Welcome to the Becker Elementary School Garden, where every student has their own special space to grow delicious vegetables, herbs, and edible plants for themselves and their families!
With the help of microBIOMETER®’s cutting-edge technology, students are exploring the amazing world of living soil and its secret inhabitants – microorganisms!
These tiny superheroes work together to create a thriving ecosystem, breaking down nutrients and making them available to plants. In the Becker Green Classroom, students are diving deeper into microbiology with miniature microscopes, examining soil, pond water, and compost up close to discover the diverse community of microorganisms living beneath our feet.
“With microBIOMETER®, we can easily test and analyze our garden soils. By making soil science fun and accessible, we’re empowering our students to become the next generation of environmental stewards, conscious of the microscopic world that shapes our planet’s health. Join us on this exciting journey, as we cultivate a love for learning, sustainability, and the incredible world of soil microbiology!”
Amy Gardner of Kalispell, Montana serves farmers in the Flathead Valley as an agronomy coach through her business, Lower Valley Consulting Inc.
Amy has been scouting soil health trials as part of gathering third-party research for the company AgriGro. Farmers have been applying AgriGro’s prebiotic technology to boost soil health and in turn grow more productive and nutrient-rich crops. Amy uses microBIOMETER® to help compare soil microbiology in the control strips and where the prebiotics have been applied. Other data points collected for the trials have included plant counts, soil moisture, tissue tests, soil tests, vegetative cover percentages, GreenSeeker readings, and root, plant mass and health observations. So far 14 soil health trials have been performed in Montana and Idaho. More trials are scheduled for the Summer of 2023.
Amy Gardner was born and raised in Kalispell, MT. She has her BSc in Agricultural Education from Montana State University. Amy is a Certified Crop Advisor, as well as a Precision Ag Specialist, through the American Society of Agronomy. She is passionate about helping growers build healthy soils to produce high yielding and nutrient-rich crops through precision management. Her and her husband enjoy the Montana outdoors with their 5 boys.
