The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web - Revised Edition

The book is well written and well illustrated. For gardeners, It opens up the wonders of the microbe world where plants and microbes benefit from each other. It is recommended for anyone interested in growing food.

Could have more pics of fungi, especially decomposers. Well written for non-biology types like me. Bacteria treated well with good descriptions of other microbes and their associations with the composting cycle.

My husband and I went to a local gardening shop in Sacramento and the clerk was so hyped on this book that he was spewing out so much interesting information about the whole food chain your garden needs to have going on under the soil. A lot of the information he was telling us made so much sense. Why were we are we trying to create all these synthetic chemicals in place of what mother nature already takes care of? I am excited to finally own this book. It is a nice durable hardcover with high gloss pictures and pages! Just in time and it gives us enough time to brush up on some knowledge before the Spring gardening!

This is a great book for the gardener and Medical Marijuana Connoisseur. The author describes in great detail the symbiotic relationship between Microbes & Fungi and plants. It also explains the importance of getting away from Chemical nutrients and how to maintain healthy soil . I definitely recommended reading this book and adding it to your collection.

a must have for any student of the soil....be they gardener,farmer, permaculturist!
walks you through the biology of what is happening beneath the ground we plant, and all
around us, and why the soil is so very alive! greater understanding of compost and what
one is actually trying to achieve by making it, and how beneficial it is. also great
understanding of making compost teas and their place in the greater soil web. highly recommended!

The information in the book has changed my whole way of gardening. The book is not hard to read or understand. I have already applied a few of the compost and soil management ideas to my organic garden. Living in the mountains, I have access to both forest and meadow soil. The book really made me pay more attention to what was going on beneath my feet!

Interesting and good information. I did not expect it to be mostly a science book. Thought it would have more how to in it. Most home gardeners would really need to know how to apply information not so much looking at little creatures since most do not have equipment still did learn some but now how to use products.

If you're a soil geek like me, you will love this book! It will take your gardening to the next level when you understand the beauty of soil microbes! This book is dense with great information and it's pretty accessible to people with a modest understanding of biology. This has been a fantastic asset to my gardening!

This is a must-read for anybody who (a) wants to grow food; (b) has a lawn; (c) cares about the food they eat; and/or (d) buys food and wants to support people who grow it responsibly.

I read this mostly as part of my education as a home gardener, but it covers a lot of crucial information in a really easy to understand way. I highly recommend it!

If you're really trying to grow organically, this is your book. It goes into great detail explaining how and why microbes and certain fungi make such a good symbiotic relationship. So much info packed into a book this size

Received the text book on time and in new condition. Studied the parts that I was most interested in. Vermiculture. The text covers all types of soil microbes and has useful charts and tables. This should be a university course text.

This is written in such a way that the average gardener can understand the fairly recent scientific research discoveries regarding the world of activity taking place in their soil. This explains why some things that were considered good gardening practices in the past actually inhibit the natural processes of healthy plant growth. Understanding the biology of the soil, you can implement low/no cost processes to greatly improve the life of it.

Very interesting reading even if you are not a gardener.

Book is a gift to a family members. Both husband and wife were delighted to receive the book. Based on their background and their new adventure into organic gardening, they were excited about receiving the book.

I have been reading a lot of books related to 1) Gardening 2) Composting etc. and most of them leave a lot to be desired in terms of the scope of information contained.

This particular book is detailed, while at the same time reading like a novel. It is full of excellent information about microbiology of soils. When you read a book on a particular subject, what you are really looking for is clarity and answers to your questions. This book provides all of that, and more.

Wonderful book. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in 1) Organic Gardening 2) Composting, or organic mulches or compost teas 3) Soil microbiology

Such a paradigm shift! I had started out learning about organic gardening, then began learning about Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture and recently found Teaming with Microbes. I will never think about gardening or the earth the same way again. Dandelions = a calcium deficiency in your lawn? I used to think they were just lawn weeds who's leaves could be purchased at health food stores for a high price as a foodie delicacy. Love. Love. Love this book. It teaches you, in a very easy to understand way, how the soil food web works and what you can do to naturally improve your soil and crops/plants for sustainable and efficient growth. Now that's a gardening book. Brilliant. 5 stars!

Book is a gift to a family members. Both husband and wife were delighted to receive the book. Based on their background and their new adventure into organic gardening, they were excited about receiving the book.

