March 2013.

Recently, Colin Austin sent me a copy of his article Soils for Wicking Beds.  It's a great read. 

I have known for some time that Ecobeds' moist environments favoured the development of beneficial micro organisms.  With the addition of built in worm farms, they are ideal systems for creating soils rich in nutrients, but I didn't know the whole story.

Colin believes that if you look after the biology of your soil your plants will automatically grow well.  This is not a new idea, but Colin's approach is to look at the soil biology at the micro level.  He describes how mycorrhizal fungi inoculated into the soil improves plant growth.  He describes the symbiotic relationship it has with the roots of plants, and it's ability to break down soil particles to release trace elements and other chemical for the plant's use. 

This article contains a lot of very useful information on ways to optimise your soil's vitality, and is worth taking the time to have a look.  Although food is still plentiful and cheap in most developed countries, we should all have a go at growing at least some of our own highly nutritious food using sustainable systems like Ecobeds and fungi inoculants.