Earth Week 2026
Follow along this week as we keep exploring the benefits of soil health for the planet and people.
Soil Can Help Rebalance the Climate
Healthy soil doesn’t just grow crops it helps rebalance the climate. We're in the field with Dr. Shannon Cappellazzi of Oregon State University, connecting the dots between soil health, cover crops and climate resilience.
Here’s the big idea: when soil stays covered with living plants, those plants are constantly pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and sending it underground. And that matters. Because over time, we’ve lost a significant amount of carbon from our soils, and it didn’t disappear. It moved into the atmosphere.
Organic farming flips that script. By focusing on soil health and keeping living roots in the ground, farmers help store carbon where it belongs: back in the soil, supporting life below ground and helping stabilize the climate above it.
It’s one of the most powerful tools we have, and it starts with how we care for the soil. 🌱
Nature’s Nitrogen Factory
Ever pull up a plant and noticed little white bumps on the roots? Turns out, those tiny nodules are doing some serious work.
We’re out in the field with Dr. Shannon Cappellazzi of Oregon State University, pulling up a fava bean root to see what’s going on underground, and it’s pretty incredible.
Those nodules? They’re home to beneficial bacteria working in partnership with the plant. And inside, there’s a surprising hint: a reddish color, similar to hemoglobin in our blood.
That’s a signal that nitrogen is being “fixed," meaning pulled from the air and made available in the soil to feed plants naturally. No shortcuts, no synthetic inputs, just biology doing what it does best. It’s a quiet partnership, happening out of sight, that helps power organic farming from the ground up.
The Life Beneath Our Feet
What’s happening below the surface? A lot more than you might think.
We're in the field with Dr. Shannon Cappellazzi of Oregon State University, digging into why cover crops are such a key part of organic farming.
Here’s the magic: plants don’t just grow up, they grow down. A huge share of the energy and carbon they capture gets sent into the soil through their roots, feeding a thriving community of microorganisms.
Those microorganisms get to work, building soil structure, tiny aggregates and pore spaces that do two critical jobs at once:
1. Let water move into the soil
2. Hold onto that water for when plants need it most
Cover crops help create that balance. Better structure. Better water movement. Better resilience. It’s all connected and it all starts underground.
The Look, Feel & Smell of Healthy Soil
What does healthy, organic soil look like? Even better, what does it feel and smell like?
We’re out in the field with Dr. Shannon Cappellazzi of Oregon State University, getting hands-on with a fresh pull of organic cover crop and soil.
Healthy soil holds together, thanks to roots and microbial life working as a team. We spot wormholes, fine root hairs, even threads of fungal networks holding everything in place.
And then there’s the smell. That rich, earthy scent? It’s coming from active soil microbes, and it’s been shown to trigger a feel-good response in your brain.
Healthy soil doesn’t just grow better crops and absorb carbon from the atmosphere, it smells amazing, too.
The Foundation of Organic Farming
Soil health: We talk about it all the time. But what does it really mean?
It’s Earth Week, and we’re in the field with soil scientist Dr. Shannon Cappellazzi of Oregon State University to break it down.
Her definition is simple and powerful: soil health is the continued capacity of soil to function as a living ecosystem that sustains life.
When we support that living system, the soil does the heavy lifting. It holds water, cycles nutrients, filters what moves through it and creates the conditions for crops and communities to thrive.
This is the foundation of organic farming. Soil health matters, not just during Earth Week, but every day! Follow along as we dig deeper into soil health with Shannon. 🌱