With the spring warmth comes that sense of shift in energy and vitality, like something inside us is unfurling.  Soil microbes also undergo this transformation, emerging from dormancy to partner again with above-ground life.  Plants need both energy and nutrients to unfurl themselves – with the sun and air comes that energy, and with the microbes come those nutrients.  Nature has a fabulous strategy, but unfortunately most of us are dealing with degraded soils.

How can we help this little micro-herd, and thus our plants?  How do we encourage their optimal numbers, balance, and functioning?  Humbly, to begin with, as we expand our knowledge.  The main principles mirror those used in regenerative agriculture – a way of growing that enhances and improves soil health versus further degrading it over time, as many current practices do.

No till  

Tilling/plowing/digging over the soil chops, slices and dices beneficial fungi and bacteria bloom under these conditions, releasing organic matter and greenhouse gasses.  If few microbes are in your soil then perhaps you might find a compost teaming with them and gently rake it in, or till it in one last time (this may be necessary if you are dealing with compaction).  Apply a layer of good compost every spring, and plant directly into that.  

Cover bare soil  

Prone to compaction and moisture loss, bare soil is difficult for microbes.  They need water and air!  Microbes also need fuel, which they get from organic matter (a minimum of 3%) and root exudates. Maximise living roots with low-growing, perennial (preferably native) ground cover plants with a preference for a fungal to bacterial ratio that is the same as the crop you want to grow.  You get year-round soil cover and food for the right microbes!  The next best choice would be mulches.  Think about your mulch… do you want to feed the fungi, or the bacteria?  What does your plant need most?

Diversity, diversity, diversity!

The more diverse the plants in your main crops and your ground cover, the more diverse the microbes who are getting their needs met below, and the more diverse the nutrients that ultimately make it into you.  Research which plants grow well together, and experiment.

Happy unfurling, y’all.