From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>
To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>, Market Farming <marketfarming@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [permaculture] Fwd: Life in the soil
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:56:21 -0400
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Life in the soil
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:04:29 -0500
From: Rodale Institute <info@rodaleinst.org>
To: lflj@bellsouth.net
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We are pleased to present the first in a series of courses that will
help improve your knowledge and skills needed to understand what healthy
soil is all about.
*Life in the Soil
**A three day workshop with Dr. Elaine Ingham*
October 7 to October 9, 2011
9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Dr. Elaine Ingham is a world-renowned soil biologist who joined the
Rodale Institute in January 2011 as its Chief Scientist. Elaine has
served in academia for more than three decades helping thousands of
individuals and companies improve their agricultural practices through a
deep understanding of what soil health really means.
Elaine’s engaging personality and teaching style make it easy to
comprehend how important life in the soil is to every enterprise, from
the backyard garden or a small organic farm, to the multimillion dollar
golf course. Her teachings provide the “missing link” to successful
organic practice. Once you understand the soil biology all the other
pieces: compost, cover crops, weed management, fertilizing, no till; are
no longer entirely separate issues that often conflict with one another.
The knowledge she provides allows for a holistic and much simpler, and
often less expensive, approach.
The class is structured in three modules that will build the
foundational knowledge for future explorations of individual growing
systems: vegetables, grains, orchards, landscape turf, etc.
*Day One*
*Friday, October 7th, 2011*
*
Introduction: A couple examples of what is possible if soil life is
improved
*
The difference between soil and dirt
*
What life is present in the soil: A pictorial safari through good soil.
*
The process of going sustainable:
o
Why do we think that inorganic salt fertilizers and pesticides
are required to grow plants?
o
How do you get off the toxic chemical band-wagon?
o
Why controlling life in the soil will remove weeds
*Day Two*
*Saturday, October 8th, 2011*
*
What do the "good guys" do in soil to promote plant growth?
o
Disease suppression
o
Nutrient retention
o
Nutrient cycling
o
Water-holding and soil structure
o
Decomposition of toxins
*
Deciphering soil chemistry
*Day Three*
*Sunday, October 9th, 2011*
*
Balances of organisms: what do different plants require?
*
Disturbance: what does it do to bacteria, fungi, protozoa,
nematodes, microarthropods and earthworms.
*
Managing your microherds for maximum production