Soil

Soil is one of Kingston's more-than-human neighbours, and the foundation everything else depends on. In one handful, more living beings than people on Earth. Soil speaks in the first person for good reason: I'm inside you.

Soil kin card

Soil is 25% air. Their pore space is how fungal networks travel, how Red-backed Salamander travels, how ground-nesting bees burrow. Every plant is in conversation with Soil, roots releasing sugars that feed their bacteria. Groundwater passes through Soil to replenish Kingston's aquifer

Soil at the planning table

What sustains Soil, what they give to this place, what threatens them, and what a workable Biodiversity Action Plan looks like from where they stand. This season, this decade, this century.

Get to know Soil Return through the seasons. Record what you observe on iNaturalist.

Notice:After rain, notice petrichor. That earthy scent is Geosmin, released by Streptomyces bacteria. It's the smell of a healthy soil community. Lift a log, a stone, or some leaves. Who do you see: beetles, springtails, millipedes, mites, Red-backed Salamander? In fall, look for Hen of the Woods at the base of elder Oaks after rain.Act: Leave the leaves. Leave logs and stumps. Step lightly: compaction collapses the pore space fungi, salamanders, and ground-nesting bees depend on. Know your sources: soil, mulch, and plants you buy can introduce pesticides, herbicides, Jumping Worm cocoons, and seeds from unwanted plants. 

Kingston is drafting a Biodiversity Action Plan. Pin a place that matters to Soil.

Get involved: Little Forests Kingston is growing. We're looking for people who want to build relationships with the land and tend them over time. Forest Stewards, Neighbourhood Weavers, Community Scientists, Seed Keepers and more. You don't need to arrive knowing everything. Do any of these roles call to you?