Climate, Soil, and Ecosystem Health
*Workshops can be adjusted to fit time constraints and can be held in various locations: outside, inside, or online as a webinar*
Applying Soil Health Principles Everywhere
What would happen if we shifted the paradigm of how people interface with the land? Can we as land managers help to slow water down, deepen watersheds, increase biological soil health and create conditions for thriving ecosystems? When we listen carefully to nature, we are shown what is possible. Learn about building soil through enhancing photosynthesis, capturing water, alternatives to tilling soil, and other systems for enabling the soil microbiome to flourish and vastly improve nutrient uptake in plants. Learn simple techniques for building up the soil carbon sponge in your lawn, the vegetable and flower beds, and in the orchard. We’ll discuss the basics of techniques like composting, compost teas and extracts, incorporating cover crops and green manures, hugelkultur, mulching, and using plant guilds to support ecosystem services and bank nutrients. This presentation will leave you inspired to get involved in your own backyard, schoolyard, and public lands to deepen the roots of security and community resilience for future generations.
Food, Water, Soil, Climate, Hope
Agriculture is a major contributor to climate change, emitting a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Even if we stopped using fossil fuels tomorrow (and we should) we'd still have over 400 ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere. Changing our land management practices and the way we eat can make a huge difference in the mission to maintain a livable planet. Cat covers the basics of the soil health principles, nutrient cycling, composting, watershed function, and how the average person can effect change in the backyard and in the marketplace. Learn how the carbon and water cycles can draw down CO2 and restore landscape function to mitigate flooding, drought, and cool the planet.
The Little Things: Cultivating Community Above and Below the Ground
When we listen carefully and mimic natural systems we are shown what is possible. The Little Things is about whole systems thinking and the parallels in creating conditions for thriving human and soil ecosystems. GMWL compares work with communities and schools to learning from our shared understanding of the soil food web and the great cycles of the sun, carbon, nutrients and water. This presentation focuses on Cat’s work with Vermont Healthy Soils Coalition and Thetford Elementary School's edible schoolyard and compost system with integrated K-6 curriculum.
Land Listener Workshops with the Soil Carbon Coalition
Curious about how to see a landscape as a whole system? Do you want to understand and track the impact of grazing and land management on soil health, watershed function, soil carbon, and public health? This participatory day-long workshop will give you detailed theory in whole systems landscape function, soil health principles, and the work of biology in creating the soil carbon sponge. You will also learn hands-on skills to make and upload observations to help monitor the health and function of your farm and other working lands. These include visual assessments of soil health, biological work, and water infiltration, as well as how to record repeatable geolocated observations to track changes over time and space. More info.
Interested in having GMWL lead a workshop?
Contact Cat at cat@growmorewasteless.com
