​I have written many times about soil health- why we need it, why we should care, what it takes to get it, etc.   I won’t bore you with too many of those details in this article, but one of the principles of soil health is “do not disturb the soil”.  This is the reason that I talk about no till gardens, no till cropping practices, cover crops, and the list goes on.  The soil is home to hundreds of thousands of organisms per teaspoon, if you have good soil health.  If you are one that “needs” to plow/rototill/etc., you are essentially completely destroying those organisms’ homes.  It is no different that a major hurricane coming through some ocean front town on the coast.  All these beneficial organisms have built their homes in the open spaces in the soil.  We need to leave them alone as much as possible for them to stay and do the good things that they do.

 by Jim Hyland "This is reprinted from Forest Fridays, a DCNR newsletter publication.  Jim makes some excellent points about how we have become removed from the “real” world- where our food, shelter, clothing, and many more necessities come from.  We need to regain that perspective..  For those as old as me, remember cutting off birch branches and chewing on the ends of them?  They taste really good.  For those young whipper-snappers who have never experienced it, try it.  I haven’t had Birch Beer in a long time.  It seems to be a lot harder to find these days, but it tastes really good."- Kevin Brown