The soil that hummed
It was a cool, slightly grey monsoon day when we visited Hnin Nwe Soe’s farm and the whole day felt like an adventure. There were bumpy roads, quiet villages, waving children and a misty fog with damp air. Somewhere along a dirt road in a valley, Hnin Nwe Soe directed us to park the car, we could only continue on foot. We wandered off down a path and quickly came to a rushing creek that we had to carefully jump across, we all made it on the way there, but one of us ended up waist deep on the return!
Our shoes were quickly discarded in favour of the feeling of the sticky red Shan mud between our toes. Barefoot on a farm gives you a sense of the soil too and walking over Hnin Nwe Soe’s fields was something else. She had an organic matter* reading of 8.38, the highest of all farmers in our pilot and we could feel it. It was soft, spongy and humming underneath our toes.
The surrounding area was lush, the sound of water flowing in the distance, low hills, rocky boulders and dark soil. Her neighbour met us and we went through some of the soil tests together. On her dashboard she consistently gets high brix** readings of crops and it made sense. The whole space around the farm felt nourishing, if this was where we lived and the soil we ate from, we too would feel healthier and renewed.
Her neighbour gave us some of his heirloom corn, steamed in a pot over the fire. Each cob was an odd size and no longer than 15cm. The kernels were faded rainbow pearls, it was chewy, nutty, not too sweet and very delicious. They quickly disappeared, cobs dropping out the windows as we drove out the valley.
Hnin Nwe Soe is impressive. When she isn't farming, she works at Golden Ground, a local agriculture collective based in Pindaya, Shan State. In her work there she coordinates organic training to local farmers; manages crop sales from a farmer collective and supports aid to farmers recovering from natural disaster. Her work is a living example of soil and community regeneration.
On her farm she grows pigeon pea, chia seeds and sunflower. She remarked how much she had been learning from our soil training and the peer group zoom calls. How great it would be if we kept growing and improving our support to farmers through this initiative. It was a lovely time spent together discussing the challenges and joys of farming.
The neighbouring farmer that gifted us the corn is also curious about soil. He has already learnt a lot by being neighbours with Hnin Nwe Soe and he wants to join the Healthy Soil Movement. We were excited to hear that because this is exactly how we envision the movement growing. There is no better support system than neighbouring farmers - sharing knowledge, experience, resources, and even equipment.
Visiting farms can feel like an adventure but more importantly they solidify relationships, provide feedback on our initiatives and teach us more about the contexts of each farm. It is rewarding to support incredible farmers like Hnin Nwe Soe and hear how excited she is about being part of the Healthy Soil Movement and contributing to its growth.
Now in Yangon, we feel a world away from Hnin Nwe Soe's quiet valley. We are still dreaming of that rainbow corn and the feel of that rich, living earth beneath our feet.
*Organic Matter: A test performed in a lab which measures the amount of carbon-rich material in the soil, indicating overall soil health, fertility, and water-holding capacity. Many farms across Asia average around only 1–2% organic matter.
**Brix: A simple on-site test that measures the sugar content in plant sap, indicating how efficiently a plant is photosynthesizing and taking up nutrients.