Nick Padwick hunches over a microscope, examining a sample of compost he has made on his Norfolk farm. “Look at that bad boy! That’s a bacteria-feeding nematode!” he exclaims. “Stunning fungal hyphae.”
Padwick, the farm manager at Wild Ken Hill since 2018, is part of a growing movement of farmers taking a deep interest in the microscopic life forms upon which their livelihoods depend. Under this approach to regenerative farming, nurturing diverse soil communities – from bacteria and fungi to microscopic animals and worms – is seen as an essential prerequisite for growing healthy foods with minimal or no use of agrochemicals or soil-damaging machinery.
