I was always afraid of being “dirty.”

Growing up - I had this fear that being exposed to soil, whether it was under my fingernails or simply being around it, made me dirty. “Dirt” was synonymous with the word “soil.” Dirt was always meant to be removed and the soil was for our use and overall consumption. This assumption would soon be challenged.

Little did I realize, there are more microbes in a teaspoon of healthy soil than humans on Earth. Humans are part of many ecosystems, including the ecosystem below our feet. This began the gradual process of understanding how much soil is influenced by composting, gardening, and our daily practices.

After being exposed to microbiologist and soil biology researcher, Dr. Elaine Ingham, and her contributions to the “Soil Food Web” theory, my thoughts toward compost and soil changed forever. By becoming a certified compost operator with the 131 School of Compost, I acquired an understanding of community-scale composting systems.

By having “bottom up” view of gardening, the way we treat our landscape changes. We are another organism on this beautiful planet we call home. Let’s make a home for soil microbes so that they can continue giving us abundance.

- With love,

Matthew Chandler