Soil Health Innovations: FREE Video
Juicy tidbits from the Alaska Botanical Garden Spring Conference: March 12, 2022.
Ellen Vande Visse of Good Earth Garden School is one of the presenters at this event, featuring several informative presentations over five juicy hours of soil health topics, all available for free through the Alaska Botanical Garden.
Let’s dive in: WATCH ON YOUTUBE
The Delicious Menu!
0:00:00 Introduction
0:06:31 We Be Jammin’: An Introduction to Fruit Preserves - Gina Dione
0:49:37 Insect and Pollinator Observations at the Jensen-Olson Arboretum - Ginger Hudson
1:26:37 Food Forests - Dohnn Wood and Kristi Wood, Anchorage. Permaculture practices & practicalities.
1:42:50 Conference Vendor: Foundroot Seed Company
1:46:00 Soil Health Innovations Panel, 15 min each.
Living Soil: The Magic & Mystery of Microbes by Delisa Renideo (End 2:19). We know about soil chemistry. . .but what about soil biology!? Come learn the magic of how the invisible living beings in the soil actually provide the chemical nutrients our plants need and how to garden in a way that nurtures the critters that do this magic.
Beautiful, Bountiful, Black Biochar: How to Make Your Soil Healthier, Forever by Christine Wilcox, Sprucetip Farm, Anchorage (End 2:03). What is it? Why is it beneficial? How is it made? How can it be used as a soil amendment? Why may it be useful, especially in SC Alaska, with podzol, acidic, leachable soils? How can the home gardener make biochar with simple systems?
Everything I Learned about Growing Is Turned Upside Down by Ellen Vande Visse, Good Earth Garden School. Yikes! Researchers are revealing how much our beloved fellow Green Beings are way smarter than we thought. Here’s a quick romp through quorum sensing and signaling, 5-way vs. 27-way cover crop effects, mother trees, sap tests vs. soil tests, & why sheep graze at only certain times a day.
Soil Purity Threats & Reflections by Nick Riordan, AK Community Action on Toxics. What about unseen but pervasive & pervasive chemical contaminants in our air and water?
2:46:49 Gentle Yoga - Elise Huggins
2:59:03 Introduction to Korean Natural Farming - Donna Rae Faulkner & Don McNamara, Oceanside Farms, Homer, AK employ microbe cultures instead of high-cost fertilizers for healthy vigorous crops.
3:44:04 Climate Data and Science for Gardeners - Dr. Jessica Cherry
4:18:47 Conference Vendor: Brie's Botanical Garden Tours
4:24:29 House Plants: Challenges and Solutions for Keeping Tropical Foliage in a Northern Climate Happy - Sarah Lanners
5:14:05 Hydroponics in Your Home - Francie Roberts