Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web

Teaming #1

by Jeff Lowenfels, Wayne Lewis

Smart gardeners know that soil is anything but an inert substance. Healthy soil is teeming with life ― not just earthworms and insects, but a staggering multitude of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. When we use chemical fertilizers, we injure the microbial life that sustains healthy plants, and thus become increasingly dependent on an arsenal of artificial substances, many of them toxic to humans as well as other forms of life. But there is an alternative to this vicious to garden in a way that strengthens, rather than destroys, the soil food web ― the complex world of soil-dwelling organisms whose interactions create a nurturing environment for plants. By eschewing jargon and overly technical language, the authors make the benefits of cultivating the soil food web available to a wide audience, from devotees of organic gardening techniques to weekend gardeners who simply want to grow healthy, vigorous plants without resorting to chemicals.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Agriculture, Biology, Reference

196 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2006

Reviews

[Oldroses · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This review was originally written for The Garden Bloggers' Book club)

After slogging my way through the last book I read, I was disheartened to read in the Preface to Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web that the first part of the book would be difficult to get through. I pressed on. Very science-y. An excellent sleep inducer. No joke. I did fall asleep while reading it one warm afternoon. But it was definitely worth it. Like the authors, I urge you to read the entire book and not just the second part which is the heart of the book.

Their argument boils down to one sentence: "No one ever fertilized an old-growth forest". Think about all the wild places you have ever seen, lush with growth. How did they get that way without the help of Scott's or Miracle-Gro? And if Scott's and Miracle-Gro are so superior, why don't our yards and gardens look better than those wild places?

The authors' thesis is that we should garden like Nature gardens, working with the flora and fauna in the soils rather than against it through the use of compost, organic mulches and actively aerated compost tea. Best of all, they provide precise instructions and call for materials that most of us have on hand anyways. No need for expensive ingredients or equipment!

I was thrilled to discover that I am not a "lazy composter" as I have always thought. Instead, I practice cold composting (not turning the compost), a method that produces the most "nutritious" compost! And what I jokingly refer to as "composting in situ", using the mower to shred up leaves and dumping them with the grass clippings onto my beds in the fall is actually a recommended mulch. As are the leaves I leave in my gardens over the winter. The only thing I am doing wrong is removing the leaves in the spring. And my deepest, darkest secret is nothing to be ashamed of. Instead of carefully working my compost into the soil, I just spread it on top. Again, a recommended method for amending the soil!

Of course, there are things that I have to do differently. Such as leaving the leaves on my beds. And even though I don't roto-till, I should still stop "loosening" the soil in the spring when I plant my seeds. The soil should be disturbed as little as possible. Planting in individual holes or narrow furrows is fine. I should learn to make and use actively aerated compost teas. Perhaps most importantly instead of throwing anything and everything into my composter, I should pay closer attention to the individual ingredients and their proportions, maybe go so far as to have different composters to make compost tailored to the needs of the various plants in my gardens.

This is a wonderful book that I will be referring to again and again. Thanks Carol for recommending it. My garden is forever in your debt.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and will work to implement many of the ideas in this book into my own yard.

Here are a few things I wrote down to remember:

A mere teaspoon of good garden soil contains a billion invisible bacteria, several yards of equally invisible fungal hyphae, several thousand protozoa and a few dozen nematodes. Pg. 19

Root exudates are in the form of carbohydrates (including sugars) and proteins. Amazingly, their presence wakes up, attracts and grows specific beneficial bacteria and fungi living in the soil that subsist on these exudates and the cellular material sloughed off as the plant’s root tips grow. Pg. 21

Soil life provides the nutrients needed for plant life, and plants initiate and fuel the cycle by producing exudates. Pg. 22

The nets or webs fungi form around roots act as physical barriers to invasion and protect plants from pathogenic fungi and bacteria. Bacteria coats surfaces so thoroughly, there is no room for others to attach themselves. If something impacts these fungi or bacteria [chemical fertilizers] and their numbers drop or they disappear, the plant can easily be attacked. Pg. 24

