Recipe for Soil Sponge

Jake Gatehouse

Chiricuahua Mountains

2019 

On our first day staying at the El Coronado Ranch in the Chiricahua Mountains we were taken on a tour by Velar, the owner. She demonstrated how she was able to ‘read the land’ and decipher how the landscape worked. She showed us the gabions that she placed within the washes up the mountains have transformed the area, which had been subjected to extreme erosion when she first acquired the land. After the tour we were asked to map out what we has leant. I opted to make a recipe for achieving ‘spongy’ soil, a word that has cropped up many times over these trips to describe healthy and rich earth. 

Recipe for Soil Sponge 

El Coronado Ranch

Chiricahua Mountains Arizona

October 2019

Now you’ve heard of a Victoria Sponge, a Lemon Sponge or even a Chocolate Sponge. But please let me introduce to you, the ancient sponge, indeed the mother sponge, the sponge that was perceived to be no more, but a sponge that is making a comeback right here in the Chiricahua Mountains, and is about to sweep across the united states. And don’t worry people this sponge won’t make you pile on the pounds, on the contrary this sponge is already being dubbed the superfood of 2019, and indeed for the rest of time, trust me the health benefits are monumental. Yes, ladies and gentlemen I give you, The Soil Sponge! Or as it is also known, ‘spongey soil’.

Look I know what you’re thinking, “that dry and grainy sediment that falls through my fingers like sand through a Siv? That kicks up when I walk and coats the back of my throat?”

Yes! People today I will share with you the recipe to turn that silty powder into a sponge that will rival any of the sweet treats found in your local Whole Foods bakery section. But let me tell you the best bit, if you carry out these steps correctly, your sponge will stay moist, all year round.     

Step 1: Gabion Construction!

Okay first you are going to assemble our dry ingredients, which is going to take the form of rocks and lots of them! (The odd stick is also welcome). Gather help from some willing people, persuade them with the assurance that their children will have a reliable source of food beyond the age of thirty. Once everyone is on board you are going to leave your decrepit soil alone and instead look at it carefully, read the land and see where it comes from. It should lead to a wash, dry this time of year, that leads up to the top of your mountain. Now, you are going to follow the wash and scale the mountain, with your trusty team and your valiant dry ingredients, I didn’t say this would be easy but trust me the results are delicious!

At the top of the mountain you are ready to assemble your dry ingredients into Gabions! Where they will shortly be introduced into our wet ingredient. Gabions are dam-like structures constructed from the rocks and placed across the wash. At the top of the wash where it is the steepest, each gabion should reach up to the bottom of the one that is ahead of it. As you descend the mountain the space between the gabions should widen as the gradient of the mountain softens. Once all the gabions are in place, we are ready to introduce our dry ingredients to our wet ingredient!

Step 2: Water

As the monsoon and winter rains come, our water will then, mingle and integrate with our carefully placed gabions. And THIS is where the magic will happen…eventually, because my friends this does not happen overnight. You are going repeat this process for up to six years, building and rebuilding the gabions and introducing them to the water. Hey I didn’t say it would be quick but trust me the results are really, really important.

After six or so years your gabion constructing ability will be masterful and the aging process that has undergone between your dry and wet ingredients will have resulted in a harmonious and homogenous relationship, and water will be slowed down by the gabions but still pass through. Filtering the water of sediment and allowing it to trickle into avenues that have not seen moisture in years!

Step 3: See and feel your results!

The water will permeate the land running along the wash and most importantly into the starved soil, and before long the fruit of your labor will begin to show. Your soil will start to become soft and tacky and then right before your eyes and your hands, you will discover the wonder of spongey soil, or the Soil Sponge.

Once these steps have been taken your Soil Sponge is going to be the perfect nutritious delight for your neighbors to marvel at. But crucially after cultivating your sponge, and this is the curveball, don’t eat it! Because do you know who really enjoys it? Native perennial grasses like Hairy Grama, Blue Grama, Giant Sacaton among so many more which will provide a strong and healthy root structure amidst your spongey land! Yes, this sponge is a gift of nutrition, let it absorb and replenish the surrounding landscape, creating a diverse and vibrant environment. Allowing plant life to thrive and eventually feed your belly and your soul!

We are playing the long game here people! Thank you so much to Velar for allowing us from Land Arts of the American west to stay on your property and to her, Jose Manuel, Cuenco Los Ojos and Borderlands Restoration Network for enlightening us to the work they are doing in restoration and the hope that they inspire!

May we all build gabions and save the world!