Dig for Dirt is a soil citizen science project for growers and farmers in Cornwall and Devon to collectively find out more about the microbes under our feet. We're helping microbiology researcher Dr. Elze Hesse to make this project come to life.
Soil bacteria can help clean up the toxic pollution that is the legacy of mining in the South West UK, but very little is known about how this works.
If you grow crops or keep livestock at any scale, from a garden plot, allotment, smallholding, all the way up to a large farm, and you’re based in Cornwall or Devon, we’d love to hear from you.
The sign up form is at digfordirt.co.uk – if we pick your site you’ll be sent a soil sampling kit (it’s pretty straightforward and only needs a couple of tablespoons of soil), and once we’ve grown the bacteria and analysed the data you’ll have access to this. You’ll know what’s living in your soil, and how much they help alleviate pollution. We’re also working with Dr Tim Cockerill who’ll be taking a beautiful photo of your soil bacteria, and you’ll get a printed copy of this too.
Please spread the word far and wide 💚
The project is funded by Dr. Elze Hesse's UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.