Why Revive Soils Exists
I have lived most of my life in Quesnel. I know this land, this community, and the people who grow things here.
My journey into soil health began in 2007, sparked by a curiosity about food quality that kept leading me back to the same place, the ground beneath our feet. I came to understand that the health of our food, our animals, and our own bodies are all deeply connected to the state of the soil they come from. That realization changed the direction of everything.
But it also raised harder questions. Why are some soils extraordinarily productive while others struggle to grow anything but weeds? How do forests produce massive amounts of biomass year after year with zero external inputs, while we — with all our technology and knowledge — still rely on costly inputs just to grow decent food? What do they know that we have forgotten?
Those questions sent me deep.
The Problem I Kept Running Into
Before Revive Soils, I ran an organic gardening company here in Quesnel. Clients would come to me with gardens struggling with tired soil, poor yields, and persistent problems. I would explain that what they really needed was biologically complete compost. Not just any compost. The kind that carries a full, living soil food web capable of inoculating degraded ground and restoring its natural function.
They would ask where to get it.
And I would have to tell them I had no idea, because nobody was producing it here.
I had that conversation over and over again. Eventually I put that company to rest, but the problem stayed with me. So I spent the years that followed learning and practicing how to actually produce it. I studied Dr. Elaine Ingham's Soil Food Web methods, completed formal training as an accredited Soil Food Web Consultant, and established an accredited lab right here in Quesnel.
I gave a presentation at Seedy Saturday earlier this year and at one point someone asked where they could source biologically complete compost locally. I had to laugh, because the answer was no longer the same as it had always been. This time, I was the answer.
I am not telling that story to be clever. I am telling it because it is the honest reason Revive Soils exists. This community needed something that did not exist here. I went and built it.
What I Actually Do
Revive Soils is a regenerative soil biology business based in Quesnel, BC. I produce small-batch, biologically active compost, worm castings, and liquid compost extract, and I apply them through lawn treatment programs and on-site applications designed to restore living soil function to gardens, lawns, and landscapes.
I also run an accredited microscopy lab where I assess the biological health of soil, compost, and other inputs, giving growers and property owners a clear picture of what is actually happening underground so they can make decisions based on evidence rather than guesswork.
Everything I produce and apply is 100% natural. No synthetics, no chemicals, no shortcuts. Just biology. The same biology that has been building fertile soil for millions of years without any help from us.
The Bigger Picture
The long-term goal is straightforward: empower growers and land stewards in this region to produce their own high-quality biological amendments on-site, reduce dependency on external inputs, and restore genuine soil health from the ground up.
A community that knows how to feed its soil is a community that can feed itself. That is what this is about.
— Jesse Matthies, Founder