Well, let me tell ya somethin’ ’bout this here “terr runnels” thing. Don’t rightly know what them fancy words mean, but I reckon it’s got somethin’ to do with the dirt washin’ away. We always just called it the land gettin’ skinny.
See, back in my day, we didn’t have no fancy machines or college folks tellin’ us what to do. We just knew if the dirt went away, so did our crops. And that meant no food on the table, y’hear? It’s as simple as that.
Now, there’s all sorts of reasons why the dirt goes missin’. Sometimes it’s the rain, comin’ down hard and fast like a runaway horse, just tearin’ up the ground. We call that “washin’ away” back home. I remember one time, it rained so hard, it took half our bean field with it. Just gone! Washed right down the creek. We was pickin’ beans outta the neighbor’s pasture for weeks after.
- Rain’s a big problem, yessir.
- Wind, too, that sneaky devil. It can whip up outta nowhere and just blow the topsoil clean off. You can’t see it happenin’ most times, but you sure can see the damage later. Crops all stunted and yellow, and the ground hard as a rock.
And then there’s the plowin’. Now, I ain’t sayin’ plowin’ is bad. Gotta plow to plant your crops, that’s just the way it is. But if you plow the same way all the time, or if you plow when the ground’s too wet or too dry, well, that just loosens up the dirt and makes it easier for the water and wind to take it away. We used to rotate where we planted so the ground got a rest. Folks don’t do that much anymore, seems like they’re always in a hurry.
Sometimes, the ground itself just ain’t no good. Too much salt, or too much acid, or just not enough good stuff in it. We called that “worn out” land. You can’t grow nothin’ in worn out land, no matter how hard you try. It’s like tryin’ to get milk from a dried up cow. Ain’t gonna happen.
So, what can you do about it? Well, back then, we didn’t know all the fancy tricks they know now. We just tried to keep the ground covered as much as possible. Plantin’ cover crops, like clover or rye, that helped hold the dirt in place. And we built terraces, little walls of dirt, to slow down the water runnin’ downhill. It was hard work, but it was worth it.
I heard tell these days they got all sorts of things they do. Special plants they put in, and ways of plowing that don’t tear up the ground so much. They even got machines that can tell you how much dirt you’re losin’. Ain’t that somethin’? We just used our eyes and our common sense.
This “terr runnels,” or whatever they call it, it ain’t nothin’ new. It’s been happenin’ since the beginning of time. But if we don’t take care of the land, it won’t take care of us. And that’s the truth, plain and simple.
You gotta remember, the dirt ain’t just dirt. It’s life. It’s where our food comes from, it’s what feeds our animals, it’s what keeps us all alive. Losing dirt is like losing a piece of yourself. You can’t just go buy more at the store. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. And that’s somethin’ worth thinkin’ about, y’hear?
So next time you see a bare patch of ground, or a muddy stream, think about what’s happenin’. Think about all that good dirt gettin’ washed away, and think about what you can do to stop it. Even small things can make a big difference. ‘Cause in the end, we all depend on that dirt, whether we know it or not. And that’s the plain truth, as I see it.
Tags: [Soil Erosion, Land Degradation, Agriculture, Topsoil, Farming, Conservation, Erosion Control, Soil Health, Water Runoff, Sustainable Farming]
