Why Terra Preta?
Even Weeds serve a purpose…
Everyone has been annoyed in the past by weeds, constant scourges to the home and garden, requiring chemical warfare or tedious manual labor to only temporarily have peace. But not everyone has thought about solving that key issue on why they keep returning. The key lies in understanding what their purpose is. Rather than looking at these plants as a nuisance, think of them as pioneers. Braving the unforgivable environments and paving a way towards new growth. Weeds are actually a major factor in the process of Ecological Succession, or the evolution over time of an environment to be able to support more complex communities.
Doing A Weed’s Work…
Plants need organic matter around them in particular quantities to function and almost every environment started without it. So some species of plants developed to fit that niche. As the continuous growth and decay occurs from annual or perennial plants or “weeds”, their biomass is returned to the soil ready for use by future generations. Additionally, throughout their lives, root networks have expanded more and more, breaking down the rocks into smaller and smaller particles until it is fine enough to be easily traversed through. Eventually enough organic matter and broken down stone is made available to allow for larger more resilient species to thrive. As this process continues, the organisms that came before are eventually outcompeted and die off from the environment. This is where the magic of Terra Preta takes place; by manually adjusting the soil organic matter, nutrients and biodiversity, it leaves little work to be done for the weeds. Resulting in a greater opportunity for desired plants to be grown.
It’s Not Just The Plants…
To understand soil however, one cannot just look at what is happening above it. You may have heard this before but not quite fully comprehended, soil is alive, teeming with microbial life and without it, there wouldn’t be any on earth. Just a single teaspoon of soil can contain upwards to 1 billion microscopic cells, 10,000 different species and 10km of fungal hyphae. A single foot step has beneath it more microorganisms than there are humans on Earth. And each of those organisms is there for a purpose, the invisible labor force of plants, hard at work gathering differing nutrients from the soil or fighting some pathogenic organism. School has taught us that plants have roots, those roots go into the ground and then they absorb nutrients from it. Painfully simplified but for necessary reasons. Plants don’t actually collect their own nutrients from the soil, they trade for it with the sugars they produce photosynthesizing. And that’s just the start of things.
Environment Dictates Expression…
Plant growth is shown as the result of multiple variables at play, constantly working together in this sort of biochemical dance of symbiosis. Decades of practice and development have gone by while looking only at what we could directly see, diminished sizes, disease, fungal patches, yellowing, pests and more. Focusing on just the plant above the ground was only part of the picture, we created products and treatments for a symptom instead of searching for a cure. Poor growth in your lawn or garden is a result of poor soil. Numerous species of Bacteria, Paramecium, Trichoderma, Fungi and more have been scientifically proven to have varying beneficial properties. Increasing overall growth, nutrient density, water retention, pest, weed and disease suppression, the list goes on.
Urban soils after development are desolate, heavily compacted, devoid of nutrients or microbial life. We put neighborhoods on this and to no surprise our planted grasses and gardens struggle to thrive while weeds reign supreme. Usually any bad signs are treated with chemicals. Herbicides destroying the beneficial life in the soil, overflowing into oceanic dead zones and fertilizers putting your plants into a dependent haze, blocking any calls for natural support. Locking the consumer into a cruel cycle of repetition in the chemical marketplace, buying temporary solutions. Terra Preta aims to restore your soil into a resilient system, relying on the support structures that already exist. Needing only occasional adjustments rather than constant aid, but to do so naturally. No dangerous chemicals that may harm the ones you love or your environment around you.
If you can increase soil organic matter, microbial biodiversity and nutrient availability; then your plants will have increased growth and resilience
