RESTORING SOIL HEALTH on FARMS, GARDENS AND CITIES
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Learn practical ways to build living soil, support healthier plants, and better understand what is happening underground.
This multi-day workshop will help gardeners, small-scale farmers, and land stewards understand soil as a living ecosystem — and learn practical ways to rebuild it.
Together, we’ll look at how soil life supports plant growth, how to assess your soil’s condition, and how to use compost, compost extracts, and compost teas to support healthier gardens and growing spaces.
We will cover:
- How soil life supports plant growth, nutrient cycling, and resilience
- Simple ways to assess soil health in your garden, farm, or growing space
- How to read and make sense of soil biology test results
- How to make and manage biologically active compost
- How compost extracts and teas can be used to support soil restoration
- When and how to apply biological inoculants effectively
- How to use a microscope to observe and identify common soil organisms
- Real project examples, including conversations with farmers and growers using compost extracts and teas to rebuild soil life
This workshop is ideal for home gardeners, small-scale farmers, greenhouse growers, cannabis growers, permaculture practitioners, parks staff, arborists, landscapers, and anyone curious about building healthier soil.
Participants are welcome to bring their own microscope during the microscopy session.
Participants are welcome to bring their own microscope during the microscopy session.
WHO THIS COURSE IS FOR
- Commercial farmers (small-medium scale production)
- Greenhouse operators
- Park board commissioners (members of a municipality in charge of managing city parks)
- Arborists, landscape architects and technicians
- Cannabis growers
- Home gardeners
- Individuals with a general interest in soil health, regenerative agriculture, agroecology and permaculture
FURTHER INFORMATION
- Participants are welcome to bring their microscope to the course. We will have three microscopes at the school if you do not have your own.
- We can provide slides, coverslips and pipettes for the microscope section of the course.
- Bring your lunch and snacks for the Saturday sessions.
INSTRUCTOR BIO
Jo Tobias is a Regenerative Soils & Living Compost Specialist with the primary goal of helping farmers regenerate the life in their soil.
She founded RootShoot Soils in 2015 and has since been educating and working with producers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. She combines curious exploration with ecology to successfully guide her clients in restoring the symbiotic relationships between their crops and the soil microbiome.
To find out more about Jo and her company, RootShoot Soils, visit her at www.rootshootsoils.com