This book is a great source of information. I am not someone who reads much, but I could not put it down. I just finished my second read. If you want to start gardening the way nature intended. This is the book for you.

I have been reading a lot of books related to 1) Gardening 2) Composting etc. and most of them leave a lot to be desired in terms of the scope of information contained.

This particular book is detailed, while at the same time reading like a novel. It is full of excellent information about microbiology of soils. When you read a book on a particular subject, what you are really looking for is clarity and answers to your questions. This book provides all of that, and more.

Wonderful book. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in 1) Organic Gardening 2) Composting, or organic mulches or compost teas 3) Soil microbiology

Such a paradigm shift! I had started out learning about organic gardening, then began learning about Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture and recently found Teaming with Microbes. I will never think about gardening or the earth the same way again. Dandelions = a calcium deficiency in your lawn? I used to think they were just lawn weeds who's leaves could be purchased at health food stores for a high price as a foodie delicacy. Love. Love. Love this book. It teaches you, in a very easy to understand way, how the soil food web works and what you can do to naturally improve your soil and crops/plants for sustainable and efficient growth. Now that's a gardening book. Brilliant. 5 stars!

The book is divided into 2 parts, Part 1 entitled, "Basic Science," and Part 2, "Applying Soil Food Web Science to Yard and Garden Care." Both parts are of equal length (about 110 pages) and equal number of Chapters, 12. Part 1 is very informative and well written, while Part 2 is more conjecture than based on scientific justification. Chapter 22 in Part 2 is entitled, "Growing Annuals and Vegetables" and is just 10 pages long, probably the subject of most interest to the potential reader. I found the descriptive information given in Part 2 confusing and difficult to follow as the authors attempt to explain their "Soil Food Web Science" concept. The authors do not make clear to the reader that it is the plant rooted in a soil that is the primary source of "food" for microorganisms found in a soil being primarily confined to that area around the root known as the rhizosphere, with the soil mass being relatively sterile by comparison. For the gardener wanting to produce compost will take organic material from one part of the biological ecosystem, such as collecting grass clippings that will with time drain nutrient elements from the lawn grass and soil that will have to be replaced by liming and chemical fertilization, and then adding the generated compost to another part of the biological ecosystem. Composting is a reduction process, meaning that a portion of the original material will be lost in the composting process, and the final product will be of lesser weight or volume, and essentially free from microorganisms as the "food" in the original material will have been exhausted. Therefore, composting material taken from one portion of an ecosystem to be added to another, will drain the one and add that portion to the other, meaning that with time, both portion will slowly decline, while the other will be increasing in elemental content. The only substance "teaming with microbes" is in the decomposing materials initially collected with microbial activity slowly declining until all of the "food" sources in the composting materials are depleted.

The first part of the book is pretty good. But then it comes completely off the rails in the second part. The author admits that mycorrhizal fungus is new to him. Adding a chapter on the subject for this latest revision was insufficient. The facts about mycorrhizal fungus means his theories about plant succession and bacterial vs fungal soil is completely wrong. Some vegetables are very dependant on mycorrhizal fungus. He should have completely rewritten part two. Example link:[...]
I agree that people should not till in the spring just before planting. But tilling in the late fall and working in organic matter and then planting a mycorrhizal cover crop will renew the fungus and achieve superior results. Buy this book for the first part and then ignore the second part.

I was given two free plants from a local store that they were throwing out because the plants were not likely to survive. I had read this book about beneficial micorrihizal fungi which I had ordered and sprinkled some in the hole in the ground to contact the plants root ball. I also did this to all my garden transplants and plants I was starting from seed. Result: This is my best garden ever!

On advice of this very readable and interesting book I ordered a 5 gallon aerobic compost tea maker. (I will report on this Tea Lab Compost Tea Maker later). This book contains valuable recipes for fungi-dominated teas, bacterial-dominanted teas and balanced compost teas. It shows you how to increase the nutrient density of your garden for better health.

I enjoyed the book so much, I am reading it twice, this time with a high-lighter. I recommend this book to everyone interested in good health, longevity, and those wanting bigger, stronger, more nutrient dense and healthy garden produce. The Science behind this book works and is part of the equation to giant-sized garden produce!

I have since discovered Boogie Brew Compost Tea, also available on the store. Get this book and Boogie Brew Compost Tea Starter for the best Garden ever!

