23/06/2025
It’s strange to think that something invented to feed the world could be slowly destroying the very thing that feeds us all. But that’s exactly what’s happened with synthetic fertilisers.
Let me tell you a little story.
Back in the early 1900s, the world was on the edge of a food crisis. Populations were growing fast, and there wasn’t enough natural fertiliser, like manure and compost to keep up with demand. Then two German chemists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, came up with a way to take nitrogen from the air and turn it into ammonia. This was the start of what we now call synthetic fertiliser. It was seen as a miracle at the time, farmers could now grow more food than ever before, and the fear of famine started to fade.
This invention helped kick off what became known as the Green Revolution. Huge amounts of fertiliser, along with new machinery and plant varieties, transformed farming around the world. Crops got bigger, harvests became more reliable.
On the surface, it looked like we had finally cracked the code to feed the planet.
But underneath that surface, something else was happening. Something we didn’t see until much later.
The issue is soil isn’t just dirt. It’s alive. It's full of microbes and fungi and tiny creatures that all work together to feed plants in a natural way. But when we started dumping synthetic fertiliser on the land, we skipped all of that. Instead of feeding the soil so it could feed the plant, we started feeding the plant directly. At first, it worked wonders. But over time, the soil started to die.
The microbes disappeared. The worms vanished. The structure of the soil, the way it holds together, breathes, and holds water started falling apart. We turned living soil into lifeless dirt.
That’s when the real problems began. Without that living web underground, plants become weaker. They struggle in dry weather, they get sick more easily, and they need more and more help to grow. So, what did we do? We piled on more and more fertiliser, more chemicals, more sprays. And the more we added, the more the soil depended on them. It's like a patient who's hooked on painkillers just to get through the day.
It’s heartbreaking, really. We've spent decades pulling more and more out of the land, thinking we were being clever, and now we’re left wondering why the soil won’t hold water, why it turns to dust in the wind, why the fruit doesn’t taste like it used to. It’s not just the soil that’s worn out it’s the whole system.
And here’s the thing, not everything that comes in a bag is bad. Yes, the synthetic stuff might deliver a quick hit of NPK, but it does nothing for the soil life, in fact, it often kills it off. But there are inputs (good fertilisers) like our Superfood that's made from black soldier fly larvae frass, or worm castings or compost and other natural inputs that do help soil life and not destroy it. The question is how do you know what's good and what isn't?
The good stuff (organic inputs are packed with beneficial microbes, natural enzymes, nutrients, and even chitin which our Superfood has, a compound that helps stimulate plant immune systems. Unlike synthetic fertilisers that just feed the plant and leave the soil behind, organic compounds actually feed the soil. You put it down, and you’re not just growing a plant, you’re rebuilding a whole underground ecosystem. It brings back the worms, wakes up the fungi, and gets those microbes dancing again. That’s what real fertility looks like.
So yes, it might still come in a bucket or a bag, but what’s inside isn’t a chemical cocktail, it’s the by-product of nature doing its thing. It's part of a cycle that regenerates, rather than strips away.
But we must learn how to distinguish the imposters from the real deal!
We don’t need to go back to the past, but we do need to learn from it. Sustainable-Regenerative farming is what I call it. It shows us that we can still grow good wholesome food, while healing the land. When we feed the soil, the soil feeds us back. That’s the relationship we’ve forgotten.
Ok, so we’ve made mistakes, sure, but this can all turn around, we just need to stop treating soil like something to exploit and start treating it like what it really is, the living, breathing foundation of everything we are. Because in the end, nature doesn’t waste a thing. Just like this garden throne in the photo reminds us that when we give back to the earth, it always finds a way to return the favour.
Now that’s what I call a closed-loop system... well, sort of.
Maresi! 👍
