@Dev.Brous

*For Dry Regions*

1) REDUCE Food-Waste: Compost EVERYTHING You Can

Buy less, grow more. It starts in the garden! Harvest regularly, eat joyfully! Give away excess food - someone around the corner under the freeway is hungry. Then feed your animals, & THEN compost whatever food scraps are leftover. We all divert food waste from the landfill. If you don't have a way to compost, collect & share. If you can’t compost it, maybe someone else can? Download a free app like MakeSoil, ShareWaste or add food scraps to your Green Bin. 

2) Spread Compost & Mulch. Like Butter - Thick and Even.

Sequester carbon at home and "close the loop.” 

Instead of outsourcing your waste to the ocean, or to another country (so you don’t have to smell it) and buying expensive synthetic fertilizers that force feed unnatural growth, just add compost. There is no such thing as waste in nature: Dig a deep hole, add your compost, and cover well. Feed the Land that Feeds Us! More compost and mulch requires less water-use so spread a thick layer and cover it with mulch. Spread it everywhere - all over your garden, and all around your trees (without touching the trunk). Soil is the skin of the earth, let’s protect it! Tree trimmers need a place to dump their byproduct, it is free so you have no excuses! Request a half-load that has a good mix of brown and green, and spread this anywhere you see dirt - to turn it into Living Soil. Just. Add. Compost.

3) STOP blowing. Leave the leaves alone.

Gas blowers are an assault on your landscape (and your neighbors quietude). The land needs a blanket of carbon to regenerate. Leaf litter will degenerate to feed the soil which in turn feeds the roots of your plants while sequestering carbon in the yard. It’s just a new aesthetic - like kids wearing Mom jeans. Shift the focus from how green the proverbial neighbor sees it, to how you are growing your soil, not polluting the air or the soil, or polluting the severely depleted water table while  killing your landscaper. Shift from it looks to how your choices are actually giving back to earth! Less work is a Win Win for the land.

4) STOP mowing. START meadowing.

Instead of using gas mowers that compact the soil, and then having to spread synthetic fertilizers to reseed a thirsty and chemical-dependent lawn, why not let what wants to grow, GROW? Note what plants voluntarily grow in your garden. Why uproot what grows effortlessly? Meadows yield beautiful, biodiverse urban landscapes, and are much more water-wise. Meadows are better for the soil ecology, easier to maintain, and aid in the process of regenerating the soil food web. Read more here.

5) STOP Tilling. 

Tilling disrupts the soil in your yard. Healthy soil forms dark chocolate aggregates that are full of nutrients and minerals, and teeming with beneficial insects and microbes. Tilling severs the ecology that is formed through the Soil Food Web. Tilling releases carbon into the atmosphere. Sometimes, in very compact soil situations, tilling lightly can be an appropriate option at the start of a garden, or once a year. Instead of tilling to break apart soil compaction, plant native perennial disruptors with strong roots or tubers. Add compost and mulch to grow looser, richer earth into Living Soil. Read more here.

6) Ditch the Annuals. Grow Biodiversity.

Planting native perennials ensures a beneficial and regenerative garden. For the ecosystem to thrive, we want to maximize biodiversity so plant a fruit tree, some native flowers, medicinal herbs, and perennial vegetables together! This is the exact opposite of a mono-crop (or a crab-grassy lawn, or a bunch of invasives that take over the yard and serve as tinder for wildfires). Partner to tend nature and resist the oh-so-human tendency to control nature. Perennial landscapes are more cost-effective, and more water-wise. A wild array of plants balances nutrients in living soil; builds a healthy habitat for diverse species to coexist and establish vital ecology; and enhances the nutrient-density and overall immunity of the plants. Read more here.

7) Fallow: Give the Garden A Rest 

Be still in the garden, and give yourself a rest for at least seven minutes a day. Notice nature…notice all that unfurls without you intervening. Notice what is thriving, and what doesn’t need any fixing. Notice which companion plants support each other, or which flowers and herbs attract the beneficial insects, bees, butterflies & pollinators! In a thriving ecology, neighboring plants share nutrients, and cycle elements that are replenished and balanced by Living Soil. Connect with the subtle, ever-changing cycles of nature to enrich you fromsoil2soul. Watch more here.

Let us root down to rise up from soil to soul, as together we TEND both inner and outer landscapes, to adapt and thrive in a climate of vast, unpredictable Change.