I think the term "soil" is a very generous term for the planting medium used by many commercial growers. This stuff isn't meant to nourish the plants. It is meant to deliver chemical fertilizer to the
roots and to hold the plant up.
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Jeff is my brother - 18 years younger, they just kept having kids.
A couple years back my mother called, wondering if I could convince Jeff to stop digging up the farm. It's a small patch that hasn't really been farmed in 30 years. Last week when mom called on my birthday, she told me that Jeff has food coming out of stacks of
wood, rock piles, and every other spot. He has vines climbing
trees and he's terraced an eroded hillside. He's feeding my parents and many visitors and sells at a market. My mother - "He sticks his hands into the soil and picks potatoes and artichokes without hurting the plant. People who are into that
permaculture cult 
come to watch and help him and he sends them home with cuttings and roots."
What started out as a major battle of wills has ended with my mother conceding that Jeff is really on to something.My parents are old and can't garden 7 acres in a conventional manner and it looks like they won't have to. The food is delivered to the kitchen.
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