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The Generation Soil Revolution Blog
Composting, Food Forests And Regeneration
Explore articles, how-tos, and Bristol case studies. From real-world composting wins to soil-first growing, every post helps you turn food waste into living soil and grow more with less.
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Soil health and human health: what connects them?
There is growing evidence that the condition of our soils shapes food quality, microbial exposure, and long-term human resilience. At the same time, soil degradation and chronic health conditions are rising in parallel. This article explores how these patterns are connected through food systems and ecology, what the research supports, and why regeneration is about foundations rather than fixes.
Alex Montgomery
6 days ago5 min read
What People Learn by Composting Together
People often assume composting is something you understand first and then do. In reality, learning happens through shared practice. This post explores what people learn by composting together, from confidence and sensory awareness to systems understanding. It shows how participation creates lasting knowledge that doesn’t rely on rules or perfection.
Alex Montgomery
Jan 203 min read
Gardening Isn’t Radical. Disconnection Is
Gardening is often framed as a radical act. But for most of human history, growing food and caring for soil were simply part of everyday life. What’s unusual is not gardening itself, but how disconnected many of us now are from the systems that feed us. Gardening isn’t a protest. It’s a practical response to disconnection.
Alex Montgomery
Jan 124 min read
How Soil Saved My Health (and Why It Can Save Yours)
I didn’t come to soil through gardening. I came to soil because my health was unravelling. Fatigue, anxiety, digestive issues, brain fog. The kind of symptoms that don’t show up neatly on blood tests but quietly shrink your world. Like many people, I tried to fix myself through willpower, productivity hacks, and supplements. None of it stuck. What eventually changed everything wasn’t a pill or a protocol. It was soil. Soil health is closely linked to human health. Contact wit
Alex Montgomery
Dec 30, 20254 min read
Is Composting Food Waste Safe in the City?
Is composting food waste safe in the city? This guide explains how urban composting works, what makes compost safe, and how to compost responsibly in places like Bristol. Learn how to manage smells, pests, contamination, and when compost is ready to use, plus where to get practical support if you need help.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 24, 20254 min read
What to Do if Your Compost Attracts Pests in an Urban Garden
If your compost is attracting pests, it can feel worrying, especially in an urban garden. Pests are usually drawn to exposed food waste or unbalanced compost, not composting itself. This guide explains why pests appear, how to prevent them, and what to do if they’re already present, with practical advice for composting safely in urban gardens like Bristol.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 24, 20253 min read
Why Your Compost Isn’t Breaking Down and What to Do About It
If your compost isn’t breaking down, it can feel frustrating, especially when you’re trying to do the right thing. Slow composting doesn’t mean composting has failed. In this guide, we explain the most common reasons compost stalls, how to rebalance food waste and carbon materials, and what to do to get compost breaking down again in urban gardens like Bristol.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 24, 20253 min read
Compost smells bad? How to fix common composting problems in Bristol
If your compost smells bad, it’s usually a sign that something in the composting process needs adjusting, not that composting has failed. In this guide, we explain why compost smells in urban gardens, what different odours mean, and how to fix common composting problems in Bristol using simple, practical steps.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 24, 20253 min read
What the Bristol Living Compost Project Is Teaching Us About Letting Go of “Waste”
The Bristol Living Compost Project is challenging the idea that food waste is something to get rid of. By keeping nutrients local and turning food waste into living compost, the project shows how waste is a system outcome, not a material truth. This post explores how community composting in Bristol helps restore soil health, strengthen local food systems, and reconnect people with the cycles that sustain them.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 17, 20254 min read
Why Living Compost Starts With Listening, Not Fixing: Lessons From Bristol’s Soil
Living compost does not respond well to force. It responds to attention. In this post, we explore why the Bristol Living Compost Project focuses on listening before fixing, and what soil teaches us about patience, care, and regenerative practice. Drawing on lessons from composting in Bristol, the article shows how working with living systems leads to healthier soil, stronger communities, and more resilient local compost systems.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 17, 20254 min read
Where to Buy Compost and Join Workshops in Bristol
