S5 - E17: Everything Good Starts with the Soil with Dr. Summer Thomas, Pt. I

Everything good starts with the soil and a conservation stewardship mindset. In the 101st episode, Dr. Summer Thomas, education and outreach specialist with the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, explains how agriculture and soil health are good for everyone. As a third-generation farmer from Delaware, former watermelon queen, a trained soil scientist and educator, and an overall advocate for agriculture, Summer shares some of her earliest experiences of 4-H and FFA with Jeff, Mary, and Eric in public speaking, youth education, and land stewardship.

These early education and outreach experiences were a launch point for her passion for agriculture and career pursuit. 

Summer emphasizes that soil health and agriculture provide many positive community connections and must be fun for the next generation of farmers. Additionally, soil health is foundational to resilient farm businesses and systems.   

As always, we encourage you to cooperate with other farmers, graziers, and gardeners for peer-to-peer learning and to follow the four core soil health principles: 

1) Keep the soil covered -- Cover crops are our friends and allies;
2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible;
3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity, soil structure, and life in the soil; and
4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation, farm enterprises, and/or livestock integration.

Yes, soil health is a great conversation starter. We encourage everyone to have a five-minute conversation about soil every day because we can all be 4 The Soil and for the future! 
 
To enjoy recent 4 The Soil blog posts and additional soil health resources, please visit https://www.4thesoil.org/blog and https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/. For questions about soil and water conservation practices, 4-H and FAA opportunities, and conservation activities for youth, call or visit a USDA Service Center, a Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District office, or your local Virginia Cooperative Extension office.