Fall finds me smiling for many reasons, not least of which is thinking about all the Soil Food Webbers out there happily and diligently applying microbes to the soil. Where do those microbes come from? Compost of course! Conventional wisdom would have us see compost as a fertilizer; containing soluble nutrients prone to leaching or […]
When we are looking to restore life to the soil, our most important tool is compost. But not just any compost. To increase diversity and restore missing groups of plant-beneficial organisms, we need to create an effective inoculum of these microbes. You could think of the inoculum aspect a bit like a yogurt culture or […]
At this latitude there probably aren’t too many people actively winter composting, unless you have an indoor space for thermophilic piles (and are hardcore!). Most folks tend to have a static pile out the back, where yard waste is thrown during the warmer months and kitchen scraps tossed year-round. Small worm farms are also becoming […]
Every region has unique microorganisms dwelling in the soil, adapted to the climate, flora, fauna and geological history of a place. Unfortunately there are some parts of the planet where the soil has become so degraded – in watersheds where forests are long gone and in lands where the soil has long been tilled and […]