"To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil"
Xenophon of Athens, (431BC – 354BC). Greek historian, philosopher, and student of Socrates.
"Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel, and our shelter, and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it"
Vedas Sanskrit scripture, (1500 BC).
"we know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot."
Leonardo Da Vinci (circa 1500's). Artist and inventor.
"The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life"
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941). Indian poet, writer, philosopher, composer, painter. Noble Prize for Literature 1913.
“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) Indian lawyer and leader.
“The health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible”
Sir Albert Howard (1873 – 1947) English botanist and organic farming pioneer.
“Out of the long list of nature’s gifts to man, none is perhaps so utterly essential to human life as soil”
Hugh Hammond Bennett (1881 – 1960) Soil scientist and conservation pioneer.
"The land does not lie; it bears a record of what men write on it. A record that is easy to read by those who understand the simple language of the land." So, our management is written on the tapestry of the land.
W.C. Lowdermilk (1888 - 1974) American soil conservationist and Rhodes Scholar.
“A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) 32nd President of the United States of America.
“The world is a fine place and worth fighting for"
Ernest Hemingway. (1899 - 1961) American novelist.
“Essentially, all life depends upon the soil…there can be no life without soil and no soil without life: they have evolved together"
Dr. Charles Kellogg (1902 – 1980) Soil Scientist.
“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all, without proper care for it we can have no life”
Wendell Berry. Novelist, poet, environmental activist and farmer.
“Ultimately, the only wealth that can sustain any community, economy or nation is derived from the photosynthetic process – green plants growing on regenerating soil”
Allan Savory. Zimbabwean biologist, ecologist, farmer. Founder of Holistic Management.
Author of "The Grazing Revolution" and "Holistic Management Handbook".
“We can improve soil health much faster than we used to think. It’s just a matter of following the principles of nature"
Gabe Brown. Pioneer of the soil-health movement in the United States of America.
Author of "Dirt to Soil".
“How dare you treat your soil like dirt!"
Joel Salatin. American ecological farmer, international lecturer, and author of 15 books on land healing and food systems.
"Soil is the most important ecosystem, linked to every function of the planet"
Nicole Masters. Agroecologist, educator. Founder of Integrity Soils.
Author of 'For the Love of Soil'.
“There is an intimate relationship between what is within the contours of a plant, and the soil surrounding the plant"
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) Austrian scientist, philosopher, educator, author and social reformer.
“Since our break with nature came with agriculture, it seems fitting that the healing of culture begin with agriculture, fitting that agriculture take the lead”
Charles Massy OAM. 5th generation Australian farmer, scientist, speaker on regenerative landscape management.
Author of 'Call of the Reed Warbler'.
“Our collective future depends on ecologically sound agricultural practices. Enhancing above and below ground diversity is the key to the restoration of resilient, profitable, environmentally friendly farming”
Rhonda Daly, YLAD Living Soils NSW, Australia. International speaker and educator in biological and regenerative agriculture.
“Man will try to save his herd rather then their range"
Carl Sauer (1889 to 1975) Professor of American geography and an authority on agriculture and native crops.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"
Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and statesman. President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
“You, as a food buyer, have the distinct priviledge of proactively participating in shaping the world your children will inherit”
“How we manage our soil micro-herd is the key to regeneration”
Nicole Masters. Agroecologist, educator, founder of Integrity Soils.
Author of 'For the Love of Soil'.
“It's not the soil itself, it's the soil life, that is the most important element”
Geoff Lawton. Australian Permaculture Consultant.
“To be truly regenerative, a famer needs to understand that they are a part of the ecosystem, not apart from it"
Terry McCosker OAM. Co-founder of Resource Consulting Services. Introduced Grazing for Profit™ into Australia.
“Ecological literacy means the ability to read a landscape: to appraise the state of its health and how it is functioning, and thus know how to address any issues”
Charles Massy OAM. Fifth generation Australian farmer, scientist, speaker on regenerative landscape management.
Author of 'Call of the Reed Warbler'.
“Capable ecological literacy requires the more demanding capacity to observe nature with insight, a merger of landscape and mindscape”
David Orr. Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College in Ohio, USA.
“Regenerative agriculture implies more than just sustaining something but rather an active rebuilding or regeneration of existing systems towards full health. It also implies an open-ended process of ongoing improvement and positive transformation”
Charles Massy OAM. 5th generation Australian farmer, scientist, speaker on regenerative landscape management.
Author of 'Call of the Reed Warbler'.
“A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky. It tells us that in order to aspire we need to be grounded and that no matter how high we go, it is from our roots that we draw sustenance”
Wangari Maathai (1940 - 2011) Kenyan environmental scientist and conservationist. First black African woman to earn a doctorate. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world"
Desmond Tutu (1931 - 2021) Black South African Bishop and Archbishop, theologian and Noble Peace Prize winner.
“You can’t show people what’s around the corner until they reach the corner!"
Rhonda Daly, YLAD Living Soils NSW, Australia. International speaker and educator in biological and regenerative agriculture.
“No matter how sophisticated and complex, and powerful our institutions are, we are still exactly as dependent on the earth as the earthworm"
Wendell Berry. American novelist, environmental activist and farmer.
‘For decades we have been fertilising the crop. The future of agriculture is in fertilising the soil biology’.
Rhonda Daly, YLAD Living Soils NSW, Australia. Educator in biological and regenerative agriculture.
"Don't look back, you're not going that way!"
ADVICE FROM A TREE