Good soil is uniquely necessary for a plant to thrive — just as a good home is for the human person. Of course, like us, the plant needs other things too, like water and sunlight. Yet it is the soil, its home, which:
- brings the drink
- holds it to the sun
- protects it in its infancy
- provides the conditions necessary for it to emerge
- supplies the nutrients so it can grow, flower and produce fruit
- and which provides the stability to set roots, stand up, and do anything else.
Furthermore, when the plant inevitably freezes back or gets cut down, it is from within the safety of its earthy home, and fed by deep roots, that its life is able to one day emerge again.