What is the soil food web?

This week, I started writing a column on massaging a water extract out of compost. Halfway through, I realized you might wonder why I'd bother with all that.

It's been an odyssey for me to realize that compost is multifariously alive. As such, I may never have experienced it fully. I've made compost that did the job for years, but I didn't know why or aspire to better.

The complexity of interactions that comprise a good compost can't be knocked together at a dumpsite. It has to be cultivated from diverse materials that mature in ideal conditions; anything else and you'll have a one-trick pony...