**3.4 Living root maintenance**

Living roots have to be maintained in soil as long as possible because they are feeding soil biology by providing basic food source carbohydrates [45]. This biology feeds plants with water and nutrients, having the capacity to store nutrients and water that will be provided during drought. Farmers within conventional agriculture used to think there are 120 days to rest soil until the growing season. It is now considered wrong since living plants continue growing into early winter and break biological dormancy earlier in the spring. Their roots are feeding soil organisms and keep the biological population at a high rate. Healthy soil is dependent upon how well the food web is fed. Providing food to soil microbes helps them cycle nutrients that plants needed to grow.
