Education 2021-2022: Healthy Soils & Regenerative Agriculture Program
JUNE, 2022 UPDATE: See this new video about the spring, 2022 course that helped Pender, Mayne, Galiano, and Saturna Island Food Producers! This included Farmer2Farmer learning during group Field Days on the 4 Southern Gulf Islands, plus additional Zoom Sessions, all supported by a consulting Soil Scientist. The goal was to improve our island soil, to resiliently grow more local food to sell and share, and also to help our environment.
COURSE SUMMARY (see more below): We are so grateful that Vancity Credit Union generously offered funding to the Gulf Islands Food Co-op, for Southern Gulf Islands Food Producers to learn more about Soil Health for Food Growing and Regenerative Agriculture. This was to help island farmers have healthier soil to sustainably produce more food, and also help our planet with essential soil preservation and more carbon sequestration by the soil. This first “pilot” version of the course included expertise from a Kwantlen Polytechnic University soil scientist, through 4 field days (one on each island), and also 4 zoom sessions. However, another key part of these sessions was Island Farmer2Farmer knowledge sharing about working with the particularities of Southern Gulf Islands soil and conditions.
JANUARY, 2022 UPDATE: It’s wonderful that 63 food producers from all 4 Southern Gulf Islands have now registered for the Soils Program! (COURSE FULL, we regret no more registrations at this time). For those registered, Coordinator Ben Dunsmuir has sent out emails about the first Zoom Session on January 12, 2022, and the four island Field Days: January 29 on Saturna; January 30 on Galiano; February 12 on Pender; and February 26 on Mayne. Thanks for your interest, and don’t hesitate to contact Ben as above if you have any questions.
- Facilitated by Kwantlen Polytechnic University (see Instructor info below)
- 4 in-person field days with great networking opportunities (participants can choose from Pender, Mayne, Galiano, and Saturna, or attend multiple!)
- 4 online classes and an online platform (for resource handouts, discussion, Q&A, and sharing among participants)
- And a rich cohort of island growers!
COURSE INSRUCTOR: Amy Norgaard has a MSc in Soil Science from the Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes (SAL) lab at UBC, where she worked with 20 organic vegetable farms to improve nutrient management while balancing crop production with environmental stewardship. She is a Professional Agrologist with the BCIA and teaches sustainable soil management with two Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) Farm Schools and the UBC Farm Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture.
Note: You can also see the Co-op’s previous soil building class references