If only there were more books written like this one.

Jeff Lowenfels gets down to the atomic level, explaining what happens with plants, microbes, fungi and nematodes. He keeps things interesting. There's a lot that he covers. Something for everyone.

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Even the casual gardener needs to read this book!! It paints a clear and insightful picture of how a garden that is lush and bountiful, begins with the soil. Reading J Lowenfel's book beautifully illustrates why the natural organisms in the soil working in harmony, simply put, "do their thing" creating a nutrient-rich soil for a robust harvest. Before you read about the kinds of flowers, shrubs and veggies you want to grow in your garden, you need to read this book to get a scientific yet understandable message about the essentials in soil life and why it all begins there. Who knew that reading about the soil could keep you up at night and make you dream of digging in the dirt with such passion !!

Lewis and Lowenfels, demystify the impacts of the soil ecological matrices of the earth's crust. TWM is a must read for home gardeners, planters and land stewards the world over. Human civilization stands to benefit from a rudimentary understanding of the vitality of fellow earth dwellers. Simply without their complementary functionality, the human genome would never have been nor would it now stand a chance. You will soon gain an understanding how the hap hazard application of what most tenders of the land, consider to be harmless quick fixes, leads to incremental annihilation. fyi--There is a striking similarity to the, "bio-botanical neural network that Pandoran organisms are connected to", In the 2009 block buster, Avatar! Do you suppose the screen writers read a copy of the first edition?--Neil

Very great book if you want to learn more on how the soil web works and to use it to you advantage to produce organic veggies and fruits helps leave the bottle nutrients behind I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to expand on there knowledge of organics and the soil food web.

Compost tea, the most powerful tool a gardener can use. Thanks for pointing that out. This book is very well written and discusses soil biology in clear, simple language. It changed the way I thought about how my plants receive nutrition, and the relationship between them and other organisms. Good work!Compost Tea Making: For Organic Healthier Vegetables, Flowers, Orchards, Vineyards, Lawns

I stumbled across this book while doing research on compost tea. It explains, in layman's terms, exactly what should be going on in our soil. It also lays the foundation for transforming the way you think of soil. It explains why petro-chemical based, artificial fertilizers appear to give you results in the beginning, but ultimately lead down the slippery slope of ever increasing needs for more and more, expensive fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides. My business and web site have benefitted from reading this book. The instructor for my Master Composting class is "constantly amazed" and much of what I know came from this book.

I love this book. It took me 3 nights to get through it all. It really put all the pieces together in a very understandable way. I would recommend this to anyone interested in gardening. Now if only I can get my in-laws to stop rototilling.

Jeff Lowenfel's book debunks many of the traditional gardening methods and demonstrates that once again, Mother Nature (read beneficial microbes) really does know what she is doing. I wonder if more people utilized these methods which are far more sustainable and natural if the planet could become even more abundant and balanced. This is a wonderful book which brings forth a shifting paradigm for gardeners one and all - a must read.

For those of us who are growing vegetables because we want a healthier product than is available at reasonable prices, this book provides the scientific information and the practical instruction to make the effort successful. For those of us who are growing flowers and lawns for their beauty, but do not want to rely on chemicals, this book gives us the confidence to go organic. With the authors' guidance, the additional effort is minimal, and the payoff is substantial.

Lowenfels and Lewis wrote this book filled with technical, scientific knowledge in layman's terms in an easy to understand style. After reading this book, you will be on the winning sustainable organic team and your garden will love you for that, paying you back with a bountiful harvest of veggies and flowers. It has become the bible for the organic gardener and farmer whether he or she is a rookie or a veteran grower. You will never go back to chemical growing again. Better gardening with microbes.

I was so happy to see this book come out. Elaine Ingham's Compost Tea Brewing Manual is better for hard-core compost tea people, but it's a bit scientific and disorganized for the average home gardener. These guys brought the soil food web to the mainstream.

by far my favorite gardening book. I have bought multiple copies of this book and keep sharing it with anyone i know interested in organic gardening. I loved reading and constantly recommend it to everyone.

I consider myself a beginning gardener in terms of knowledge but experienced in terms of years invested in it. This book helped bridge the gap between my own experience and the science of gardening itself. It was incredibly helpful in terms of offering simple methods to enrich the soil and increase a garden's productivity. This is a book for anyone who wants to protect the dirt they love digging in.

