The Living Soil

The most important resource for any farmer - and especially for an organic farmer- is the soil. The soil is a complex community of living creatures whose interaction provides food for plants and animals.

Thus, our life depends on the functioning of the soil life. Once life in the soil is extinct, so are plants, animals and people.

Most of the life in the soil is invisible to our eye. It consists of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, micro-arthropods and some larger organisms such as earthworms. Did you know that there are more organisms in a single spade-ful of rich garden soil than above-ground in the entire Amazon rain forest? In just one gram, or about 1 teaspoon, of healthy agricultural soil we find several million micro-organisms. The healthier the soil ecosystem, the higher the number and the greater the diversity of species.

Soil organisms are involved in the following processes vital to us:
nutrient retention and cycling (less or no fertilizer needed)
decopmosition of plant redidues and formation of humus.
disease suppression (beneficial organisms prevent access of pathogens to plants)
building of granular soil structure (makes the soil sponge-like; helps to hold more water)

At our farm, we are aware of these delicate ecosystem interactions. We work diligently towards balancing our soil food web; and towards reviving a healthy diversity of soil life.