Nature's Way of Protecting and Healing the Land

In last week's newsletter, we looked at how farming became industrial ~ and how that shift disrupted the natural relationships between soil, animals, and people. This week, we turn our attention to one simple but powerful idea at the heart of regeneration: keeping the precious soil covered and alive!

In nature, bare soil is rare. Grasslands, forests, and meadows are almost always protected by plants, fallen leaves, or living roots. This cover shields the soil from wind and rain, feeds underground life, and helps water soak in rather than wash away. When land is left bare, soil is exposed, life below ground declines, and erosion begins. It's a quiet but steady process.

Modern farming often leaves fields bare for long stretches of the year, especially outside the growing season. Over time, this exposure weakens soil structure, reduces microbial life, and makes land more vulnerable to drought and flooding. Without living roots to feed them, soil organisms struggle ~ and the entire system becomes less resilient.

 Cover crops help restore what’s been lost. Cover crops aren't the kind of crops grown for harvesting; they're grown for the health of the land.

These cover crops protect the soil surface, hold it in place, and send roots deep into the ground, feeding microbes and improving soil structure ~ supporting life below ground! 

On regenerative livestock farms like ours, cover crops play an especially important role. We grow multi species cover crops that are duel purpose: they feed our animals and the soil life, all the while supporting healthy pastures. 

As animals graze, spreading their manure across the land, they help cycle nutrients back into the soil. What a partnership: animals, plants, and microbes working together! It’s a system where each part supports the others, just as nature intended. 

And healthy pastures + healthy animals = healthy, nutrient-dense food, as we've been known to say once or twice!

As Common Ground shows ~ and as we see every day here at Crane Dance ~ when we work with natural systems instead of against them, the land responds. Keeping soil covered and roots growing builds resilience, holds water where it’s needed, stores carbon underground, and helps create healthier farms for animals, farmers, and the communities they feed.

Incredible!

If you'd like, check out the How-To Box at the end to find out how you can enjoy the benefits of cover crops, too!