In general, the least disturbed soils had far more fungi than bacteria while disturbed soils (rototilled) had far more bacteria than fungi. Agricultural soils have fungal to bacterial biomass of 1:1 or less. Forest soils have ten times more fungi than bacteria. Pg. 25

Soil structure is a key characteristic of good growing conditions. If there is adequate soil structure, there is ample drainage between aggregates, but also plenty of plant available capillary water. The air circulation necessary for biological activity is sufficient. And perhaps most important, if there is adequate soil structure, this is space for soil biology to live. Good soil structure withstands torrential rains, the drying of desert-like droughts, herbs of animal traffic and deep freezes. Water and nutrient retention is high. Life in and on it thrives. Pg. 39

Vermicastings- The worms digestive enzymes unlock many of the chemical bonds that otherwise tie up nutrients and prevent their being plant available. Thus, vermicastings are as much as seven times richer in phosphate than soil that has not had been through an earthworm. They have ten times the available potash; five times the nitrogen; three times the useable magnesium and they are one and a half times higher in calcium. All these nutrients bind onto organic matter in the fecal pellets. Pg. 98

Look at the benefits of earthworms. They shred debris so other organisms can more readily digest them. They increase the porosity, water-holding capacity, fertility, and organic matter of soils. They break up hard soils, create root paths and help bind soil particles together. They cycle nutrients and microbes to new locations as they work their way through soil in search of food. With all these benefits, isn’t it strange to count the gardener as one of the predators of the earthworm? Rototilling destroy worm borrows and reduce or even destroy earthworm populations by cutting them up into pieces that don’t regenerate. And the gardener who uses chemical fertilizers is literally throwing salt on the wound; these chemicals are salts that irritate worms and chase them out of garden soils. A noticeable worm population is a clear sign of a healthy food web community. Pg. 101

Another way to figure out what kind of nitrogen a given plant will prefer is to consider how long it lives. If it is only going to be in the ground for a season (vegetables and annuals), then you know the preferred form of nitrogen is nitrate and more bacteria in the soil. Green mulches promote bacteria (like grass clippings). Anything in the ground for more than a year (trees, shrubs, perennials) prefer ammonium and higher numbers of fungi. Brown, dry leaves bring more fungi.

Lawns- Aerate every 3-4 years in the early spring, then put down a thin layer of compost or compost tea.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

What do you do with a book that you think has important information but does almost nothing with that information?

Unfortunately, I think I have to choose between 2 stars and 1 star for this book whose first section is full of a lot of interesting soil information and whose 2nd part is the biggest letdown since The Neverending Story 2.

Yes, there's interesting and helpful information in Part 1, but Part 2 has some major issues. The biggest one is simply that there are no citations. If you're going to recommend practices as more effective than existing practice, you've got to at least point to experiments that you've done yourself if not published, peer-reviewed studies.

And it's one thing to say that you have a novel idea that's running ahead of academic journals, and that's why you can't cite good studies, but ultimately the grand practical ideas of the book are compost and compost tea. Mulch also gets a shoutout and a shout-down, because the authors don't think mulch is as good as compost.

So your most sophisticated idea is inoculating soil with compost tea, which has existed in the current form for decades, but there are NO appeals to published literature on the results? Could it be because studies are scarce and contradictory? Sure looks that way to me, when I try to find studies proving the benefits of compost tea. Where field trials have shown no benefit, proponents say that the tea was brewed incorrectly or applied for a purpose that it wasn't intended for. To me, that sounds like a No True Scotsman kind of situation. The authors ought to have rigorously tested their own brew for specific benefits.

This level of rigor is a bare minimum for me. The authors can talk about how you can see the microorganisms in the brew under a microscope, and I don't doubt it. But that's not the same thing as proving that spraying those microbes through the air onto the dry and sun-bleached surface of a leaf or on the ground will result in beneficial colonization, and how much benefit are we chasing, considering that this requires so much freaking work to do? 2% increase in yield compared to no inoculation? More?

