A love of playing in the soil

         Meet Tyson Roberts, a vegetable grower just outside of Salt Lake City,
Utah – a
man who wears many hats and a man who is committed to the land that has been in
his family for 150 years. When I asked why he farms, he quickly responds: “it’s
a relationship with the land, with the soil. It’s how I was raised and how I
want my kids to be raised. It’s a family thing.”

         The farm raises sweet corn, potatoes, popcorn, garlic, sweet potatoes
onions, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes – he likes to say his farm grows “anything
you need for salsa.”

         Their business is a great example of how all of us owe our existence to
soil – and the nutrition that comes forth when water is added to the earth.

                    Crop rotation is critical for soil management
when growing vegetables. Some crops, like tomatoes, use a lot of nutrients, so
rotation protects the soil from having too many nutrients taken up by plants.
It’s also logical to rotate because certain types of ground is not suited to
grow different crops. If you plant a product in the wrong soil type, it leaves
it susceptible to different diseases, increases pressure from weeds and you’ll
end up spending a whole lot more on inputs (the products to provide nutrients
or combat diseases).

         In other words, farmers growing crops need to be soil scientists. It’s
especially true for those planting a variety of crops like vegetables; the
farmer has to know their soil type and what they are planting. Soil can change
dramatically in half a mile. Some ground is sandier, some is heavier. Potatoes
and tomatoes are in the same family so they can’t be planted annually right
after each other. Research is required to know which rotations (the order crops
are planted in) result in more problems with diseases in the plants.

         Soil testing is done in the spring before planting and again in the fall
so farmers can compare what winter does with the soil.  Some fields require nitrogen, but the amount,
timing and application differ based upon crop, soil and time of year. The soil
in the other fields require potassium and phosphate, which is plowed into the
root zone. Yet another specific area may require iron. Soil health has a lot of
moving pieces to put together.

         Healthy soil grows more food. Healthy soil requires fewer inputs. Healthy
soil preserves generations of farmers. Healthy soil requires less water.
Healthy soil just makes sense for farmers.

         Farmers apply a lot of science and expertise to caring for their land to
raise food. Nurturing the soil is key to their existence – and ours. That is
true whether the farmer has 50 acres in Utah or 5,000 acres in Arizona. Healthy
soil grows healthy food for you.

Read more at   Food Truths from Farm to Table  to arm
yourself with 25 truths you urgently need to know about food so you can
shop without guilt, confusion, or judgment. A new book,  Food Bullying , releases November 5
to upend the way you think about eating choices.