The Hidden Power Beneath Your Feet – And Within You

What soil biology taught me about fear, trust, and building a future from the ground up

For a few generations, we’ve been taught to view soil as a resource to be managed—an inert medium that needs inputs, corrections, and control: Industrialised agriculture. 

Success, we were told, comes from getting the balance right—the right fertilizers, the right sprays, the right chemicals, applied at the right time and removing all plants viewed as weeds. With more chemicals.

But how often has that left you feeling stuck?

And a bank balance lower than you like?

How often has it felt like no matter what you put on, your soil gives you less back each year?

How many times have you sprayed those weeds, yet they keep coming back?

Or that you’re caught in a cycle of increasing costs, decreasing returns, and constant uncertainty?

That was my story, too—though from a different angle.

I wasn’t a farmer. I was a plumber. 

I spent my days working with pipes and systems I could control—problems with clear solutions.

But deep down, I knew I wanted something more.

I wanted to build a business that gave back to the Earth, not just took from it.

Then in 2019 I watch the film 2040 an Australian documentary film directed by and starring Damon Gameau. It showed me what the world COULD look like if we…

This documentary kept me coming back to this truth:

Everything starts with soil.

Soil – The Power Beneath Our Feet

That realisation eventually led me to the work of Dr. Elaine Ingham and the Soil Food Web.

I trained to become a certified Soil Food Web Lab Technician, learning to see what lies hidden beneath the surface—the biology, the networks, the life.

I began to understand that soil is not inert.

It’s alive—an ecosystem driven by microbes, fungi, roots, and organic matter, all working together to nourish plants and cycle nutrients.

And when that system is healthy, everything changes:

• Soil holds water instead of shedding it.

• Roots dive deep, drawing nutrients naturally.

• Crops grow stronger, more resilient.

• Inputs go down, and nature begins to take the lead.

I believed in it.

But believing in it wasn’t the hardest part.

Nature’s Intelligence (and Trusting It)

Soil taught me something bigger than biology.It taught me about trust.

Because when you start working with soil life—when you swap control for cooperation—it’s not instant. And believe me, you need patience!

You can’t just add biology like fertilizer and get a guaranteed result. Although I’ve tried.

You have to trust the process.

And you have to see the system differently.

Physicist Nassim Haramein talks about the Unified Field—the idea that everything is connected.

From the cosmos to the cells beneath our feet, life is in constant communication.

Soil is part of that field.

Microbes are not just breaking down nutrients; they’re responding—adapting—collaborating.

Roots are not just taking water; they’re signaling to fungi, asking for minerals, exchanging sugars for protection.

The system knows what to do—if we let it.

But letting it—that’s where it gets personal.

Because trusting soil is a lot like trusting yourself.

Radical Self-Trust & Stepping Into the Unknown

When I stepped away from plumbing—from everything I knew—to build this soil biology business, I felt that fear.

What if I fail?

What if no one wants this?

What if I’ve made the wrong choice?

I battled those thoughts constantly.

There were days when I wanted to turn back.

And for a while I did. Forced back on to the tools after the floods of 2022 and then a marriage breakup in 2023.

But soil had already taught me something important:

Nature grows through uncertainty.

So do we.

Microbes don’t wait for guarantees; they respond to what’s in front of them.

Roots don’t know if rain is coming; they reach deeper anyway.

Soil doesn’t fight what it doesn’t control; it works with what’s there.

So in 2024, I chose to do the same.

I stepped fully into this work, despite the fear.

I trusted that I had what I needed—even if I couldn’t see every step ahead.

And you know what I’ve realized?

That’s what farming is, too.

Farming has always been a dance with uncertainty.

But somewhere along the way, we were taught that certainty comes from control—inputs, schedules, chemicals.

And yet—it’s never felt certain, has it?

The farmers I admire most—like Nick Kelly from Holland Track Farm in Newdegate—they’re not chasing control anymore.

They’ve chosen trust:

• Trust in the biology beneath their feet.

• Trust that soil knows how to heal when given the chance.

• And trust in their own ability to adapt—even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.

A Shift in Perspective

This isn’t about abandoning everything you know. It’s about seeing what was always there.

• The soil is alive.

• It’s trying to work with you.

• Your role is to listen—to support it—to trust it.

And maybe—just maybe—it’s not just your soil that’s waiting for trust.

Maybe it’s you.

A Simple Step Forward

Next time you’re out in the paddock—pause.Take a handful of soil. (If it’s not to compacted…) Feel it.

Look beyond the surface.

Ask yourself:

• What’s trying to work here?

• What if I trusted this soil to heal, instead of trying to fix it?

• What if I trusted myself to lead this process—even without all the answers?

That’s where it begins.

It’s how soil recovers.

It’s how farms adapt.

And it’s how we grow.