Soils

S_Composting

Composting made easy.
  • compost-bin-harvestWhy compost?
  • What is compost?
  • The role of compost in an organic garden
  • The life in compost
  • What goes in, what stays out - ingredients
  • Building, maintaining, harvesting, using and storing your perfect compost
  • Troubleshooting common problems (vermin, odours etc) & easy remedies
  • Selecting and preparing the site
  • Selecting & preparing the materials incl compost starters
  • Build a small compost heap to manage kitchen scraps and provide soil for your garden
  • Large compost systems
  • Fungal vs bacterial dominated
  • Importance of feeding microbes
  • Bokashi systems

food-scraps mollases-watering-can handscompost
 

S_GardenSoils


Everything starts with the soil.



  • handscompostUnderstanding soil and its relationship with plants; importance of humus
  • Soil testing
  • Getting your soil ready to grow food
  • Ways to improve soil
  • How to care for your soil to keep it healthy in the first year
  • Strategies for healthy soil; compost, worm castings, green manure cropping, mulching
  • pH testing
  • Looking at compost and worm castings
 

S_NoDigGardening

EL-No-dig




The best way of creating soil.

  • What is a no dig garden and why to build one
  • The origins
  • How to build one
  • No Dig recipe - to scale
  • The benefits and outcomes
  • Where to build a no-dig garden
  • Different ways of creating no-dig gardens
  • How to plant in the garden
  • Ongoing maintenance
  • Installing a worm farm in a no-dig garden

newspaper shoveling_manure-1 wheelbarrow
 
S_SoilImprovement



Soil improvement strategies.


  • green-manure2Why we need to continually improve our soil and how to do it
  • Organic inputs
  • Building Humus
  • Changing pH balance
  • Increasing moisture holding capacity
  • Mineral Balance
  • Green Manure Crops
  • The benefits of compost, worm farms and mulching
  • What is Crop Rotation?
  • Plant out a green manure crop
  • Looking at different soil improvers - touch and smell

pH_chart_best minerals Crop-rotation
 
S_SoilLife


The secret life of soils.


  • soil-lifeWhy is soil life so important for your garden
  • Microbes, bacteria, fungi, worms and insects
  • Soil life cycles
  • Billions of garden helpers
  • The under-ground factory
  • How to improve soils life and why

 
 
S_WormFarms

An army of workers for your garden.


  • rosie-and-wormsWhy have a worm farm?
  • Worms role in soil
  • What type of worms?
  • Where to buy worms
  • What worms need to thrive
  • What type of worm farm best suits you? (can-o-worms, worm cafe, bathtub, polysterne box, worm tower)
  • Selecting the best site for your farm
  • Setting up a worm farm
  • Feeding, watering and caring for your worm farm
  • Troubleshooting common problems
  • Harvesting and using worm castings in your garden

worm-chute worm-farm-3 Worm-farm-pic
 


Note: Depending on the level of garden party being delivered (Appetiser or Main Course) the above descriptions may vary.