16/10/2026
This weekās New Forest Land and Nature Network session was with Tim Bowden (run by Pasture for Life) and was an introduction to soil, how it works and, importantly, how to start looking at what is actually happening beneath your feet.
A large part of the evening was spent outside, which worked really well. We dug holes in different areas and simply started looking - at soil colour and texture, ground cover, roots and the differences between one patch of ground and another.
One striking comparison was rooting depth. In a heavily used sacrifice area most roots were in roughly the top 40-50 mm, while in an area that had been rested since early spring they were reaching beyond 150 mm. A really clear example of how much we can learn just by looking below the surface.
We also had a useful introduction to soil chemistry, including Olsen P - the measure commonly used in UK soil tests for phosphate available to plants. Very simply, an index of 1 can mean there is not enough available phosphate for grass to perform well, while around 2 is generally a much better place to be for productive grassland. Interestingly, that correlated very closely with what I had already been seeing in the grass on those different areas.
It was a really clear, practical introduction and a good reminder of just how important it is to understand the soil before deciding what needs changing above ground.
Our next session on 20 November takes this a step further. Weāll spend the morning learning simple field tests for soil structure, ground cover, rooting, earthworms and water infiltration, and how to record them in Soilmentor so we can compare results and track changes over time.
The training is funded, so places are just Ā£10. In return, we ask participants to collect the same basic observations once a year and add them to Soilmentor.
20 November - Understanding Pasture Management for Soil Health - see New Forest Land and Nature Network FB page for link and details
