Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
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Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
S5 - E21: Regenerating Worn Out Soils with Dr. Ashley Jernigan of Virginia Tech, Pt. I
4 The Soil: A Conversation
18 minutes
3 weeks ago
S5 - E21: Regenerating Worn Out Soils with Dr. Ashley Jernigan of Virginia Tech, Pt. I
How do you regenerate and bring back life to worn-out soils? Does your garden soil just fall apart in your hands? Dr. Ashley Jernigan, assistant professor and director of Virginia Tech's Sustainable and Organic Vegetable Crops Production Lab, in visiting with Jeff and Mary, advises doing your own test in your garden or crop field with a shovel.
As someone who enjoyed digging soil pits as a seven-year-old, Ashley recommends sampling to a six-inch depth to get a sense of your soil's tilth and aggregate stability. If the soil does not have a good, varied crumbly structure, the soil's organic matter content and aggregate stability may be low. Therefore, feed your soil and soil animals to feed your plants to start the biological journey and bring back the life in the soil.
If you have ever wondered what soil animals like springtails and soil mites look like, Dr. Jernigan developed a Soil Mesofauna: Who are They? resource guide to help. Ashley also highly recommends Andy Murray's Chaos of Delight: Exploring Life in the Soil website for wonderful photos and videos.
As always, we encourage you to cooperate with other farmers, graziers, and gardeners for peer-to-peer learning and to follow the four core soil health principles:
1) Keep the soil covered -- Cover crops are our friends and allies; 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Practice no-till or gentle tillage in your field or garden as much as possible; 3) Maximize living roots year-round -- to improve biodiversity, soil structure, and life in the soil; and 4) Energize with diversity -- through crop rotation, farm enterprises, and/or livestock integration.
More details about the Virginia Farm-to-Table Feast and Harvest Celebration scheduled for Saturday, October 25, 2025, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at On Sunny Slope Farm in Rockingham, Virginia, can be found at https://virginiafarmtotable.org/2025vaf2tharvestcelebration/
4 the Soil: A Conversation is made possible with funding support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Agua Fund. Other partners include the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Virginia Cooperative Extension; Virginia State University; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation; and partners of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition.
Disclaimer: Views expressed on this podcast are those of each individual guest.
To download a copy of this, or any other show, visit the website
4 The Soil: A Conversation
Soil. What is it, really? It’s more than the dirt under our feet and the ground we stand on.
Soil is living and life-giving.
Listen as we unlock the mysteries of soil by speaking with people at the forefront of the soil health movement.
“4 The Soil: A Conversation” is part of the 4 The Soil Awareness Campaign led by Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition. The campaign’s purpose is to raise awareness of soil as an agricultural and natural resource critical to social, economic, and environmental health.
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil.
The podcast is a collaboration of Virginia Tech's School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, On The Farm Radio, USDA-NRCS, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition with specific funding from the Agua Fund, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and Virginia Tech’s Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education’s Community Viability grant program.
Stay tuned for the release of our first episode in October!
