Sun and Bloom Farms

A Closer Look: What Soil Management Can Look Like Below Ground

Earlier this week, we shared a longer field video from a large-acreage project we are working on, where Lucian walked through part of our soil assessment and the beginning of the transition toward management.

This 60-second clip comes directly from that larger video, and we wanted to pull out one moment that is worth seeing on its own.
These are two soil samples from the same property.

One came from a less-disturbed area where grasses and a diversity of plants had been allowed to grow. Under the microscope, we saw considerable biological activity — bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and movement throughout the sample.

What we are seeing is part of the living soil food web at work. These organisms participate in decomposition and nutrient cycling, helping transform nutrients into forms that can become available for plant growth. Plants then capture sunlight, build biomass, feed organisms through their roots, shed leaves and roots, and continue feeding the system.

Life supports life, and nutrients continue cycling.

The second sample came from an area with a history of conventional management, including tillage, herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertility.

Under the same magnification, we observed dramatically less visible biological activity in the fields of view we examined.

It is only a small window into two soils, but it illustrates an important principle: How we manage land helps shape the biological conditions below ground (and as we will discuss in a future post, the life above it too, including human life).

And that leads to the question that matters most in regenerative agriculture: How do we create conditions in which soil biology, nutrient cycling, plants, and the larger ecosystem can thrive?

That is the larger conversation behind the project.

Learn the . Read what it is telling you. Then design the conditions for .

Two Soils. Same Farm. Very Different Worlds. Which Future Are We Cultivating?

An Educational Reflection from Lucian:

I recently spent the day on a client’s large acreage property as part of Step 5 of our regenerative design process — the in-person landscape assessment. As part of that work, I brought my mobile soil-testing kit and collected soil samples from different areas of the property. I tested those samples, and then we looked together with the farmer at what they were telling us about the condition of the land. Later, at the farmer’s house, we put the samples under the microscope.

The two samples told very different stories.

Sample 1
One sample came from a less-disturbed area where grasses and a diversity of other plants had been allowed to grow. Under the microscope, there was visible life and movement - bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, and an active biological community.

What we were seeing was soil biology at work. These organisms are part of the nutrient cycle: decomposing organic matter, feeding on one another, cycling nutrients, and helping release nutrients into forms that plants can use for new growth. Plants then capture sunlight, grow new biomass, release compounds through their roots, shed leaves and roots, and help feed the soil community again.

This is one of the natural patterns we learn from and work to replicate in regenerative farming: life supporting life, with nutrients continually cycling through the system.

Sample 2
The sample from the conventionally managed field told a very different story. We saw dramatically less visible biological activity - very little in the fields of view we examined (same zooms as the other sample). Same property. Same climate. But very different management histories - and very different conditions below ground.

That is where the real conversation begins. The purpose isn’t to condemn farmers or simply point at a problem. The question is: "What created these conditions — and how do we create the conditions for life to return?"

Sometimes the answer may include allowing ecological recovery to happen naturally through rest, plant diversity, succession, and reduced disturbance. In other situations, we can participate intentionally and help accelerate that process by managing and farming land in ways that more closely follow the patterns through which living systems build soil.

That is regenerative soil management. We first learn to observe and read the soil. We test what is actually happening. We consider the land, climate, water, plants, management history, and the people caring for the property. Then we design fertility and management systems that fit that particular context.

If you’d like to go deeper, I’ve created several ways to support people who want to learn this work or apply it to their own land - from our Regenerative Soil & Fertility Systems book and Master Soil Course to multiple free educational resources and regenerative land and soil design and consulting offerings.

You can explore those resources and services through our new website. I’ll also place the links in the first comment.

Looking forward to feedback and a conversation on this video and text if you are interested!
Learn the soil. Read what it is telling you. Then design the conditions for life.