Nature Connection: Digging The Dirt

One of the best parts of spring is getting back to digging the dirt as well as digging in the dirt. If I stop to think about it, almost all good things begin life in the dirt and then end up back in the dirt as part of the dirt, so it’s probably not a surprising thought. Maybe this is why so many of us long for the days to warm up enough to get our hands back in the dirt again, to smell the richness of the earth, to feel it crumble between our fingers, to simply touch the wonder responsible for so much life.

It’s primal, I think, this love of dirt. To be fair, we tend to think dirt has its place, usually outside. Our attitude to dirt inside is quite different. It doesn’t matter if it’s on our dishes, our clothes, our kitchen counters or toilet seats. Then, dirt is, well, just dirty, and we want no part of it.

It’s an interesting thing, isn’t it? Love and hate, all wrapped around something most of us see every day in one form or another.

I came late to gardening, but these days I have dozens of tiny tomato and flower plants growing in cups in my south and west facing windows. For years I’ve planted way too many tomatoes, but I always have a freezer full by the time summer sneaks into fall. I have to find spots for yet more zinnias and cosmos, and to be honest, that’s part of the fun.

Outside my raised beds full of compost and rich soil are ready for the veggies I’m planting early. The peas, lettuce, radishes and chard start so humbly yet grow so quickly in the warming spring air. The herbs are waking up, and I take stock of which ones made it through the winter and which ones — I’m looking at you rosemary — didn’t. Although rosemary occasionally makes it through the winter here, mostly I take cuttings in the fall and plant pots to put on windowsills once fall is in full gear.

It’s too early to plant the sunflowers and nasturtiums, but it won’t be for long. The pollinator gardens are coming to life, and I’ve learned over the years which come back quickly and which take their sweet time. I’ve also learned which ones make hundreds of babies I can transplant or give away and which ones need to be babied and constantly encouraged.

In the end, it all comes down to dirt. Without dirt, it is difficult to grow much. Yes, there are ways to grow crops without dirt, but that is fairly involved and not for me, at least not while I have plenty of dirt.

There are numerous studies showing that our physical and mental health can be optimized by walking and standing on the ground in our bare feet. By ground we mean the dirt. Even if you are standing on grass, you are ultimately standing on dirt. Back in the day we all stood or walked in our yards in our bare feet. As kids we ran and rolled around and jumped and dug and played in the dirt all day long. We also wore it proudly.

Working in the garden brings some of that back for us, I think. We get our hands dirty, our knees and feet, maybe our elbows. Our fingernails take on a summer sheen that has nothing to do with polish but a whole lot to do with feeling firsthand what power a humble-seeming thing really has.

Dirt is where the seeds land and grow. Dirt is where the tiny organisms live, where the larger ones dig around, lay eggs or find food. Dirt is where the dying fall and where the dead become part of the world once again in a different form. Dirt, in other words, is where it is happening. We need dirt and should be celebrating it every day.

Dirt varies in different places because dirt is the result of organic breakdown. This means dirt is different in a field than in a forest, on a beach or in a marsh. The top part of the dirt is the most productive, the most active with organisms and life. We call it topsoil, a pretty obvious name. In times of drought, topsoil is threatened by wind and fire, leaving fields and farms stripped and denuded of this valuable dirt that can take years to replace.

Dirt takes its time to replenish itself. Unlike us, it is in no hurry. As a plant grows and dies, whether grass, flower or tree, it decomposes over time, adding to the dirt. This happens in stages and cannot be rushed. Small organisms break down the larger elements over time and weather adds its magic here and there until finally, what was once a branch or a stem or a blossom becomes part of the dirt that will nurture another generation.

Even sand is a result of breaking down rocks and shells and bones and such. Although we may not think of sand as a growing medium, there are a number of plants that grow well in sand. The nutrients in sand also support the growth of many sea creatures and seaweeds over time.

Nature is amazing in the way she uses everything. There is no waste in nature. Everything eventually breaks down to aid the next generation, giving the last of its life to the next life. 

As we prepare to plant our flowers, herbs and vegetables this spring, perhaps we should stop to smell the dirt before we smell the roses. After all, without the dirt, there would be no blossom, no fruit, no seeds to start the next season of growth, of new life.

We should be digging the dirt, not just digging in the dirt.