Orchard People

Learn why Canadian farmers are burying their briefs to find out if they have beneficial microbes in the soil! Our guests from the University of Guelph are Cameron Ogilvie, Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator and Kari Dunfield, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems.

Show Notes

Soil microbes play an essential role in releasing nutrients from the soil in a form that our fruit trees and other plants can access. So, if your soil doesn't have a healthy and diverse microbe population, your fruit trees will not thrive. The problem is that microbes are so tiny that we can't see them with the human eye.

How do we know if we have a good microbe population? According to the Soil Conservation Council of Canada all you have to do is bury a pair of 100% cotton underwear in the topsoil of your garden. Leave your undies in the ground for a couple of months. Then, when you dig them up see what they look like. If your soil microbes have been busy digesting and recycling organic matter, then all that will be left is the elastic waist band. 

To learn more about this process, I've invited two experts from the University of Guelph to talk about the "Bury Your Briefs Campaign" and about the role soil microbes play in keeping our fruit trees and other plants healthy. They are Cameron Ogilvie, Knowledge Mobilization Coordinator and Kari Dunfield, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology of Agro-ecosystems.  This month's contest prize: a U of G baseball cap and trowel.

Learn to grow organic fruit trees successfully. Sign up for OrchardPeople.com's premium online courses at https://learn.orchardpeople.com/. 

What is Orchard People?

Learn how to grow and care for fruit trees with fruit tree care educator Susan Poizner of OrchardPeople.com. Discover how to create permaculture plantings, food forests, and forest gardens in both urban and rural settings. Meet experts on all aspects of comprehensive fruit tree care, including pruning, pest and disease prevention, fruit tree grafting and budding, and soil management.

Show host Susan Poizner, creator of the fruit tree education website OrchardPeople.com, is an award-winning author of three fruit tree care books and an ISA Certified Arborist. This podcast is the winner of the 2021 GardenComm Silver Award of Achievement for Broadcast Media: Radio Program Overall. Learn more and access archived episodes at https://podcast.orchardpeople.com/.

Learn more about Susan's books and courses at https://learn.orchardpeople.com/books.