In this episode of In Search of Soil, we’ll be talking about the truths behind soil, breaking the myths behind it, and illuminating some interesting and intriguing ways to go about how to build soil. Our guest is one of the world’s leading soil biologists, Dr. Elaine Ingham, who will help us see soil in a new light. Follow Dr. Elaine - https://www.soilfoodweb.com/

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In this episode of In Search of Soil

• Looking into micro and macro arthropods in soil (02:25)
• What are these microarthropods? (04:40)
• Why some microarthropods could be missing in the soil (06:00)
• The microscope: an underutilized tool (07:50)
• Most common issues in soil (10:35)
• What to expect when fungi and bacteria in soil are balanced (12:00)
• Truth or myth: forests have fungi-dominated soil while grasslands have bacteria-dominated soil (16:15)
• Fungi-bacteria balance differ from season to season and crop to crop (21:30)
• What happens when there are too many fungi in soil (24:55)
• Cover plants that maintain the biology of the soil indefinitely (30:30)
• Organic regulations and crop rotations (35:35)
• Perennial ground cover in a vegetable-based system (39:30)
• Balanced soil – no weeds (43:45)
• Perennial ground cover versus compost supplement (45:30)
• Approaching terminating cover crops (48:35)
• Farms with perennial ground crops alongside production (50:50)
• Soil remineralization: is it necessary? (53:15)
• The biology behind the nitrogen cycle (56:45)
• How to go about composting (01:00:10)
• Maintaining bacterial diversity with high-quality compost as an inoculum (01:06:45)
• Improving bacterial diversity in compost considering seasonality (01:10:50)
• Inaccurate: using the amount of organic matter to evaluate soil (01:18:55)
• Would it be beneficial to add mulch on top of perennial ground cover? (01:30:05)
• Biodynamic compost (01:32:55)
• Mycorrhizal spores: check under the microscope if your soil needs it (01:42:20)
• Will biochar improve the soil’s biology (01:48:30)