I'm not anti-compost, and I'm not necessarily anti-compost-tea either, but I have to admit to being disappointed that a thorough review of the annals of soil science didn't inspire the authors any more than to do compost and soil inoculations. Everyone was already doing that, dudes. There are so many more ideas out there that come directly from consultations with expert soil scientists, like what the North Dakota farmers and ranchers are doing with diverse cover crop mixes for soil improvement and organic matter retention. Cover crops are not mentioned even once that I remember in this book, even though Part 1 talks often about how root exudates attract and feed microbes in huge numbers.

To me it feels like they've done a little with a lot of information, and that's disappointing.

[Paula]

Should be required reading

This book should be required reading for every gardener. It is a guide to nurturing plants the way Mother Nature intended, through cooperation with the natural order. The symbiotic relationships that plants have with their neighbors and dependents is a beautiful system that will inspire us all to be better stewards over whatever land we take into our care.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is informative and readable with great illustrations. The soil science is rudimentary, but the discussions of the soil food web are well done. Some of the taxonomy is a bit dated but good enough for non-specialists. The section on actively aerated compost tea is excellent and that on compost is quite adequate. I do have some quibbles with the pH recommendations and think the authors may have given too much weight to the pH buffering effects of both bacteria and fungi. Maximum nutrient availabilities tend to occur at lower pH ranges than those given in the book as optimal for gardens. Nevertheless, I think the authors have opened a new way for gardeners to see the soil and given additional reasons for applying organic methods to gardening. I look forward to exploring the concepts introduced in the work in more detail.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. I'm deducting a star because I agree with the top critical review pointing out the lack of research for compost tea. That aside, this book was a helpful introduction to the science behind organic gardening and the importance of the soil food web.

[Julie Mickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an appealing introduction to soil science and some microbiology as seen through the worm's eye view of the garden. Lots of really cool electron microscope images. If you enjoy "gee whiz!" science facts, you'll get plenty, as well as the broader knowledge to contextualize them.

I thought I knew some of this from college intro-to-biology classes, but turns out I didn't know as much as I thought. 1) This is a rapidly advancing field of knowledge with lots of new info. 2) Focusing on the soil and particularly the "rhizosphere" is its own world apart from general-ed microbiology -- every little rootlet is a marvelous micro-ecology unto itself.

The authors detail some "how-to" applications of the science, but it's not primarily a how-to manual; I'd say it leans more toward nature-in-the-garden appreciation and general knowledge. The most broadly applicable messages are to turn the earth less, use more compost, and avoid chemical fertilizers and -cides, and this book gives the average person a more detailed, clearer idea of how and why. For the advanced gardener, there are also specific instructions about making aerated compost teas and how to fine-tune your compost pH.

[Tinea · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a phenomenal book! Soil science for lay people, soil science for chemistry-phobes, soil science tailored and sifted for direct usefulness for gardeners. Lowenfels and Lewis do not shy away or dilute the science. They use the words, they draw the symbols, they do the math. But they simplify. They explain. They cut out the extraneous information that overwhelms would-be agronomists like me who literally had all the credits for an environmental science degree save chemistry, and walked without one. Thank you, authors! I want to shake your hands and kiss the moist, rich soil by your feet.

The book is organized into a section on how different plants absorb different nutrients and water from soil, differently; a section on how roots and soil components interact with different soil fauna; and practical how-to's to apply this science to your garden and compost. Building soil is the best way to sequester carbon and to create healthy agro-ecosystems for the entire community connected to them. This book fills the niche of "how" with more precision than the generally vague, throw-it-all-together compost and permaculture books out there, without losing the experiemental home gardener spirit.

Here are The Soil Food Web Gardening Rules (though I push the whole book-- theory to practice at its finest):

Rule 1: Some plants prefer soils dominated by fungi; others prefer soils dominated by bacteria.

Rule 2: Vegetables, annuals and grasses prefer their nitrogen in nitrate form and do best in bacterially dominated soils.

Rule 3: Perennials, shrubs, and trees prefer their nitrogen in ammonium form and do best in fungal dominated soils.

