Managing your soil

Thursday 5th June, 2014   10.00am-1.00pm

£30 (Garden Organic Members) / £36 (Non Members)

Good soil management is at the heart of any good growing system. It is one of the most precious assets we have and is the key to growing healthy crops.

This half-day course will provide you with the understanding and confident to take informed decisions on how to best manage your soil. The course leaders, experts from Garden Organic, will draw on their 15 years worth of practical research work on soil management so much of this information cannot be found in text books.

The course is presented in a form that is accessible for the practical gardener. It incorporates a mixture of theory and outdoor practical work, including:

• How to identify your soil type and texture, so you know the benefits and pitfalls of how to work the soil in your garden.
• The key nutrients needed by your crops and how to recognise the visual symptoms of when they are running short.
• How to feed your soil using natural and recycled products that are sustainable and can be obtained at little or no cost.
• Planning a rotation to make best use of your soil type and continue to harvest good yields in the future.
• Use of green manure and cover crops. Many of these are underutilised by gardeners. This course will show you have to choose the most appropriate species and how to manage them to attain the maximum benefits.
• How to do a site survey so you can identify any possible problems with your soil and how to rectify them.
• How to make the most use of water - which crops need more water, and key stages to water crops.

Comments from previous attendees:

“Very worthwhile course - well paced”

“Teachers very good & knowledgable.”

“Very good and very informative and not too hippy!”

To book a place, or find out more please call us on 024 7630 3517 or email customerservices@gardenorganic.org.uk

A discounted rate of £51 for Garden Organic members and £60 for non-members is offered for people attending both this course and the Compost Magic course on the same day.

Like the course but not the date? Let us know by emailing  customerservices@gardenorganic.org.uk as we can sometimes be flexible.