Simply put, this book changed my life. I used to be a weekend gardner and now it is a daily joy. Jeff Lowenfels' knowledge and in depth look at the soil l and its biology takes gardening to new heights. It has made my garden so much stronger and my enjoyment enhanced. This should be a gardening primer for all of us amatures. Now I understand, "it's the soil stupid!"

Really a lay person's guide to a more scientific course taught by the soil scientist Dr. Elaine Ingrams. Jeff Lowenfels has done a great job of making the previously mentioned course more understandable to me. Very simple ideas are presented in way that could revolutionize gardening, and hopefully agriculture.

I love this book. It took me 3 nights to get through it all. It really put all the pieces together in a very understandable way. I would recommend this to anyone interested in gardening. Now if only I can get my in-laws to stop rototilling.

Jeff Lowenfel's book debunks many of the traditional gardening methods and demonstrates that once again, Mother Nature (read beneficial microbes) really does know what she is doing. I wonder if more people utilized these methods which are far more sustainable and natural if the planet could become even more abundant and balanced. This is a wonderful book which brings forth a shifting paradigm for gardeners one and all - a must read.

For those of us who are growing vegetables because we want a healthier product than is available at reasonable prices, this book provides the scientific information and the practical instruction to make the effort successful. For those of us who are growing flowers and lawns for their beauty, but do not want to rely on chemicals, this book gives us the confidence to go organic. With the authors' guidance, the additional effort is minimal, and the payoff is substantial.

Lowenfels and Lewis wrote this book filled with technical, scientific knowledge in layman's terms in an easy to understand style. After reading this book, you will be on the winning sustainable organic team and your garden will love you for that, paying you back with a bountiful harvest of veggies and flowers. It has become the bible for the organic gardener and farmer whether he or she is a rookie or a veteran grower. You will never go back to chemical growing again. Better gardening with microbes.

I was so happy to see this book come out. Elaine Ingham's Compost Tea Brewing Manual is better for hard-core compost tea people, but it's a bit scientific and disorganized for the average home gardener. These guys brought the soil food web to the mainstream.

by far my favorite gardening book. I have bought multiple copies of this book and keep sharing it with anyone i know interested in organic gardening. I loved reading and constantly recommend it to everyone.

I consider myself a beginning gardener in terms of knowledge but experienced in terms of years invested in it. This book helped bridge the gap between my own experience and the science of gardening itself. It was incredibly helpful in terms of offering simple methods to enrich the soil and increase a garden's productivity. This is a book for anyone who wants to protect the dirt they love digging in.

Simply put, this book changed my life. I used to be a weekend gardner and now it is a daily joy. Jeff Lowenfels' knowledge and in depth look at the soil l and its biology takes gardening to new heights. It has made my garden so much stronger and my enjoyment enhanced. This should be a gardening primer for all of us amatures. Now I understand, "it's the soil stupid!"

Really a lay person's guide to a more scientific course taught by the soil scientist Dr. Elaine Ingrams. Jeff Lowenfels has done a great job of making the previously mentioned course more understandable to me. Very simple ideas are presented in way that could revolutionize gardening, and hopefully agriculture.

I love books that open my eyes to stuff I never thought about and this book is that IN SPADES! I recommend it to every gardener I know and always get a "you were right" when they take my advice. Word of mouth will make this book part of the canon of gardening books.

Arrived with a torn cover, in 3 different spots, complete with staining on pages & bent corners... Nice.

Also should have read reviews first.... Anyone that is "new" to mycos should not be writing books about beneficials.

That book considers bacteria producing alkaline matter, it is not true, look at acidophilus kind they are what we eat in yogurt, totally acidic, I do not want to read that book anymore. Take look at another bacteria subtilis, they anaerobic bacteria, and they do not produce stinking disguise smells, there are many different kinds, and you can not tell they are all same, all of them different, book needs to be reviewed for readers like me, by adequate microbiologist.

How can someone with even the foggiest idea of the intricasies of the world around us be so blind as to attribute these miracles of design to mere chance? I am almost half way through this book and the tiny creatures which they describe can be nothing other than the work of a Master Designer, and yet the authors of this book give credit to evolution. Well, I've paid for it, so I'll continue to read it and see if I can glean something edible from amongst the weeds. Does anyone know of a good book on soil which has been written with "intelligent design" as its foundation?