Rule 4: Compost can be used to inoculate beneficial microbes and life into soils around your yard and introduce, maintain or alter the soil food web in a particular area

Rule 5: Adding compost to the surface of the soil will inoculate the soil with the same soil food web in the compost.

Rule 6: Brown organic materials support fungi while green supports bacteria.

Rule 7: fresh, green mulches tend to support bacterial populations; aged, brown mulches support fungal growth.

Rule 8: Mulch laid on the surface tends to support fungi while mulch worked into the soil tends to support bacteria.

Rule 9: If you wet and grind mulch thoroughly, it speeds up bacterial colonization.

Rule 10: Coarse, dryer mulches support fungal activity

Rule 11: Sugars help the bacteria multiply and grow while kelp, humic and fulvic acids and phosphate rock dusts help fungi grow.

Rule 12: Depending on the compost and the nutrients added, you can make teas that are fungal dominated, bacterially dominated or an even ratio of both

Rule 13: Compost teas are very sensitive to chlorine and preservatives in the brewing water and ingredients.

Rule 14: Applications of synthetic fertilizers kill off most or all of the soil food web microbes.

Rule 15: Stay away from additives that have high NPK numbers

Rule 16: Immediately follow any chemical spraying or soil drenching with an application of compost tea

Rule 17: the roots of conifers as well as hardwood trees including birch, oak, beech, and hickory form mycorrhizae with Ectomycorrhizal fungi

Rule 18: Shrubs and softwood trees form mycorrhizae with Endomycorrhizal fungi.

Rule 19: Rototilling and excessive soil turning destroys or severely damages the soil food web.

Rule 20: Always mix endomycorrhizal fungi with the seeds of annuals and vegetables at planting time or apply them to roots at transplanting time.

[Georgia Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently have renewed my garden from a giant dog potty to a place where one can sit and enjoy the scenery. This slim book is packed with information about composting, undersoil critters, and the benefits of renewing the earth. With lots of pictures and clearly written for the beginning gardener, this is a terrific guide though the science of dirt.

[Alysha Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have taken quite a few college science courses, which made the reading pretty easy but I have a hard time seeing a personal without this background get through some of the stickier sections in the book. Teaming with Microbes provides excellent detail and microbiology background. There philosophy has a “going green” approach which I appreciate and wish to try on my own future lawn and garden, although I am not sure how well things will take in the short growing season up in northern North Dakota! The authors gave insight to inexpensive ways to create my own compost tea as well as “checking for critters” contraptions. The authors have a personal touch through their “voice” which appears throughout the fairly short 180 page book supplemented by just enough colorful pictures to support the text in my opinion. I do feel that more stats and evidence would strengthen their argument, but I am eager to try their approach with the helpful and practical tips provided at the end of the book for easy reference. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning the biology about the soil food web as well, the benefits of “teaming with microbes”, and creating your own natural, healthy garden and lawn. If there really are no mistakes in gardening, and merely experiments I highly recommend taking a chance on this book!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think most of us see soil as the neutral backdrop against which all the "action" of plant growth takes place. Far from it, the ground beneath us is a veritable metropolis of creatures frenetically eating each other and producing valuable nutrients for their neighbors and plants. That this ecosystem has been so wholely ignored and decimated by modern industrial agriculture is frightening. Never fear though -- these microorganisms, neatly summarized here in short chapters for the soil science newbie -- are resilient and plentiful. We can reintroduce the fungi and protozoa, bacteria and arthropods that are the building block of biodiversity to bring health back to our soils. The book is geared toward the home gardener, but I'm curious about how to apply these ideas might be applied on a large scale.

[Jordi Fàbregas · Rating 3 out of 5]

En primer lloc cal felicitar als autors per parlar del funcionament del sòl, per a jardins, un tema importantíssim i poc tractat fins ara.
Hi ha dues parts diferenciades; la primera és la teòrica, on descriu la xarxa de nutrients del sòl, cadascun dels organismes que el formen, i com funciona. La segona és pràctica, on explica com aplicar aquests conceptes en la gestió dels espais verds.
M'ha resultat molt interessant la primera part, en canvi em costa més de veure com cal aplicar-ho en el nostre clima, per exemple, recomana en zona arbustiva l'aplicació d'encoixinat. Això només és aplicable si es tracta d'una comunitat arbustiva de sotabosc, però no d'una comunitat de garriga, on l'encoixinat seria millor mineral.
Possiblement, les experiències d'Alasca, són difícil de traslladar al clima mediterrani, i aquest pot ser un punt feble del llibre.

