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It's time to learn about soil

Dirty, smelly, boring and hidden underground… Most people pay little or no attention to our soil or take it for granted when they do, despite the fact that it is a vital for our food, our biodiversity, our health and our wellbeing, a cornerstone of our environment as important as air and water…

Earthworms are soil heroes!

Take a look at this short video by Tinmouse Animation Studio to find out why.

Living Labs and Lighthouses

Register your soil health Lighthouse, Living Lab and Soil Assessment Network to keep engaged with others across the UK, the EU and globally.

Painting by Edward Hutchison, soil and microbes

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“To be a successful farmer one must first know the nature of the soil”

Xenophon, Ancient Greek philosopher and historian

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt"

Margaret Atwood, Author

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves” 

Mahatma Gandhi, Indian activist

“... I cannot conceive of the time when knowledge of soils will be complete. Our expectation is that our  successors will build on what has been done, as we are building on the work of our predecessors” 

R.S. Smith, Director of the Illinois Soil Survey

“We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot”

Leonardo Da Vinci

“A nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself"

President Franklin Roosevelt, America’s longest serving president

“My papa made me taste soil at the age of seven. That soil was incredible. It was gritty and it sucked the life out of my mouth, but there was acidity, sourness and sweetness”

Raymond Blanc, Chef