Living soil
Living soil is true organic gardening. A healthy living soil has a complete food chain that consists of: bacteria, fungi, mycorrhizae, a army of micro arthropods, nematodes, protozoa and the king of it all: earthworms. If earthworms are not abundant, none of the rest are present either. In natural farming, we use a abbreviation: IMO which stands for indigenous microorganisms. Dr. Elaine Ingham has charted the way in soil microbiology reports that in a teaspoon of healthy soil contains more than 50 million bacteria and are an essential part of the soil food web. Enter funny man, Alaskan, cannabis friendly, Jeff Lowenfels to connect the dots with a series of books and web cast sharing his vast knowledge. If all this interests you, youtube search Jeff and listen to his experiences with marketing mega giant “ Miracle Grow” WWII bomb factories converted into fertilizer makers. Yeah, I like growing my own and know my food and weed is chemical free.
Having fallen DEEP into this natural farming rabbit hole, I brought Dr. Ingham’s suggested microscope, she requires for her courses and have revisited stuff I learned in college. I vermicompost, so my very first slides were loaded with all the types of microbes. In making compost tea and knowing the quality is where I use the microscope the most. Please stay tuned for more on compost tea. I wildcraft, gather, grow, and produce the living soil part of the raised beds I am offering. The beds are layered: on the bottom is woody debris that is mycorrhizae rich. The middle layer is the living goodness, leaf litter, EWC, earthworms, castings and compost to feed them. The top layer is a local topsoil cut with a bale of pro mix.
Be well, eat fresh and thank you for the visit!
