By Kirstee Schutte, Nebraska Extension Master Gardener
Soil is a mixture of mineral and organic material that makes up a complex ecosystem capable of supporting plant life. There is a web of life that exists beneath your feet. Plant roots interact with bacteria and fungi of which are food for larger microbes like nematodes and protozoa who are in turn eaten by arthropods. And the arthropods? They are eaten by snakes, birds, moles and other animals. All together they make up the soil food web. You can support the life in your soil by not applying synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, leaving leaves in the fall, and (so long as there is no disease or virus pathogens) leaving the roots of annuals to break down over winter months.