Actinobacteria are a common group of mostly aerobic bacteria that occur in both soil and water (fresh and sea). In the soil they include some of the most common forms of soil life and play a vital role in the decomposition of organic matter, e [...]

In addition to the all important micro-organisms (bacteria, fungi, nematodes and protozoa), and our master soil-building friends the worms, soil also contains many types of larger bugs, called arthropods. There are thousands of different speci [...]

Green manures are crops grown to improve the soil condition and nutrition. They can help crowd out the weeds you don’t want, and some even get rid of soil diseases. Instead of being harvested, the crop is dug into the soil while still lush and [...]

Winter is a great time of year to be applying a properly made, organic compost to your trees. Making your own compost—turning waste products from your own garden into a fantastic source of plant and soil food—is one of the most satisfying acti [...]

Worms are one of our most useful allies in the soil. After going into detail about worms and what they like last week, in this article we tell you about four different types of worm farms, their pros and cons, how to build them and how to look [...]

Do you make your own compost? If not, what are the limiting factors...lack of space, knowledge, time, experience or materials? With a little planning, it’s possible to come up with a system that suits every garden and gardener. Read the artic [...]

Compost tea is a great way to build your soil, making a small amount of compost or worm castings go a long way by rapidly multiplying the number of available microbes—it’s science in a bucket, but way more fun than you had in the school scienc [...]

Nutrient deficiencies can be hard to diagnose, but symptoms generally follow recognisable patterns. Luckily, the solution to almost all nutrition problems is the same - build healthy soil. Read the article in Summer - Week 1

Earthworms are extremely important and play a vital role in recycling plant nutrients and aerating the soil—they’re the “superheroes” of the soil. By doing a survey of your soil, you’ll help improve your knowledge of earthworms and the soils t [...]

In autumn fruit trees start to shut down before becoming dormant in winter, but before then, the tree needs to store reserves of carbohydrates and nutrients in the flower buds to use next spring. The tree needs a lot of energy to produce flowe [...]

Many plants that we think of as weeds are actually “dynamic accumulators”, or plants that extract and gather nutrients—specifically inorganic minerals—from the soil or air, and make them available to other plants, animals, and even to us! Rea [...]

Drainage is an important issue for fruit trees, and periods of heavy rain provide the perfect opportunity to see how good your drainage is. Although some trees tolerate it better than others, they will never thrive  on a site where the water d [...]