Soil A weekend workshop on Soil Life, Compost, Organic Matter and Natural Fertilisers

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Join us here at Asthall Manor Kitchen Garden, for a two-day voyage, journeying deep into the living soil beneath our feet, investigating all that lives there and the composts that best feed it for our food-growing needs.
A good understanding of soil health and composts are the foundation to achieving the growing of healthy, nutritious (aka tasty) food. Healthy soil, means healthy plants, means healthy people.
In this immersive two-day workshop you will study the basics of soil science and the life that supports it. Bringing a sample of your own garden soil (optional), you will learn how to identify its type, characteristics and needs. You will also learn the basics of different composting systems and other sources of healthy organic matter, alongside a bit of helpful theory.
You will also carry out some fun, practical work to apply your learning and to help keep our living soils happy, here in the kitchen garden.
On rare occasions our plants need a little helping hand, so you will also learn how to make effective and wildlife-friendly plant-based fertilisers, for free!
“Feed the soil, not the plant” has gone from being a maxim of Organic food growing to a keystone of all progressive agricultural practice. We now know that soil biology is far healthier and more sustainable than synthetic soil chemistry. And with the rising social, environmental and economic costs of fertilisers and pesticides, we need to befriend soil life more than ever. Feeding the soil begins with good soil management and making great compost! It’s also a great way to make best use of your organic waste materials, recycling valuable nutrients while absorbing carbon and minimising our impact on council waste systems and the environment alike.
The web of soil biology extends from deep in the ground, through your composting systems and into the air, sustaining many creatures who not only keep pests in check but maintain a healthy, balanced soil ecology in a way that no synthetic pesticide or fertiliser could ever match. Good soil management is also a great way to absorb carbon and increase biodiversity.
Did you know that a quarter of all life on Earth is in the soil?!
We’re all part of the soil community and if we think we’re not, then we’re probably a pest.
Complete beginners through to keen amateurs all welcome.
Places are limited to 10 in order to maintain a quality experience for those attending the workshop.

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Venue

Asthall Manor
Asthall
Burford
OX18 4HW

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Dates

The event runs from 10:00 to 16:00 on the following dates.
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