There are huge amounts of soil food web organisms in fertile garden soil but the numbers of organisms per teaspoon in compost, especially the microbial population, are just too many to fully comprehend; up to a billion bacteria, 400-900 (150-300 meters) of fungal hyphae, 10,000 to 50,000 protozoa,and 30 to 300 nematodes. as well as having high microbial numbers, compost contains all manner of microarthropods and sometimes worms.
Composting is fun under a microscope as you can see microbial activity change throughout the year.
Through Spring, Summer and Autumn we add to our heap as organic materials are available. We are also turning in the additions not just laying them on top, we do this to aerate the pile and give the aerobic, decomposing microbial life a boost of oxygen which helps keep any bad anaerobic bacteria under control.
Throughout the winter season this pile is left to rest (not turned) and any kitchen scraps we have are layed on top with a cover of leaf matter or dry grass. we have found that this seems to encourage a worm population in the pile which is always a welcomed bonus to any compost pile in my opinion.
We have a look at the active life in the pile every few weeks, spray it down with microbe tea and mostly keep the pile covered unless it gets dry, then we will whip off the cover and allow the rain to moisten it up for us.
Looking at life in our soil can be as complicated as we want it to be but we like to keep things simple on the farm and look for what we need to when we need to. As long as we see active soil food web life we are happy.
