Organic Fertility & Soil Management Workshop in Farmington May 8, 2010

FARMINGTON, Minn. — A fertility and soil management workshop will be held May 8, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Gardens of Eagan farm near Farmington. Participants will view firsthand fertility and soil management decisions, and be exposed to a variety of topics important to managing soils for organic vegetable production.

This event, which is sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program, will be hosted by the Organic Field School at Gardens of Eagan. It is free to Land Stewardship Project members and open to the public for a cost of $35. This is a production workshop for people farming or interested in starting a farming operation. Participation is limited to 20 people. Please pre-register by May 3 by contacting Parker Forsell at 507-523-3366 or parker@landstewardshipproject.org.

Please bring a sack lunch; lunch will not be provided.

This workshop/field day offers a unique opportunity to learn from Atina and Martin Diffley at Organic FarmingWorks (www.frontiernet.net/~atinagoe), and to learn the fertility and soil management practices they utilized at Gardens of Eagan, one of the area’s most successful organic vegetable farms. Topics to be covered include:

• Understanding the basics of soil health
• Planting and managing soil building crops
• Cover crops
• Catch crops
• Living mulch systems
• Soil building crops
• Planning crop and soil building rotations
• Crop incorporation—organic matter management
• Managing off-farm inputs

For more information on the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program, see www.farmbeginnings.org, or call 507-523-3366.