Underfoot and out of mind, soil is often overlooked. Montana farmers are joining in on a new challenge that aims to change that: burying cotton underwear to see how it decomposes.
The “Soil Your Undies” campaign gives everyone a chance to see what’s happening underground.
Starting in May, Montanans and people all over the U.S. buried cotton underwear in their yards and after 2 months underground, they dug it back up.
Holly Stoltz, with the Western Sustainability Exchange said the challenge started in Oregon and has been spreading in Montana with outreach from local groups like hers.
“In two months, if you pull up a pair of tighty whities and they are perfectly intact, just a little dirty from the soil, that means you have a lot of work to do in your soil. There's not a lot of living organisms in your soil,” Stoltz said.
Just one teaspoon of topsoil can have almost a billion microbes, microscopic organisms that affect the health of the soil and the plants growing in it. Microbes in the soil play a big role in decomposition, breaking down organic matter, like cotton.
“If you pull up your underwear in two months and it is literally just the waistband left and you have a lot of activity in your soil, which means your soil is very healthy,” Stoltz said.
Healthy soil means healthy plants, which leads to more nutrient rich foods for people and livestock. And with over 2 million cattle living in Montana, soil health is especially important.
Some of this year’s newest participants are Republican State Sen. Butch Gillespie and his wife Doreen. At a soil health event in Valier, the Gillespies showcased what they dug up just a few weeks ago, holding up either end of some swiss cheese looking underwear.
“To me I was a little disappointed there wasn't more deterioration in them, but there was quite a bit there, too,” Butch Gillespie said.
“Deeper down it wasn't, but closer to the surface there was a lot of eating,” Doreen Gillespie said.
The “Soil Your Undies” challenge has wrapped up this year, but will start again next spring.
