As a non-soil scientist who loves to explore and learn about soil, I was quite shocked to read last year that humus, as it’s commonly understood, does not exist in nature.

What, no humus? How can that be? What is it then that makes up the bulk of soil organic matter? This fascinating story unfolded for me through an excellent 4-part soils podcast (“Priming for Production”) produced by Natalie Lounsbury in November 2017. The podcast can be found on Natalie’s notillveggies.org website which was funded with a Northeast SARE grant. (Hey, Master Gardeners, these podcasts count for Master Gardener continuing education hours!)

At the beginning of Episode 3 of the podcast (What is soil organic matter, really?) Natalie states “Our understanding of soil organic matter is undergoing something of a revolution right now.” I was about to have my mind blown. Continue reading →