Online Grower's Workshop
February 17, 2024
Get Ready For This Years Growing Season
5 Successive Classes Will Cover
- Evaluating soil characteristics and measuring plant health
- Making mineral and biological amendments for low cost no cost, closing waste gaps
- Define ways of feeding plants, soil and the entire ecosystem
- How to influence plants during specific phases of development
- Compost, cover crops, mulches and weeds as garden tools
A simple soil-plant model will be introduced to describe plant soil interactions and terms for a common language for understanding
Presentations are broken into small bites with timely breaks for question and answers to facilitate discussion and learning accommodating the needs of the novice and experienced grower and giving unique perspectives and experience
All Classes are recorded and available for viewing at anytime. Reviewing content enables learning of concepts and ideas at your pace or if time zones don't match
Detailed Descriptions
Class 1 - Plant Soil Models and Soil Characteristics:
Plant roots live in a complex soil ecosystem. A simple model that explains the relationships between plant roots and soil is presented. Mineral needs, soil characteristics and biological interactions are discussed and summarized. These simple but profound concepts will be repeated throughout the program and used to explain plant health, amendment benefits and applications, cover crops, weeds, mulches and composting.
Making vinegar extractions will be demonstrated.
Class 2 - Assess and Improve Soil Minerals, Biology and Structure:
Healthy food comes from healthy plants which grows in healthy soil. Learn the details of sustainable soil regeneration. How to assess and improve available minerals using soil test results. How to assess and improve biological diversity. How to assess and improve soil infrastructure, biological housing, air penetration and water holding capacity.
Measuring plant health using a refractometer will be explained and demonstrated.
Class 3 - Mineral and Biological Amendment Tool Box:
Acquiring mineral and biological amendments sustainable is easy once sources are identified. Many are free, found locally and often close waste gaps. Making and using homemade mineral and biological amendments will be described. Laboratory analysis results of many mineral amendments will be reviewed that support their efficacy. Long term strategies for improving soil characteristics will be presented.
Making leaf mold biology will be demonstrated.
Class 4 - Plant Sap Circulation Models, Foliar Spray and Drench:
There are two plant sap circulation pathways, each offers a different way to feed plants. A model of plant sap flows will be introduced to explain how to efficiently and effectively feed plants throughout the growing season supplying plants with needed nutrition during each phase of development. Learn how to feed the entire ecosystem not just the plant. Foliar spraying, in conjunction with the analysis results of homemade amendments defines a short-term mineralization strategy.
Making fermented plant juices will be demonstrated.
Class 5 - Garden Tools: Compost, Cover Crops, Mulch and Weeds!
Compost, cover crops, mulches and weeds are the tools nature uses to nurture the soil, never leaving it bare. Each of these tools will be reviewed with pictures and videos showing sequences of incorporation throughout the growing season. These sequences, combined with the long and short-term strategies of classes 3 and 4, form the methods of sustainable, regenerative agriculture. Learn to use what you have locally to meet these goals.
There is always enough.
Logistics
This program will be held online via Zoom with five individual classes offered on five consecutive Saturdays, February 17th, 24th, March 2nd, 9th, 116th 2024. Each class will be three hours long (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern time in the USA, think New York City) There will be plenty of time to ask in depth questions about the material covered, discuss specific areas of interest, and share in general conversation
Join people from around the world and learn more about what is going on in your growing environment
Classes will be recorded and available upon request
There will be reading assignments from the book "The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments" Click here to order BOOK.