds and sporadic heavy rainfall. Soil with good structure and organic matter content helps stabilize the land, reducing erosion risks and preserving precious topsoil.

Five Simple Steps to Improve Soil Health in Your Community:

1. Composting: Start a composting system at home to recycle kitchen scraps and yard waste. Compost provides valuable organic matter and nutrients that enrich soil, and it is an easy and affordable way to reduce waste while benefiting your soil. Los Alamos County Eco Station has high-quality compost available for your landscape needs. Note that currently the compost is safe for landscapes but not vegetable gardens. Stay tuned for more information about food-grade compost here in Los Alamos.
2. Mulching: Apply a layer of organic mulch to garden beds and around trees and shrubs. Mulch helps conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and gradually adds organic matter to the soil as it decomposes. Wood mulch is a great way to jump-start mycorrhizal growth. Leaving your leaves on the ground come fall gives local pollinators places to build their winter homes while delivering nutrients to the microorganisms as the leaves break down. The Eco Station has mulch available.
3. Cover Cropping: Utilize cover crops during fallow periods in gardens and fields. Cover crops, such as legumes or grasses, help improve soil fertility by fixing nitrogen, reducing erosion, and increasing organic matter. This is such a great way to build amazing soil and can actually support water conservation. There is a wonderful website that I will share that can help with picking the right cover crops for your specific needs. If you are interested in exploring it here is the website, smartmix.greencoverseed.com
4. Avoid Overuse of Chemicals: Minimize the use of synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. These substances can harm the soil ecosystem, negatively impacting microbial life and soil structure. Consider alternative organic methods for pest and weed control. Los Alamos is now a Certified Bee City and our community can support this initiative and protect pollinators by reducing pesticide use.
5. Encourage Green Urban Design and Growth: Advocating our local government we want to utilize green urban design, with sustainable building practices will be an integral next step. It will help recharge our ecosystems and encourage a more connected community. Websites on this topic are included in the resource section of this article.

Conclusion:

The health of our soil is intertwined with the sustainability and resilience of our ecosystems and subsequently our lives. By recognizing the importance of New Mexico’s soil, we have the opportunity to make positive changes through small, simple, and sustainable actions. Through composting, mulching, cover cropping, and reducing chemical usage, you can play an active role in improving soil health in our local communities. Together, we can create a more fertile, resilient, and ecologically sustainable environment for future generations in the Land of Enchantment.

Resources:

1. Master Gardener Los Alamos, https://lamgonline.org/DemoGarden.php
2. news.stanford.edu/2021/06/21/designing-sustainable-cities/
3. www.archdaily.com/964460/6-urban-design-projects-with-nature-based-solutions
4. https://pes.nmsu.edu/faculty/soil-faculty.html
5. https://extension.nmsu.edu/
6. https://smartmix.greencoverseed.com/