Page 15 - Barefoot guide

CHAPTER 2

NATURE’S FOOD GARDEN

STORY

THE MIGHTY MICROBES

Sarah has taken Martha to see her cousin’s
vegetable garden ...

Sarah’s cousin, Ruth, was a tall woman with a big
smile, whose face was as cheery and full of life as
her garden. Martha had imagined neat rows of
cauliflowers and cabbage, but the small yard
was bursting with plants – in raised beds,
climbing on frames and fences, hanging
off the wall of the house in a great variety
of containers – cut off plastic bottles,
flower pots, paint tins. There was even
some spinach sprouting from an old boot.
Chickens were clucking busily in a run
beyond the vegetables. It looked more
like a wild forest than a vegetable garden,
Martha thought, but she didn’t say that.
“This is the most important part of my
garden,” Ruth said. Martha looked around for an
impressive vegetable, but Ruth was pointing to a
large heap of what looked like dirt.
“This is our compost heap, where we grow the mighty microbes!”
“Microbes?” said Martha. “Do you mean germs? But aren’t those bad?”
Ruth laughed. “Microbes are tiny life forms – some are bacteria, some are viruses, and a very small number can make
you sick – we call those germs. But most are really important for life to continue.”
She bent down and scooped up a handful of the compost and gave it to Martha. “In your hand, you’re holding more
microbes than there are people in the world!”
Martha stared at the crumbly dark substance in her hand. It was rich and moist, with a fresh, earthy smell. But she
wasn’t sure if she wanted to hold all those microbes.

“But microbes aren’t just in the soil you know,” Ruth said. “We also have millions inside our own bodies.”
Martha dropped the compost in alarm.
“Inside our bodies? But don’t they make us sick?”
“No, not at all. In fact, if you didn’t have them, you would die. These microbes help us digest food, process toxins, and
most importantly, to fight diseases like COVID-19. Most of them live in your gut.”
Martha clutched her belly. Really? All those microbes in there? She didn’t much like that idea, but Ruth sounded so
happy about it that she supposed they must be a good thing.

CHAPTER 2: NATURE’S FOOD GARDEN 7