HOMEGROWN Life: Improve Your Soil Health

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As a farmer who likes to read a little too much, I get things stuck in my craw from time to time. The problem, you see, is that I prefer to follow issues and events from a much broader spectrum than simply that of the conventional ag press and all of its discussions about corn and soy seeding rates, fertilizer-application wizardry, and new equipment advances.

All of this reading makes good mental material for the long and monotonous hoeing and/or weed pulling and/or irrigating sessions that come with growing vegetables.

One of the topics I return to often, both in terms of reading and of arguing with myself about what I’ve read, is the subject of microorganisms. I’m infatuated with the unseen life that makes soil happen: fungi, protozoa, earthworms, bacteria, bugs, and more.

The unseen world is an interesting place to spend your time, whether you’re asking questions about God or plate tectonics or the soil foodweb. My conversion experience, if you want to think of it that way, came in 2004. I was trying to build healthy soil on a farm that had been “farmed out” for far too long. I came across a great little article that I’ve returned to many times since on the Rodale Institute’s New Farm blog. The article was about brewing your own microorganisms. It’s worth a read for anyone interested in farming, gardening, or building a better soil ecosystem.

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