Join a global community of Soil Regenerators carrying forward Dr. Elaine Ingham's life's work – learning, restoring, and demonstrating the power of the soil food web on every continent.
For over four decades, Dr. Elaine Ingham showed the world what farmers and foresters have always sensed: soil is not dirt. It is a living web of bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, and microarthropods that feeds plants, stores carbon, holds water, and sustains every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth.
The Soil Food Web Foundation was created to carry that work forward. We teach the science through the Soil Food Web School, pursue and share new knowledge, incubate regenerative practice in ecoregions around the world, and build the community that makes it all last.
Put your soil under the microscope. Identify which organisms are present, which are missing, and what that means for your plants — so every decision starts with what’s actually alive in your soil.
Grow the beneficial organisms your soil needs by making BioComplete™ compost — not just organic matter, but a living culture, built deliberately.
A small amount of biologically rich compost goes a long way. Compost extracts and teas multiply that life and carry it across whole fields and gardens — to the soil and to the plants themselves.
Keep observing as the life rebuilds structure, cycles nutrients, and protects your plants — and adjust your practices so the benefits compound, season after season.
Where it all began
Build your living soil foundational knowledge as we take you through the 4 foundational courses: Foundation Course 1: Introduction to the Soil Food Web Foundation Course 2: BioComplete™ Compost Foundation Course 3: BioComplete™ Liquid Amendments Foundation Course 4: Microscopy
From Curious to Consultant
Begin with all four of the foundation courses to gain the foundational knowledge needed to understand the role and importance of the soil food web, as well as why microscopy is the best analysis method when the goal is efficient identification and population counts for the main beneficial soil microbes in the soil food web. Then move on to gaining practical hands-on skills in all four of our Advanced programs.
Hone your skills
Seeing is believing, and when it comes to the regeneration of living soil, a microscope is your most powerful ally: Become a Soil Food Web Lab Tech, See what your soil really needs before spending time and money to improve it, Measure the real impact of your efforts near instantly, No more sending samples across the country for assessment | Complete on-site assessments yourself
Hone your skills
Learn to produce biologically complete compost that restores soil life, suppresses disease, and transforms what’s possible on your land. Discover how to redirect organic waste into a biologically rich amendment, grow the right microbes to support healthy soil and plants while minimizing the risk of human pathogens and weed seeds, and replace expensive, harmful chemical inputs with the power of biology and organic matter.
12 weeks | 2 piles of BioComplete Compost
The Compost Intensive Course is a hands-on, 10-week online training designed to guide you through the process from beginning to end alongside a global cohort of peers. There are NO prerequisites! And it counts toward your consultant pathway*
Hone your skills
Build on your Soil Food Web Microscopy and BioComplete™ Compost Production skills by learning to purposefully breed, multiply, and extract key microbes for various real world field application needs
Hone your skills
You've learned to see life in a microscope slide. You've built biologically complete compost from the ground up. You've brewed and applied biological liquid amendments. You understand, at a cellular level, what healthy soil looks like and why it matters. Now it's time to prove it in the field.
In person
Build BioComplete™ Compost, create biological liquid amendments, and practice microscopy alongside Dr. Elaine's team of experienced mentors and an international community.
Restore Ecosystems
Developed in Partnership with Ecosystem Restoration Communities Joining this course connects you with the Ecosystem Restoration Communities (ERC) – a vibrant network of individuals and groups dedicated to restoring ecosystems worldwide.
Design systems
Whole-system design: water, plants, structures, community, rooted in living soil.
Mini Course
A 10-lesson mini course into the world of Living Soil and all the ways it can help regenerate the world's living systems. Walk away with a broad view of just how impactful this work can be when applied consistently by educated land stewards and practitioners.
Financial barriers shouldn’t keep anyone from caring for the Earth. Scholarships and payment options are growing.
The life in the soil
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Kathleen Groppe
Wes Sander
Mycelial bodies serve as the neural networks of the forest, connecting the trees and plants through an underground network made of millions of hyphal strands. This network freely exchanges nutrients and information across the forest ecosystem, and is responsible for transforming dead organic matter into new life.
Whether you are in a farm, a garden, a lab, or a classroom, we invite you to join our global community, and contribute to restoring and protecting the living soil beneath our feet.
