Fwd: Smokeany Skies and Living Soil
Wendy Nadherny Fachon
From: Wendy Nadherny Fachon, Host of the Story Walking Radio Hour <wendynadh...@substack.com>
Date: Fri, Jul 17, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Subject: Smokeany Skies and Living Soil
To: <storywal...@gmail.com>
Smokeany Skies and Living SoilWhy dirt and water don't mix. Why you should NEVER pour dish soap on your dirt...
… and the secret forest blueprint that can save our air, soil and food.  If you stepped outside in Southern New England or looked out across the Allegheny Mountains this week, you probably noticed something felt deeply wrong. On Wednesday, the air in Rhode Island smelled toxic. The sky took on an eerie, brownish-yellow hue, and the sun appeared as a bright red marble well before sunset. We were breathing the smoke of explosive wildfires burning more than a thousand miles away in Northwestern Ontario. But this isn’t just normal campfire smoke. Because Canada has a long history of industrial mining, its deep, ancient peatlands have spent decades absorbing heavy metals like arsenic, mercury, and lead. As underground fires burn deep into these layers, the smoke picks up and carries these toxic air contaminants across borders and directly into our lungs. Whenever the skies turn “Smokeany” like this, it forces us to look up, choke on the reality of a changing climate, and ask how we got here. As I watched the hazy air settle over my neighborhood, my eyes kept drifting down. Because the truth is, the toxic crisis in our atmosphere is directly connected to the crisis in our dirt. There is a solution to fix both, and the blueprint is exactly the same. The Lesson of the Replanted ForestA few days ago, I received a tree-replanting fund appeal from the Arbor Day Foundation. It began with a sobering statistic:
This got me thinking about how we manage our forests—and how our shortcuts are coming back to haunt us. When big logging companies cut down ancient woods, they are legally required to replant them. Sounds great, right? But instead of rebuilding a diverse ecosystem, they often plant vast rows of a single, fast-growing tree species, all at the exact same age. These “replanted timber lands” are uniform and dense. They lack the natural broadleaf trees that act as firebreaks, and their thin canopies let the sun bake the forest floor into a tinderbox. When a spark hits them, they don’t just burn; they explode into the massive crown fires that blacken our skies. Compare that to an old-growth forest. Untouched nature mixes old and young trees, evergreens, and leafy hardwoods. The thick canopy keeps the forest floor cool, dark, and damp. Huge, mossy logs act like giant natural sponges, holding thousands of gallons of water. Old-growth forests are naturally resilient. They know how to handle fire. But humans love shortcuts. And we didn’t just apply this flawed logic to our forests—we applied it to our food. Moving from Sponges to BricksLook down at the ground beneath you. Most people think it’s just “dirt”—dead brown stuff meant to hold plants upright. The tiny particles of dirt have compacted into bricks, impenetrable to the air and water necessary for sustaining the vast community of organisms down below that support plant life. Healthy soil is supposed to be a bustling underground city filled with billions of microscopic creatures like fungi, bacteria, rotifers, nematodes, and earthworms. This living neighborhood secretes natural glues that bind earth together, creating a beautiful, porous structure. Healthy soil is a sponge. When heavy rains hit, it absorbs the water to prevent floods. When a heatwave strikes, it holds onto that moisture to survive droughts. But for decades, conventional agriculture has treated our soil like a factory. We have mistreated millions of acres of American farmland by spraying them with harsh, toxic industrial chemicals—many of which were originally developed for military use. These chemicals do something devastating: they wipe out the underground neighborhood. They turn our living soil into dead dirt. Crops grown in this kind of soil are weak and nutrient-deficient. The “Dish Soap” IllusionI recently posted a 13-second video on Facebook showing what happens to land stripped of organic carbon matter. It turns into a completely water-repellent, hydrophobic dust shield. Water can’t even penetrate it; it just beads up and rolls around on top like liquid mercury. A well-meaning commenter suggested a classic internet hack: “Just mix a little dish soap into the water to break the surface tension!” Gack! More toxins? It is a tempting shortcut, but it is exactly the kind of chemical-first thinking that got us into this mess. Sure, soap forces the water to sink into the dust, but it acts like a chemical weapon to the underground world. Soap strips away the delicate protective membranes of beneficial microbes, dissolves the natural glues holding the earth together, and poisons the earthworms. The dish soap gives you a quick visual fix today while ensuring your soil stays dead tomorrow. We don’t need more household toxins; we need biological life. Is it any wonder that we currently have the sickest, most chronically ill population in United States history? The line connects directly back to our dirt. The health of the food we eat correlates directly to the health of the soil where it is grown. The Doorway to the OceanIf the health crisis isn’t enough of a warning, the global economy is giving us another one right now. Imagine a narrow gateway in the ocean called the Strait of Hormuz. Right now, international conflicts and shipping blockages there have choked off the global transport of factory-made chemical fertilizers. Prices are skyrocketing, supplies are running out, and farmers are panicking. But this supply chain crisis is actually a massive silver lining. It is an urgent nudge from the universe telling us to break our chemical addiction. We don’t need to rely on expensive, toxic chemicals shipped across ocean chokepoints when the ultimate, free fertilizer factory is already right under our feet. Nature has been growing the tallest trees and the most vibrant prairies for millions of years without a single bag of synthetic fertilizer. We have to help the soil heal. But how? Becoming a Soil SaviorWe are fortunate, because natural solutions exist right now to detoxify, nutrify, and rebalance our soil. In my latest podcast episode, I sat down with the co-founder of an incredible organization called Soil Saviors. They aren’t inventing a new chemical; they are providing a natural solution that jumpstarts the soil’s biology, bringing that ancient, old-growth forest floor magic back into backyard gardens, school yards, and commercial farms alike. When we revitalize soil health naturally, we bring life back to the land. We turn the bricks back into sponges. We grow food that actually heals our bodies, and we build landscapes that can withstand droughts and floods. Whether you are an environmental educator, a backyard gardener, a parent, a student, or a farmer, you can be part of this positive change:
Fun informative book for ages 8-12, but I love it, too. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has issued an Air Quality Alert Day for Fine Particulates, from midnight tonight to 11 PM EDT Saturday. Fine Particulates concentrations within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards. The smoke in our skies is a reminder that nature’s systems are fractured. But every time you step onto a patch of earth, you are standing on the solution. Let’s stop fighting the dirt, and start bringing it back to life. 🎧 Follow the Story Walking Journey:
Listen to more Environmental Concerns & Solutions at https://storywalking.com/environmental-concerns-solutions/ Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
© 2026 Wendy Nadherny Fachon
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