Ever wondered what someone who runs a couple of soil related businesses including a laboratory and works for a tree consultancy does on a daily basis?

Look no further.

You donut! What are you wearing? Loaded with my mobile sample kit, I hit the road on my bike

 

 

The day starts, rather unusually, with a short ride on my trusty MTB – we’re off to the woods I tell you, to see what the teddy bears are having for their picnic!

 

 

 

 

 

I have everything that I need in my trusty backpack to collect a good sample of woodland soil.
I have all the kit I need to collect a sample of woodland soil in difficult-to-get-to places.

 

 

 

Well, actually we going to collect a woodland and hopefully fungi rich soil sample for some training that I’m doing with Soilbiolab next week.  It’s cold…too cold really for this type of soil biology sampling (soil at the time was 5.2 Degrees C).

We shall have to do some magic in the lab to bring this soil fully out of dormancy!

 

All samples are prepared before then being put under high quality optics to assess the microbial concentrations.
All samples are prepared before then being put under high quality optics to assess the microbial concentrations.

 

 

 

Next, a quick stop at home to rinse off the mud* then I carry on the cycle to the lab in Andover, Hants. Look here: I am now dropping the sample off. This will now have a number of different extractions applied.  Processing will be carried out over the next few days so that we can look at microbes such as bacteria and protozoa under a microscope in the workshop next week.

*  I actually mean soil 🙂

 

 

 

 

This is where the bulk of my time is usually spent - which makes it some much more enjoyable when I get to go out and meet clients, or visit farms of clubs!
This is where the bulk of my time is usually spent – which makes it some much more enjoyable when I get to go out and meet clients, or visit farms of clubs!

 

 

Most importantly, coffee is up next. But there’s no time to stop, it’s straight on to laptop work, emails and telephone for the next few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that my prized payload of soil has had a chance to warm up a bit and burst in to action, time to have a quick sneaky check and make sure that it contains what we need it too (before lunch).

And now zoomed in at 400 x magnification
And now zoomed in at 400 x magnification
And here at 200 x magnification
And here at 200 x magnification
This is what we are typically looking at to measure - fungi, here shown at 100x magnification
This is what we are typically looking at to measure – fungi, here shown at 100x magnification

 

 

 

And there’s the money shot…a beautiful bit of fungal hyphae filling the width of the objective!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes inspiration doesn't come so easily!
Sometimes inspiration doesn’t come so easily!

 

After lunch, we’re back on it. Briefly. Telephone calls, quoting and emails are soon consumed by a general lack of interest and taken over by an attempt at some creative writing. For the next hour or so I try hard to finish off an article that I agreed to write for a soil related website about four months ago – an informative and hopefully inspiring piece for youngsters, if not slightly frustrated due to a heavily suppressed level of wit that I would really like to include!

 

 

We use a couple of different types of microscopes to train people in carrying out their own basic microbial analysis.
We use a couple of different types of microscopes to train people in carrying out their own basic microbial analysis.

 

 

 

 

Onwards and upwards – there’s a Ball and cinderella must have her microscopes ready for the workshop next week! So, the final part of the day consists of me turning in to a technician and building up mechanical stages for five microscopes, to be tested and then re-boxed before we load everything at the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just time for a couple of quick product photographs to edit and get prepare the text for adding to the web shop. This time, it’s for a new product- another awesome, low pH humic acid product to help condition soil and feed them microbes….

Time to hop back on board the hot wheels and pedal home, ready to do it all again tomorrow :)
Time to hop back on board the two wheeled steam train and hot-foot it back home – ready to do it all again tomorrow.

 

That’s it. I’m calling it a day. I decide to leave the carnage until tomorrow when I’ll probably do something completely different.

I hope you enjoyed this little incite in to my world.  If you did, please share it with others by clicking the button below.

 

Simon

 

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