Hello. This is Katie from the Wild bunch. Our soils should be full of a huge number of microorganisms. ‘In just one teaspoon of soil, there can be more microbes than there are people on the planet’ (Natural History Museum website). Unfortunately, the use of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers can severely deplete the life in our soils. We can, however, nurture this abundance of life. It is best to keep soil covered, either with plants or with a mulch. We can use a variety of products to cover our soil but to feed it, we need to use natural materials, which will break down to feed the soil life. Composts, mulches and manures can of course be bought in but a cheaper and more sustainable method is to make our own. Even a tiny outdoor space could host a small worm bin to produce a little compost, whilst bigger gardens could have one or more compost bins: homemade wooden bays made with pallets, bought plastic ‘dalek’ compost bins or much fancier and more expensive compost bins! It is also worth looking on freecycle/freegle as sometimes compost bins are offered for collection. Garden waste, vegetable and fruit peelings, eggshells and coffee grounds can all be added to your compost bin. Another way to produce your own mulch is to gather up leaves in the autumn. For small amounts of leaves they can be placed in repurposed plastic sacks; as long as they are not allowed to dry out, they will break down in a year or two to produce lovely leaf mould for your garden. Other materials that can be used on the garden are cardboard (usually in conjunction with a layer of compost) and wood chippings. Another method used by some gardeners is chop and drop- as plants are cut back they are left to decompose in situ.
Once spread thinly onto your soil (because few of us are able to produce enough compost to spread it thickly), the micro and macro-organisms will get to work breaking it down. Earth worms are one of the more visible creatures to be found in soil, they drag decaying plant matter down into their burrows. Other macro-organisms that act as decomposers are woodlice and springtails whilst other creatures, such as ants, centipedes and beetles are predatory in behaviour. Fungal mycelia are an extremely important component in healthy soils, they cover huge areas and are known to enable trees to communicate with one another! They also have a role in enabling the uptake of nutrients by plant roots so mulch and your soil will contain more life and be able to support healthier plants and a huge range of invertebrates which in turn will provide food for larger creatures!
Our next gathering is on Thursday 17th April. It will be a practical session and an opportunity to learn how to plant a wildflower meadow as we expand the existing wildflower patch at Mary Baily. Book your free space at https://bit.ly/wild-bunch-apr-25.