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important books I've ever read. It's not easy for a nonscientist to understand quickly, partly because a certain amount of chemical and biological terms are needed (Latin and Greek helped me, but not everyone has the benefit of a thoroughly anachronistic education), but also because the sequence of ideas are not always sequentially presented in a paragraph. All the same, the book presents fairly recent research by Dr. Ingham of Oregon Sate U. on the tiniest critters beneath your lawn, flowers, or vegetables, and how you can put those millions of workers on your side instead of addicting them to the wrong kind of nitrogen or chopping them up with rototilling. And if that last sentence sounds like woo-woo New-Age nonsense to you, that's why you need to read the book.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love a book that gets me to think of bacteria and fungi as little bags of fertilizer. and then along come the protazoa and nematodes to release that fertilizer as manure right in the root zone, or the rhizosphere. love it. my inner ecology/farm nerd gives this book two green thumbs up. if you garden, you should read this book.

[jrendocrine at least reading is good · Rating 4 out of 5]

well, if you want a deep dive into compost, this is your book! I learned about types of compost for trees and bushes (supports fungus: aka micorrhyzal networks) vs lawns/vegetables/flowers (bacterial compost), how to spread it (I've been wasting my liquid gold by not spreading it around my trees and bushes!!!), how to fashion and feed it.

The first part of the book is 9th grade science level, perhaps a little awkward - there are much better sources of this information (Robin Wall Kimmerer, Suzanne Simard, Merlin Sheldrake) - fine, it's a-b-c - but the enthusiastic gardeners who wrote the book are marvelously enthusiastic. Which is fun.

It was passed on to me by an avid gardener (I'm not - YET - more an avid composter) and I will pass it on to some other composters, so it will have a long life!

[Chanel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I would understand more if I had a degree in the field (microbiology? botany? ecology?) BUT while it is overly technical for the lay-gardener, it is not written in a condescending tone but in a we-can-revolutionalize-the-world tone, which is one my favorites.

Recommended in vermiculturalist Mary Appelhof's book, Worms Eat My Garbage.

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing information for any gardener or anyone interested in how plants grow.

[Eveline Hall]

Excellent. I love soil

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all gardeners!

[Robin S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elke tuinier zou dit verplicht moeten lezen. Wat een geweldige tips! Af en toe een beetje lastig (wetenschappelijk) qua terminologie: de mycorrizale schimmels en bacteriedominante bodems met protozoa en nematoden vliegen je om ‘t hoofd. Maar als je je best doet het te begrijpen valt ‘t allemaal best mee en is het echt BIJSTER interessant. Veel tips opgedaan voor de moestuin 🌱🌱🌱

[Laura Tolp · Rating 5 out of 5]

One heck of a book! A lot of good stuff packed into this one.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is much good information in this book. However, some of the information was a bit too scientific for me. It was written in a way that the lay person can easily understand the science, but it was more than I wanted to know. Also, some of the processes described sounded needlessly complicated. I would like to read a book with the same information but simplified for the hobby gardener.

[victoria worm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has lots of information and interesting facts; but this may be part of why I gave this book such a low, rating since I don’t have use for any of these. I wanted to learn more about biodiversity and soil science and this book has definitely helped with that.

That being said, I wish there was more credibility towards a few remarks and concepts brought into this book. Although I listened to this book as an audiobook, I have read some reviews and seen online that this book refrain from using citations, especially on topics, such as the composting tea. Personally, I think credibility is super important when discussing anything related to science, biology, ecology, or anything else really.

