Does dinner start with what we buy from the grocer, the butcher, the wine shop, the cheesemonger, the farmer’s market, or the cookbooks we reference? By then, for most of us, the soil from which it all comes is way behind us and there is no thought in mind of it. I think it’s worth remembering that the soil's bugs, worms, and microfauna play a crucial role in the food journey from the ground to our dinner plates. Through the composting process, microfauna breaks down organic material into nutrient-rich soil. This soil then nourishes plants, which in turn become food for animals or directly for us. The intricate web of life in the soil transforms waste into sustenance, highlighting the interconnectedness of all living things and the vital role of these often-overlooked organisms in the food chain.
It’s planting time for me and that means unearthing the compost from the heap I started at the end of last summer that contains the fall cleanup of fallen leaves from my fruit trees, random pruning, eggshells and cartons, used paper napkins, and towels, and bi-weekly pots of kitchen scraps. I keep several progressive piles built in a long heap. It starts with the fresh refuse and the piles move down the line to the roughly broken down, to the more thoroughly digested, to hummus, ready to enrich my planting beds.
Starting in the Fall, it will be 6 months before I can draw the pile as hummus. I add ongoing additions of grass trimmings, straw, and kitchen scrap to the fresh pile and the rising spring and summer temperatures speed decomposition. I use the old ‘backslop’ method of bakers and sausage makers to inoculate the new batch with the older pile to get things going along with bugs and worms I only ever see in the middle of the dirt and soil bacteria and fungi that escapes my eye. I watch with utter amazement as the biological breakdown cycle unfolds. My neighbor wonders why I stare at or snap pictures of piles of dirt. I tell him there is a whole world underfoot. He thinks I’ve lost it.
By the time it is ready to import to my garden plots, the oldest pile has grown rich and dark and still. Still? While turning my piles, I got a close look at who and what has been doing all the work, the minute but mighty unsung heroes of the soil.
I turned the less than mature pile and the top layer heap was crawling with ants carrying what appeared to be white specks of larvae. Meanwhile, they scattered frantically to avoid my shovel. What were they all doing in there besides hatching a nest?
Ants are found on or under the surface and play a role in soil decomposition. They help break down organic matter and improve soil aeration through their tunneling activities. Aerobic bacteria, which break down organic matter, require oxygen to function properly, and ants can help ensure oxygen reaches deeper into the pile. Ants also help to increase the speed of the composting process by breaking down larger pieces of organic matter into smaller fragments and transporting nutrients to the microfauna that aid in decomposition.
Worms appear everywhere in the moist deeper layers of my more intermediate piles squiggling in and out of channels burrowed throughout. Most are common earthworms, and there are smaller ‘red wigglers, both prized for the ‘castings’ (basically worm shit) they leave behind. Castings are teeming with beneficial microbes that improve soil structure and become a powerful natural fertilizer. Earthworms are voracious eaters, capable of consuming large amounts of organic matter relative to their size. A single earthworm can consume its weight in organic matter every day, contributing to the breakdown and nutrient cycling in the soil. There are sow bugs, occasional beetles, tiny mites, and flying things buzzing around the surface like a mad circus.
What I turned into lines of onions, leeks, and garlic in the Fall are now flourishing due to last year’s addition of compost to my Fall beds.
Spring or ‘green’ garlic I am harvesting now is the same plant pulled from the ground before it forms a head when it resembles a leek with a stalk about 1-1/2 inch in diameter. Its flavor although unmistakably associated with the mature form, is much milder. Green garlic is a year-round staple of my garden that I plant in the fall and harvest through the spring and summer.
The flavor of green garlic is most clearly captured in a pureed soup made with new potatoes and finished with a little cream. Smoked ham enhances spring garlic’s earthy flavor and adds another note of color and depth.
For two: Melt a knob of butter in a pot. Slice 4-5 garlic plants, white parts only. Sweat with a little water. Add a few small peeled red potatoes and cover by 2 inches with additional water or a light-bodied chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until the potatoes are soft. Puree. Stir in a little cream, finely diced smoked ham and season with salt, black pepper, a dash of white wine vinegar and minced parsley. Serve hot in demi-tasse cups.