Get to know your soil so that your food forest will be a success.
We know that Dutch soils are quite depleted. Agricultural soils are often compacted, soil life is largely extinct, and many minerals have been washed out. And Dutch forest soils are also highly acidified.
Soil is a subject that has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves and needs. After all, it is the foundation of our food supply.
With a food forest, you are going to restore soils. You leave the herb layer standing, and don't use fertilizers, poisons or pesticides. Very often, however, the soil on which a food forest is established is severely damaged. And then that recovery is far from easy. How can we help the soil to repair itself?
For that, you first need knowledge about what soil actually is. What types of soil are there, what minerals are in it and in what proportions, what role does water and soil life play. And what is the interaction between plants and all these aforementioned topics.
These topics and more are covered in our two-day in-depth soil course designed by Martijn Aalbrecht exclusively for Food from the Forest.
In these two days of classes, we will give quite a bit of theory each day, but we will also practice looking at what the soil and the plants growing on it show us. The course will, of course, take place near a food forest. In addition, there will be plenty of room to discuss what you encounter in your own project.
As always, we make recordings of the theoretical part of the lessons, so you can always watch them again later at your leisure.
By the end of this two-day course, you'll know how your soil works and what you can do to improve it. And you will also have learned what signs your trees and shrubs in the food forest need to watch for to determine their health.
The contents
Day 1: Wednesday, 31-5, the bottom unraveled
Location: Food forest Thuishaven in Zeewolde
What exactly is a soil and what parts is a soil made of?
We deal with the chemical structure of the soil. Which minerals all occur in it and why are the ratios between them important. We also look at soil life and how soil life interacts with plants.
Finally, we cover common soil analyses and why they provide almost no information about the health of your soil for a food forest.
Day 2: Wednesday, 14-6, soil-plant interaction in the food forest
Location: Food Forest Martijn Aalbrecht in Hengelo
During the second day, we look at plant health and the link between diseases and pests, plant health and soil health. Is there a link between eating (un)healthy plants and our health?
We also look at the role of water in soil. Why is water so important and how does water behave in healthy soil?
In addition, we will look at how to improve soil and plant health in a food forest.
In the afternoon we will put plant health into practice in the food forest. Recognize (un)healthy plants, what can be done about them and how do you apply this in your own food forest?
Practical
This compact two-day course costs 350,- excl. VAT will take place on Wednesdays 31-5 and 14-6. Each course day starts at 10 am and ends between 4:30 and 5. Of course we provide coffee and tea, a tasty vegetarian lunch and all course materials. We also offer you a digital course environment in which you can find the course materials and many valuable links, as well as recordings of the theory part of the two course days.
We deliver this annual training according to our terms of delivery. These are simple and clear, so please read them.
If you are unable to pay the training fee at once, or if you work for an organisation that uses invoicing, please contact us.
€350,00 excl. VAT/VAT
A food forest is an agricultural system that -based on natural principles- restores rather than depletes soils. It always is; at the end, all food forests look alike. But, how to successfully start a food forest varies by soil type and soil situation.
In this unique in-depth course, Martijn Aalbrecht delves deeper into really all the soil questions out there.
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