Courses

Finally, a workshop that de-mystifies compost teas and soil biology and how to work with them using available, basic, on-farm resources! The practicalities of how to hydrate, enhance and heal your soils and land through simple techniques.

This workshop features how to make a range of BOTH compost teas and bio-fertilizers using organic ingredients readily available to any landholder, and how to improve health and yeilds of pastures, croplands and treecrops by working with the soil and dramatically improving its fertility, naturally.

This very popular hands-on course will re-define the role that bio-fertilizers, organic inputs and compost tea can play on your property. This workshop focuses on practical techniques of defining what your soil needs and enhancing it by applying bio-fertilisers and aerated compost teas for small, medium and larger-scale farming, grazing and forestry operations.

Healthy topsoils hold more water and nutrient, which in turn means better resilience for the plants above throughout the year.

One tonne of healthy topsoil will typically harbor as much as 25% of its weight in living microorganisms. Living soil life is essential for healthy soils. Adding more microbiology (of the right kind) to your soil strengthens its structure, makes nutrients available to the plants above, builds humus and leads to resilient, productive soils, naturally.

This course is FarmReady approved. Farmers, primary producers, land managers and their families may be eligible for a full reimbursement of the costs for this workshop, including travel and accommodation. Go to our FarmReady page to see if you're eligible. The FarmReady course number for this course is: FRTC00739

What is Aerated Compost Tea, exactly?

Good compost contains thousands of bacterial and fungal species. When a small amount of specially made compost is added to highly aerated water, held at a desired temperature and supplied with the correct nutrients for the microbiology in the compost to feed on, you can make a highly cultured 'brew'. This 'brew', brimming with the microbiology needed for healthy soil, can then be distributed over farms, fields, plantations or gardens - adding crucial microbiology to the soil.

Why is Compost Tea such a useful tool in building my soil?

In nature, different soils contain different microbiological ecosystems. Soil in a forest is very different to soil in a grassland. Compost Tea can be used to influence, affect and add to the biological makeup of your soils' ecosystems. Hence your soils can be primed for whatever you wish to grow, whether that be crops, forestry, regeneration or pastures.

How does it work?

A healthy soil food web occurs when all the organisms the plant requires are present and functioning within the soil system. Microbiology is responsible for making non-plant available nutrients in the soil plant available. It is one of the functions of a healthy food web is to hold nutrients in non-leachable forms so they remain in soil.

What does this workshop cover?

This practical, three day workshop covers how to make your own Compost Tea and a range of bio-fertilisers using everyday organic materials that are already present on the average farm. This workshop will also show how to make your own compost on a small and medium scale, in a way that makes sure your compost is chock-full of whatever microbes are appropriate for your soil's specific needs - i.e. pasture vs orchard, or pasture cropping system vs nut grove. Full curriculum available apon request, just contact us.

About the teachers:

Dr Eugenio Gras is one of Latin America's foremost sustainable agriculture experts. Currently working intensively for COAS in the training of farmers, producers, academics and professors throughout Latin America, Eugenio has taught and spoken worldwide on his innovative techniques for creating organic, natural fertiliser from whatever is at hand on a given farm.

Paul Taylor has been an organic farmer and has extensive experience with returning non-productive soils back into profitable systems for more than 30 years. As a former Director of ASAP supplies he has extensive experience in the Soil Foodweb system of vital soil management as developed by Dr. Elaine Ingham. Paul’s practice, grounded in Permaculture principles and comprehensive earthworks for improved water management, has led him to co-consulting on projects in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

During your course:

Your course fee includes comprehensive course notes and hearty lunches made with the best local food the Mudgee region has to offer, as well as morning and afternoon tea on each day. See bottom of page for venue + accommodation details.

Course cost: $650 (earlybird discount of 15% before 1st Sept) - COURSE COST FULLY RE-IMBURSIBLE THROUGH FARMREADY:

Click here to book your place

Milkwood Permaculture are the proud NSW providers of the 2010 Regenerative Agriculture Workshop Series, of which this workshop is a part.