The Soil Food Web

Smart gardeners know that the soil is anything but inert. Healthy soil teems with life—not just earthworms and insects, but also a bewildering array of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. Chemical fertilizers damage this microbial soil life and also make us increasingly dependent on artificial substances.
But there's an alternative to this vicious cycle: gardening in a way that strengthens rather than weakens the "soil food web." The soil food web is a complex world full of organisms that, through their interactions, create a nourishing environment for plants.
By avoiding jargon, the authors make the benefits of caring for the soil food web accessible to a wide audience, from ecological gardeners to weekend gardeners who simply want healthy, lush plants without the use of chemicals.
The Soil Food Web is the Dutch translation of Teaming with Microbes, a standard work that has already received much praise.