Good Soil is the Stomach of the World
“All health begins in the soil” - 80 year-old soil enthusiast, Wayne Burleson, of Billings, MT explains how feeding our soils can heal us and help us better adapt to changing weather conditions. Wayne Burleson is a native Montanian, Master Gardener and avid volunteer. Wayne volunteers with the Montana Rescue Mission and Farmer-to-Farmer where he travels around the world teaching with his wife, Connie. Wayne and Connie also co-authored a book, Gardening for Life - No Money Required. They have spent time in Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique teaching about soil regeneration. Wayne and Connie have completed over fourteen assignments with the Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) program in the last decade. Wayne says he has seen far too much burning of African crops and grasslands. “These fires are responsible for causing so-called naked lands, which in turn causes floods and droughts. This loss of organic carbon can lead to crop failures, food shortages, poverty and starvation.” He is on a mission to teach as many farmers as possible how to improve their soil quality and productivity, and therefore their livelihoods.
“The healthier we can get the soil - the healthier the food becomes, and when you eat it, you become healthy because it's nutrient dense. It has the right biome of little critters, all the bacteria and fungi and proteasomes and worms - the whole gamut of things makes the soil healthy. It’s so healthy that you don't have to go to the store and buy things.”
- Wayne Burleson
