It’s reported that half the planet’s life-sustaining topsoil now resides under water in rivers and the oceans, not ever to be retrieved. Even the remaining half is not actual topsoil, or at least does not have the full complement of fertility and tilth that characterized the soil that was lost.
Fortunately the lower quality topsoil that remains can be upgraded quickly, but not by turning under large quantities of organic matter, as such tilling depletes the key ingredient of inherently fertile soils – stable humus. Through the decomposition of cover crop roots subsoil will also become part of the topsoil complex. In this manner the original depth of topsoil can eventually be achieved. Food can be produced during this soil building process, using high nitrogen mulch.. Applying natural fertilizers and amendments (surface application) can assist the production of food while such supplements are still affordable and/or available.
