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Soil Food Web: Building Soil The Natural Way

“Feed the soil, not the plants,” is the mantra of organic gardening. Whether you’re ardently green or just interested in a beautiful landscape, developing the soil makes sense.

Healthy soil is an ecosystem. The “Soil Food Web” is a term created by Dr. Elaine Ingham, for the community of organisms that live in the soil and how they interact with the environment, plants and animals. Improving the soil is a process of encouraging beneficial natural organisms to proliferate.

A teaspoon of soil can contain billions of microorganisms – but it’s not an idyllic community. At a microscopic level, a battle rages for control of the root zone. Fungi, bacteria, protozoa and nematodes are some of the biota engaged in the conflict. Many of these microorganisms are beneficial to growing plants, while others are destructive to the root system. We seek to maximize the presence of beneficial organisms which actively repelling the pathogenic organisms.

How do we tilt the balance in favor of beneficial biota? Compost! The temperature attained when creating compost inhibits pathogens in favor of beneficial organisms.  When we add top quality compost (i.e. compost rich in decayed matter and active microorganisms) to the soil, we are boosting the activity of the microbes defending the root zone, and promoting a healthier soil ecosystem.

At Almstead, we also custom brew compost tea. Starting with top quality compost, we create a liquid filled with beneficial live microorganisms. In our lab, we microscopically analyze each batch of compost tea to ensure the right population density of healthy microorganisms; we add extra biota, such as beneficial nematodes, as well as organic amendments like fish hydrolysate to encourage their growth. When the compost tea is finished brewing, we apply the organism-rich liquid onto lawns or into root zones to soak the soil and increase the population of beneficial biota.

When we “feed the soil,” we promote a healthy ecosystem for our landscape. Almstead has also developed our own compost-based topdressing for lawns. In combination with core aeration, this organism-rich dressing penetrates the soil to bring new life to depleted earth. We use compressed air with a specialized tool (known as an AirSpade) to safely decompact and till the soil.  We work in top quality compost and amendments in order to create the healthiest growing environment for root systems: conditions that mimic a forest floor.

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