A Winogradsky column is a microbial “garden” or “city”
that grants you a window through which to witness the birth and growth of a microcosm of earth’s microbial community.
You can make your own microbe city a jar
with a few simple ingredients. One way to make a Winogradsky column, is to collect some sediment from the bottom of a lake or river or some soil from a leaf-littered forest, park or your own backyard.
Autumn is one of the best times to make your column. There is a more diverse microbial population feeding on the organic litter that blankets the soil and infuses the sediment.
This Autumn season
organic litter comes from freshly fallen leaves, fine roots and coarse woody materials. This plant detritus represents a major input of carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients into soil systems and is
Beneath our feet, between and below the leaf-littered soil,
trillions of diverse microbes are streaming about. Eating organic nutrients. Did you know that they depend on one another for survival?
The Winogradsky column creates an artificial replicate of what goes on in different levels of the soil, showing clearly how these diverse communities are stratified. These layers of different bacterial communities are separated by their access to oxygen.
These Microbe
communities depend on one another in their microcosm. Just like we do, especially now, during these COVID times. The Microbe Spirit Guides in these columns show you, by their nature, how to live harmoniously.
Take this rich and abundant opportunity
to create your own Microbe City in a Jar. There is more on the recipe for making your own Microbe City, by going to the video on my Microbe Whisperer Youtube Channel.
Have some healthy fun on your crisp autumn strolls, collect some leaves, collect some soil, (or sediment) and create your own Microbe City in a Jar!
With Joy, Microbe Whisperer.
JeM YinJoy, Ph.D.