Sunday, July 18, 2010

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A sandy question


Do we call it dirt…or soil… and when?
This comes up over and over again & I would like to know what you think. My roots are rural Iowa. In my childhood it was always called dirt, but there was nothing dirty about this dirt, that is until it came into the house, then it was dirty. Dirt is the skin of the planet, the source of everything that grows. When does it become soil & why? Is there a hierarchy? Is soil better or more prestigious than dirt? Does it matter? Is it always soil until it is displaced, then it becomes dirt? Does it become soil when amended or augmented? Can it be soil if it lives in nature in the woods?

I recently fount an abstract published by the Southern Rural Sociological Association titled "Dirt Farmer" vs "Soil Scientist": Representative Tensions in the Constructed Identities of Farmer, hummmm, very interesting. It can be found at:
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/auxiliary/srsa/pages/Articles/SRS%202007%2022%201%2040-64.pdf.

I would love to hear what you have to say about soil and dirt. I don't even know where I land on the subject. I just know that when I open my mouth one word or the other comes out. What do you think?