Looking for compost or gardening workshops in Bristol? Find locally made, microbe-rich living compost from Generation Soil and learn how to make your own through our hands-on composting and soil health workshops. Perfect for gardeners, educators, and community growers who want to regenerate soil, reduce waste, and grow healthier food, right here in Bristol.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20253 min read
Listening to Soil: How Bioacoustics Reveals the Hidden Life Underground
Soil isn’t silent — it’s alive with sound. The emerging science of soil bioacoustics allows us to hear the vibrations of worms, microbes, and fungi beneath our feet. At Generation Soil, we’re using this technology to explore how healthy soils “sing,” connecting composting, regeneration, and climate action in Bristol and beyond. Listen closer, the earth is speaking, and it’s full of life.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20254 min read
Cold-Weather Composting Tips for Urban Gardeners
Composting doesn’t stop when it’s cold; it just needs a little care. In this guide, Generation Soil shares simple, science-backed tips for keeping your compost active through winter. From insulating bins and managing moisture to using Bokashi indoors, discover how to turn your scraps into soil all year long.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20253 min read
How to Improve Urban Soil Health in Bristol
Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving city. In Bristol, many gardens and green spaces sit on compacted or depleted ground, but with the right care, we can bring them back to life. Learn how to regenerate urban soil using living compost, biochar, and mulch, and discover how the Bristol Living Compost Project is turning local food waste into fertile ground that feeds people, plants, and community. Join the movement to grow Bristol from the ground up.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20253 min read
How Generation Soil Turns Food Waste Into Living Compost
At Generation Soil CIC, we turn Bristol’s food waste into living soil through a three-stage composting process: fermentation, in-vessel composting, and maturation. Each step builds microbial life, reduces waste, and regenerates urban soils. Learn how bokashi microbes, controlled composting, and natural maturation create compost that feeds your garden and the planet.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20254 min read
The Future of Soil: How Communities Can Lead Climate Adaptation
The future of climate adaptation begins in the soil beneath our feet. Across the UK, communities are turning waste into resilience by regenerating living soil, cutting carbon, and rebuilding connection. From Bristol’s composting hubs to neighbourhood food forests, local action is proving that the path to climate adaptation doesn’t start with policy, it starts with community.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20253 min read
The Secret Life of Waste: Inside the Bristol Living Compost Project
Food waste isn’t waste, it’s life waiting to return. The Bristol Living Compost Project transforms kitchen scraps into living compost that feeds the soil and cuts carbon. Using an innovative three-stage process, Generation Soil is building a citywide circular system that reconnects people to the land beneath them, proving that regeneration begins right where waste ends.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20253 min read
Where Can I Get Support for School Gardening Projects in Bristol?
Want to start a school gardening project in Bristol? Generation Soil helps schools design, build, and sustain living learning gardens with compost, workshops, and curriculum-linked support. Join the Bristol Living Compost Project to connect students with soil, microbes, and nature, and grow the next generation of environmental leaders, one garden at a time.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20254 min read
The Green Ages: Rethinking Our Relationship With Nature
Our relationship with nature has shifted across the centuries from extraction to exploitation, and now to regeneration. The Green Ages explores how each era shaped our environment, and why building living soil may define the next.
Alex Montgomery
Dec 16, 20253 min read
From Sewer to Soil: How Victorian Waste Systems Still Shape Urban Sustainability
Our urban waste systems were designed in the 1800s to fight disease, not to regenerate life. Today, that 19th-century logic still shapes how we deal with food and waste. At Generation Soil, we’re helping Bristol build the next waste revolution: turning what we throw away into living soil again.
Alex Montgomery
Nov 3, 20254 min read
About Generation Soil CIC
Generation Soil is a Bristol-based non-profit turning food waste into living soil. Through the Bristol Living Compost Project, our workshops, and regenerative market gardens, we’re building a circular food system that keeps nutrients local and restores biodiversity across the city.
Every handful of compost we make begins as Bristol’s food scraps transformed through microbes, biochar, and community action. From households to schools and businesses, we help people connect with the soil beneath their feet and the food on their plates.
Explore More:
Bristol Living Compost Project
Together, we can turn Bristol’s food waste into fertile ground and grow a more resilient, regenerative future, one bucket at a time.
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