BECOME THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW WHEN IT COMES TO SOIL, COMPOST, AND COMPOST TEA...
At the end of August Rob & Michelle Avis (Verge Permaculture -www.vergepermaculture.ca) are hosting international soil expert, Doug Weatherbee (The Soil Doctor) for a four day Advanced Soil & Compost-Making Course in Calgary. Considered one of the leading experts in the world, Doug lives in Mexico and travels extensively to teach - however, this the only Canadian course he will offer west of Halifax this year.
The course is designed for gardeners, horticulturalists, farmers (large & small), landscape architects, soil restorationists, permaculture designers and CSA operators alike, and will provide an in-depth look at:
- the basics of microbiology - the “tiny” biology that is so important to bringing life and health to the soil;
- how to improve organic growing and land management techniques, reduce the requirement for weeding and ecologically favor the plants that you want to grow.
- the secrets of making best-quality compost customized for its end use (i..e compost for gardens, compost for grasslands and compost for food forests and orchards);
- all about composting with worms;
- how to combat soil disturbances, soil compaction, plant diseases and pathogens; and
how to turn a small quantity of compost into a large quantity of quality compost tea & compost extracts, and designs and recipes for your very own compost tea brewer.
Rob & Michelle are stoked about bringing Doug to Calgary as this is an excellent and unique opportunity to learn about how to manage and restore the most important and complex ecosystem on the planet (soil, of course), from one of the leading experts in an interactive format, right here in Alberta.
For more information, there is a very detailed (and somewhat humorous) explanation of the course and the course content on their website.
How we are trying to make this event "green":
Obviously, there are ‘big picture’ societal and ecological reasons to care about the quality of our soil...
■ Last year, the world lost 83 million tons of topsoil. One third of the world’s topsoil has been depleted within the past century.
■ The world's soils hold around three times as much carbon as the atmosphere and over four times as much carbon as the vegetation. Soil represents the largest carbon sink in in our world over which we have control.
■ Industrialized and pesticide-based farming methods have depleted the health of the world’s soil, polluted ground water and contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.
■ Life on our planet depends on the health and vitality of a seemingly simple and often overlooked natural element - soil.
■ By stewarding soil, even in our own backyards, we can have an enormous positive impact on our health, our communities and our planet!
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