Healthy People & soil microbes?

[digitS']

It is bigger than that so I didn't put this in the Soil forum. The article provides a good introduction about what it means to be a part of life here on Earth. There is a great deal more to that story also. Like, what can be done medically, to maintain and restore human health. That may take us far beyond gardening but, some of these things we know, almost by the simple fact that we have been gardening awhile.

I like to think of myself as being a "part of life" and as much a part of it as possible. That will give me the best chance for health.

Here's the story in The Atlantic magazine: Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People (link)

I hope you enjoy reading it .

Steve

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

It is very interesting. I think adding compost tea to the garden helps. It just reminded me that I was planning on catching some rain water. We have chlorine put in the city water a couple of times a year. There is not any right now, but it would be nice to have some rain water collected for when they do. I collected some earlier and gave to my seedlings and I think it makes a difference. Everybody is afraid of dirt. I think I read they clean baby carrrots with bleach, so I never buy them. I think having your hands in the dirt is good for you. I have a friend and her BIL almost died in the hospital from staph infection. She said he was afraid of germs and used all kinds of cleaners and antibacterial soap. He killed off all his good bacteria.

 

[bj taylor]

it was an interesting read. I think about when I buy a bunch of produce & it looks so pretty. it probably has a fraction of the nutritional value it's ancestors had & much more toxins. as I am learning to grow more of my own food, I want to learn to restore the land itself. as I learned in my master gardener class a few years ago, 'you feed the soil, not the plant'. that mind-set has stuck with me.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Awesome article, i find this subject particularly fascinating. One thing the article didnt really talk about is how important it is for kids to be exposed to healthy soil and farm animals...helps develop their immune system, cuts down on allergies...so kudos to all you getting your kids and grandkids into gardening

 

[journey11]

3 lbs. of microbes, fungi, etc. in a healthy human...how fascinating! I just started brewing my own kombucha. It's just as easy as making ACV. Certainly it is not good for us to be too "sterilized" (although the thought of it may be more appealing to some). Anytime you kill off the good bacteria...the bad ones move in and multiply...and we see that concept in all of nature and of course it applies to us as well. This goes back to the reasoning behind that no-till gardening too..."yogurt" for your soil. I found particularly interesting...the study that found that mycorrhizal filaments are used by plants to communicate one to another as an early warning system.

 

[NwMtGardener]

I found particularly interesting...the study that found that mycorrhizal filaments are used by plants to communicate one to another as an early warning system.

Yeah...i found that interesting too, as i just potted up my tomatoes into their own individual pots last night (i hang them upside down). Now i feel bad for them, cut off from their "pack"!!

 

[Jared77]

Great article. Its good to see people fighting the sterile environment and pushing back and using all the resources available.

The fact that probiotic yogurts and products full of vitamin C and zinc to boost immune health really says something about the current state of what we eat & how we live. Spending thousands of dollars to keep the place clear of things they have an irrational fear of, can't see but are told are there, yet the lack of them are actually harmful in the short term (weakened immune systems) and in the long term as well.

Once again why I live by the 5 second rule, get my bare hands dirty often, drink from the carton, breath as much fresh air as I can, and grow/harvest as much of my own food as I can.