10 Ways To Conserve Soil

First Christian Church Vacation Bible School teaches kids to go 'green'

Participants in the First Christian Church Vacation Bible School may just help save the world by saving energy and water.

Theme for the VBS, which was held Monday through Friday, was “Renew — The Green Vacation Bible School.”

“A green Vacation Bible School is something I’ve wanted to do for years, and it’s a good connection with our community garden,” said Travis McKee, First Christian youth and young adult minister.

He said that the 2010 VBS had a space theme and used a lot of decorations.

"It's not big and flashy, and we have not had a lot of decorations," said McKee.

"Under the theme" renew ", we have not bought new T-shirts, but had the children bring their own, preferably used, and ironed decals on them," said Kelly Burnick, VBS co- Director.

She said that the VBS had a scientific component, with Marissa Ritter in charge, as well as snacks, crafts, music, games and stories.

Young people are involved with the green coming out in the community garden.

“They made compost and seed pods, which are clay and soil mixed with seed,” Burnick said. “You toss it where you want flowers to grow, and it should grow. We’ve also started a recycle program at the church.”

On Friday youngsters also planted three maple trees and two dogwoods on the church grounds. McKee led the middle school group in community service programs each day.

“On Monday we worked in the community garden, and Tuesday we went to  the Recycle Center and learned what they did there,” said Sammie Jamison. “We went to Wesley House Wednesday and bagged food and collected school supplies. On Thursday we planted three trees at Lincoln Park and Friday we helped at the Southeast Kansas Humane Society.”

Hayden Gardner said that she especially enjoyed going to the Southeast Kansas Recycling Center.

“It was a big eye-opener to see how much we waste,” she said. “Like steel, when the ore is gone, it’s gone. But if we recycle the steel instead of sending it to the landfill, it could be a can now and a car later on. The landfill is filling up, and they’ll have to clear off good land to make another one.

Why not recycle things instead?”

Youngsters were also given challenges to do at home, such as turning off lights when they leave a room and not running the water when they brush their teeth.

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Soil conservation is the prevention of soil eroding from the earth’s surface, or otherwise becoming altered by overuse, acidification or contamination.

So how do we begin? Well, here are 10 ways to conserve soil:

1. Gardening. Grow plants that are indigenous to your area. It can be interesting to make something grow outside of its usual domain, but the local flora have been there for a very long time and aid in conservation. Another thing to do is to plant trees and shrubs. These can provide shelter for your soil, while the roots will help to prevent excess water from washing it away.

2. Keep your soil moist, but do not drown it. This can be especially difficult during dry months. But over-watering can not only wash away soil, but cause it to degrade. Should your soil dry up, though, it should be easy to fix by lightly covering with damp piles of mulch.

3. Of all the 10 ways to conserve soil, this may be one of the more enjoyable. It may be tricky at times, but keeping enough vegetation strong, healthy and growing will bind the soil together and protect its surface.

4.Find a suitable tillage method for your location, amount of rainfall and variety of plant life. Tillage will optimize the biological and physical condition of soil. Make sure that you use a method that does not make the soil overly fine.

5. Physical structures made of earth, stone or other organic materials can aid in protecting soil against uncontrolled runoff and erosion. With a little bit of design, it can also retain and direct water to where it is needed most. The best structure will depend on climate and the need to either discharge or retain runoff; the size of your garden or farm; and the texture and depth of your soil.

6. Another good piece of construction is a wind barrier. Built at the boundaries of a farm, this will help stop the wind from blowing soil away.

7. Plant patches of high grass. Allowing your grass to grow to at least three inches will promote retention of water in the soil. This is especially useful for runoff of your physical structures.

8. Create an organic mulch for your plants. This will maintain soil temperature and minimize erosion.

9. Plant vegetation that will assist in the protection of your soil, like rye or clover. They will protect by thickly covering the ground and they will restrict weed growth and reduce runoff.

10. The best time of day to water your plants is early in the morning, when evaporation is low. Watering in harsh sunlight can dry out your soil. In the late evening, watering can cause the growth of fungus.

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