I also whirly would’ve appreciated specific examples that apply the concepts talked about in the chapters. All the information is simplified into simple language, the abundance of it makes it hard to visualize its application and benefits.

[Christopher Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well written, ordered in simple to digest chapters and has inspired me to start composting- this book has the "high level" concepts of soil biology but it is not a detailed instructional guide.

[James Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introductory book to organic farming/gardening. The authors do a great job of explaining everything you need to know without overcomplicating anything. Highly reccomend!

[Li Or · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading on organic gardening teachings, to help understand how No Dig Gardening works.

If you want to learn about alternatives for chemical fertilizers, how to use Compost, Mulch, Compost Teas & Mycorrhizal fungal innoculants, it's all here in this book. Heads up, the compost tea making is a bit complex and will require specialized gear including a >24-hour electrical, whirring bubbler.

Note: There is a handy bullet-point list in the appendix at the end of the book giving the Soil Food Web Rules mentioned throughout the book, so every time a Rule is mentioned, you can check which rule is talked about by referring to the appendix.

-

Points for improvement:
- Scientific references would have been welcome to back up the teachings. I understand that there is some debate on the efficacy of aerated compost teas.
- The style is mostly in wall-of-text form.
Use of bullet-points, or use of sections that break up the style to include Recipes / Instructions & tables would have been more user-friendly to use the book practically.
- I was left with some questions still, like:
o how can you tell if mycorrhizal fungi you buy are alive and not dead? what conditions do they need to ensure their survival during delivery & storage?
o do specific crops like specific mycorrhizal fungal species?

[Kevin O'Keefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been holding on to this book for years with the intent of reading it and am so glad I finally got around to it. Part one was science-heavy but wonderfully written and engaging. It was as funny as it was informative and the casual tone the authors took made the subject matter seem far less intimidating. Part two is just as well written and gives you actionable steps to take to put what you learned in part one to the test.

I feel like I have a much better understanding of what the soil food web is and how to cultivate it in my garden. Page 205 has their list of "soil food web gardening rules" that I want to refer to in the future.

My main takeaways were:

1. Compost, actively aerated compost tea, and mulches are the three most important tools an organic Gardner has at their disposal.

2. Mycorrhizal fungi(endo and ecto) will help build out your plants rhizosphere and help your plants thrive(with a few exceptions)

3. Most vegetables prefer bacterial dominated soils where nitrogen is present in the form of nitrates. Green composts are best in this situation.

4. Most perennials and trees prefer fungi dominated soils where nitrogen is present in the form of ammonium. Brown composts will help here.

5. If using fertilizers try to keep the NPK below 10-10-10

[Jeff Giuliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book catapulted me into the world of composting. Jeff writes fairly deeply about the science of soil and the organisms that live in it and how they benefit plants. In the second section he writes about how we can assist the soil in helping the plants we grow. His three main tools for doing that are compost, mulch and actively aerated compost tea. The depth in which he discusses most of this is really impressive.

The only thing that I would have liked to see in his book is a little more detail about steps to take in composting. I would consider myself a beginner composter and probably would have preferred more concrete list of steps or maybe a different format in how he presents composting. Still, a really fundamental read for gardeners and especially organic gardeners.

[Zoom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about soil and the beneficial microbes that live in it. It's a great resource for learning the underlying science of growing organically. Basically, you feed and nurture the microbes and fungi and so on, and they’ll feed and nurture your plants.

There are chapters on everything from bacteria to worms to brewing your own compost tea. Part 1 is about soil science. Part 2 is about applying the principles from Part 1 to your yard, garden and containers.

I have an outdoor composter and an indoor worm composter. After reading this book, I want a compost tea brewer and a microscope.

[Lalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great intro to the idea of gardening as a form of eco-system management instead of chemistry. The rules they lay out and explain can be incorporated by anyone regardless of climate. However, since they are located in Alaska all of the examples given are based on a more northern climate. I'm in Texas and we are in the middle of an extreme drought, so some of the advice about lawn care (i.e. grass) makes no sense to me at all right now. I'm not wasting any water on grass. So you may need to do additional research for techniques specific to your region and climate.