Think of soil microbes as being teeny tiny critters....There are five different types of soil microbes: bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. Each of these microbe types has a different job to boost soil and plant health. Bacteria is the crucial workforce of soils.

As a way to help these microbes to do "good" things - they need something to eat that we consider healthy. A sort of cooperative effort.
 

Over time these colonies of "critters" become an increasingly important part of the soil giving it its unique qualities -

Recently in an ancient Irish church yard - it was discovered that soil there contains a previously unknown strain of bacteria which is effective against four of the top six superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics, including MRSA.

 

 This microbe "thing" has been on my mind whenever we travel. Once while visiting the Volcano National Park on the Big Island . .I wondered what microbes lived in those volcanic steam vents... You can guess the rest..

At our cabin in the woods within our solar energy factory, we have 14 raised beds where we enjoy gardening .

So, it was natural that I would reserve one of them for this microbe experiment.

An experiment of mixing soil samples in this one box to see, if, over time,  there is any changes in the plants grown there.

So far, we have soil samples marinating from:
 

Montjui, Barcelona, Spain thanks to Carlos Perel

Queens NYC  thanks to Carlos Perel

Acorn Hill stables, Whitefield   thanks to Steve Grady

Montevideo, Uruguay   thanks to Marcelo Sanchez

Steam vent Mauna loa Hawaii

Tsunami mud Hilo bay Hawaii

 Gheralta Mountains in Ethiopia Thanks to Howie & Karen Nielsen

Bank dirt from King Tut's tomb Valley of the Kings Egypt

Nile River mud Luxor Egypt

Dirt from the Great Sphinx of Giza Cairo Egypt

Dirt from between the stones of the giant pyramid of Giza in Cairo

 Sand is from Sossusvlei, Namibia Thanks to Howie & Karen Nielsen

Sand from the beach at Iwo Jima Thanks to Leo Gould

We want to add to this collection and would like soils from sites like :

Mt. katahdin and Mt. Washington above the tree line.

Monhegan, Islesboro, Matinicus, St Croix islands

Boston Commons

New York's Central Park

Mt Vernon

Montpelier

Quebec plains of Abraham

Halifax shore

Newfoundland

San Francisco Bay

the Alamo

Mt St Helens

New Orleans mud

Actually, any soil from places that has had little or LOTS of human activity over time, would be appreciated.
It is our belief that strength comes from diversity and that these merging microbe colonies will find their survival  and become better at what they do, through competition and cooperation
( I wonder how those Hawaiian microbes are coping with Maine's winter).

If you would like to have some  of this experimental mix or add to this collection for your gardening inside or out.... stop by and pick up a scoopful.