Soil talks

I partnered up with Julia Massey Stuart from Mango Lab for a Soil talk at the Bosvean Community garden end of Summer annual Fayre. It worked really well. We showed some slides throughout the talk and invited the audience to answer questions throughout. Soil is a very complex subject and the drawings help to show how soil structure is created, the various roles of fungi, bacteria, protozoa and nematodes the interactions between plants and their microbial partners as well as how photosynthesis works, carbon cycle and the benefits of a healthy soil. It was a lovely event and everyone was inspired by the end of the talk.

Soil talk at St Agnes gardening club September 2025

This was a talk at the gardening club in St Agnes. There were over 35 people in the audience, all gardening enthusiasts, it was great fun, lots of people laughing as I mimicked the movements of the different microbes. Then after the slides, I turned the microscope on and we were able to see a nematode, some testate ameoba, a rotifer and looked at the aggregates in the soil. I have found that as soon as people understand how nutrient cycling works and then see for themselves through the microscope, it all starts to make sense. It is such a fascinating topic.