A class about dirt?
Why spend four days learning about soil? Obviously, there are ‘big picture’ societal and ecological reasons to care about the quality of our soil (we’ll share some more of those below) - but what’s in it for you?
Well, this course is for you if:
After teaching a an incredible course in Santa Barbara last year and other courses in a variety of locations, all of which received absolutely phenomenal feedback, Soil Foodweb Advisor and soil expert, Doug Weatherbee (a.k.a “The Soil Doctor”) is coming to teach in Los Angeles for the first time in 2012! Yipee!! Doug Weatherbee lives in Mexico but travels widely to teach across North America.
Doug has trained extensively with the renowned Dr. Elaine Ingham, founder of the Soil Foodweb association. He has studied watershed restoration (you may have heard of Bill Zeedyck’s Induced Meandering river restoration techniques - especially if you’ve taken our PDC). And just like us, he is a Certified Permaculture Designer and Teacher, having studied with one of the world’s leading Permaculturalists, Geoff Lawton.
“The future of our climate and civilization depends upon restoring the planet’s 12 billion acres of farmland and pasture land to full vitality, so as to sequester billions of tons of excess greenhouse gases and to produce healthy organic food for the growing global human family. To carry out this Great Transition, we need a corps of Soil Doctors and an army of organic farmers, ranchers, and foresters. Doug Weatherbee is the top Soil Doctor in Mexico and one of the best in the world. His inspiring talk at the 2010 Quivira Carbon Ranch conference was one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
--Ronnie Cummins, International Director
US Organic Consumers Association
"has the potential to change agriculture as we know it. We'll turn deserts into rain forests! I learned more about soils in the 4 days of this class than in the 4 years of my soils degree." -- Jeff Gillies, Rocky Mountain House Read more reviews from past students here
Well, this course is for you if:
- you are interested in the big picture of how we humans can make a positive difference on the planet by working with nature and soil is interesting to you
- you are a farmer (small or large), rancher, or own a vineyard or orchard and want to minimize or eliminate synthetic fertilizer or biocides inputs, reduce irrigation needs and improve soil fertility.
- you are an organic farmer, SPIN farmer or CSA operator and you want to improve your organic growing and land management techniques, reduce the requirement for weeding and ecologically favor the plants that you want to grow.
- you are a gardener or horticulturalist and want healthier, more nutrient-dense plants, higher germination rates, less watering, less weeding and overall less work!
- you are a landscape architect or soil restorationist and want to speed up plant establishment and rebuild topsoil (say after construction work), suppress plant diseases, have higher survival rates for plantings all the while using non-toxic inputs.
- you are a permaculture designer wanting to learn more about guilds, plant combining, how to support the soil and establish your food forests faster - starting with the foundation.
- you are an entrepreneur and looking for a new venture to make money and do good things for the planet at the same time - a job you can feel good about (i.e. creating custom composts and compost teas for your clients).
- Last year, the world lost 83 million tons of topsoil. One third of the world’s topsoil has been depleted within the past century.
- The world's soils hold around three times as much carbon as the atmosphere and over four times as much carbon as the vegetation. Soil represents the largest carbon sink in in our world over which we have control.
- Industrialized and pesticide-based farming methods have depleted the health of the world’s soil, polluted ground water and contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Life on our planet depends on the health and vitality of a seemingly simple and often overlooked natural element - soil.
- By stewarding soil, even in our own backyards, we can have an enormous positive impact on our health, our communities and our planet!
After teaching a an incredible course in Santa Barbara last year and other courses in a variety of locations, all of which received absolutely phenomenal feedback, Soil Foodweb Advisor and soil expert, Doug Weatherbee (a.k.a “The Soil Doctor”) is coming to teach in Los Angeles for the first time in 2012! Yipee!! Doug Weatherbee lives in Mexico but travels widely to teach across North America.
Doug has trained extensively with the renowned Dr. Elaine Ingham, founder of the Soil Foodweb association. He has studied watershed restoration (you may have heard of Bill Zeedyck’s Induced Meandering river restoration techniques - especially if you’ve taken our PDC). And just like us, he is a Certified Permaculture Designer and Teacher, having studied with one of the world’s leading Permaculturalists, Geoff Lawton.
“The future of our climate and civilization depends upon restoring the planet’s 12 billion acres of farmland and pasture land to full vitality, so as to sequester billions of tons of excess greenhouse gases and to produce healthy organic food for the growing global human family. To carry out this Great Transition, we need a corps of Soil Doctors and an army of organic farmers, ranchers, and foresters. Doug Weatherbee is the top Soil Doctor in Mexico and one of the best in the world. His inspiring talk at the 2010 Quivira Carbon Ranch conference was one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
--Ronnie Cummins, International Director
US Organic Consumers Association
"has the potential to change agriculture as we know it. We'll turn deserts into rain forests! I learned more about soils in the 4 days of this class than in the 4 years of my soils degree." -- Jeff Gillies, Rocky Mountain House Read more reviews from past students here