"What is soil?" is a more complicated question than you might expect! It’s easy to think of soils as inactive and unchanging. Quite the opposite is true: soils are dynamic natural bodies that are growing food, supporting structures, storing carbon, and filtering water. They have a past and future and are constantly changing alongside us, and often by us.
The Soil Science Society of America defines soil as: The layer(s) of generally loose mineral and/or organic material that are affected by physical, chemical, and/or biological processes at or near the planetary surface and usually hold liquids, gases, and biota and support plants.
Basically, soil is the functional surface layers of the Earth. It is composed of:
- minerals
- organic materials (decomposing plant materials as well as living things like worms and microbes)
- water
- air
Soils have been changed in some way - we call these the "soil forming factors"
- climate
- organisms
- relief (topography)
- parent materials (the rocks from which the soil originated)
- time
When discussing soils, we refer to physical, biological, and chemical properties. But what does that mean?
- Physical properties include color, texture, structure, bulk density
- Biological properties include to microbial diversity and activity
- Chemical properties include pH, nutrient content, and organic matter
Even though we separate these properties into categories, they influence each other. For instance, microbial activity greatly impacts nutrient availability and organic matter changes soil structure and bulk density. Learn about more soil basics here.
Soils provide the foundation for your houses, grow the crops you eat, filter the water you drink, and can even influence the taste of your wine (who knew?!). Soil sustains life as we know it.
What is a sommelier?
Soils provide the foundation for your houses, grow the crops you eat, filter the water you drink, and can even influence the taste of your wine (who knew?!). Soil sustains life as we know it.
What is a sommelier?
Sommelier (sə-məl-ˈyā • "somm-all-yay") - A wine steward • (Merriam-Webster)
Sommeliers are trained wine professionals (and usually other beverages). They often work in restaurants pairing wine with food, developing wine lists, procuring wine, and managing wine cellars.
What is a soil somm?
Soil Sommelier is not a real title. I made it up!
Soil Sommelier is not a real title. I made it up!
My goal is to provide information and advice about vineyard soils - both to maximize fruit quality and to minimize environmental impacts.
Advice may be biased toward Virginia and the East Coast of the United States because that is where most of my experience has been.
I strive to provide citations, letting you know my sources: anecdotal information versus the scientific, extension, or popular literature.