As described in the last blog post, I became well acquainted with a multitude of ways to mechanically alter the soil. After experiencing the plowing, discing, and tilling process up close, I realized just how disruptive these practices are. As I made pass after overlapping pass with the till, watching the tines pulverize the topsoil, I imagined that I was effectively disabling all the invisible organisms beneath the surface. According to Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web Approach, the soil should contain many kinds of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, arthropods, and more. When I started my farm, I couldn’t tell you how all these microscopic ingredients functioned, or what they looked like, but on a gut level, I knew I was essentially making pureed soup out of them. Specifically, I felt the guiltiest about disturbing the soil fungi because I heard some other farmers talking about how critical fungi is to soil health and plant vitality. After learning more about mycorrhizal fungi in the soil, I started to imagine them like human neurons, for three reasons:
They function similarly. Just like mycorrhizal fungi deliver essential nutrients and moisture to plant roots, human sensory neurons deliver essential information back to the brain and spinal cord. The neuron is the functional unit of the human nervous system, and if the nervous system is damaged through a spinal cord injury, it can lead to paralysis. Similarly, I imagined the soil fungi being paralyzed as they were repeatedly sliced by the tines on the till, effectively fracturing their ability to send or receive communication.
They resemble each other in appearance. When fungi attach to plant roots, the roots become elongated like tentacles. The fungi increase the root’s surface area by branching off in filaments called hyphae. The hyphae form a tentacled web that resembles the finger-like projections at the end of a neuron. Hyphae relate to fungi like dendrites relate to sensory neurons. For example, hyphae receive nutrition and transfer it back to fungal roots, allowing fungal roots to communicate with plant roots. Similarly, dendrites receive stimuli and transmit them to cell bodies of sensory neurons, allowing sensory neurons to interface with interneurons in the spinal cord.
They resemble each other in relative length. Although the research is evolving, scientists understand that fungal networks can stretch kilometers beneath the soil. Human neurons are also incredibly long – they are the longest cell in the human body! For example, the neuron traveling from the base of the spinal column to the toe can be up to three feet or approximately one meter in length!
The structure of fungi roots in soil (top) resembles a digital illustration of neurons (bottom).
Due to the similarities between mycorrhizal fungi and aspects of the human nervous system, I imagined the traumatic disability we caused to the fungi by using machinery to alter the soil structure. Through plowing, we were essentially severing the soil fungi with the blade of the moldboard, like cutting them with a knife, detaching the top twelve inches of filaments from the rest of their length. Discing caused more insult to injury by shearing the detached fungal structures with sharp metal discs, like rolling them over and over with a bunch of synchronized pizza cutters. And finally, tilling was like putting all the dismembered shreds of fungi into a blender and pulverizing them even further. I apologize that these metaphors are a bit grotesque, but that’s what I visualized as I worked the soil with various implements.
My first year running Chainy-Stakes Farm helped me familiarize myself with all the tractor implements available to modern-day farmers. I am thankful for this basic level of understanding. However, while learning how to use the tools, I began to recognize that the convenience, speed, and efficiency we get from using powerful machinery does not come free of charge. Some level of harm and destruction will occur to the delicate soil biology, which is so microscopic that we cannot see. In future years at Chainy-Stakes Farm, I aim to reduce the usage of heavy equipment. It will be better for the health of our soil, as well as the health of my nervous system!
Copyright, all rights reserved, 2023, Kayla McCarthy.
(Author's whereabouts upon publication: At an overseas military base, living it up on deployment).