Gathering the dirt

Let’s talk about dirt. Soil, earth, mud.

I don’t play in the dirt as much as I used to, but when we went to Alaska last August, our white truck turned brown from all the dirt on the roads we traveled. It was quite a transformation.

How interesting can dirt be? Very interesting is the answer. I have a new appreciation for it, and I’m going to go play in some as soon as I can.

Fun dirt facts (from audubon.org):

  • There are 70,000 different types of soil in the U.S.
  • One tablespoon of soil has more organisms in it than there are people on earth
  • It takes a minimum of 500 years to form one inch of topsoil
  • There are 5,000 different types of bacteria in one gram of soil
  • Fifteen tons of dry soil per acre pass through one earthworm each year
  • 1,400,000 earthworms can be found in an acre of cropland