RhizoPhyllia Soil Food Web Composting Workshop

Location:

RhizoPhyllia Kitchen Gardens, Royal Wootton Bassett, SN4 7ED

Sample itinerary

(times may change slightly):

Getting down with decomposition.
An introductory session in the summerhouse over coffee and tea.

What’s in a compost?
In this practical session at the Compost Station, we will don our gloves and thoroughly investigate several major brands of compost available as well as municipal and local sources. Do they meet our expectations? Are they what they claim to be? Gloves are provided, but if you have a favourite pair, you are welcome to bring your own 😊.

As well as looking at composition, texture, structure, and moisture (and smell) we will consider Broad Spectrum (nutrient) analysis, and prepare samples for pH and salinity tests, and humic/fulvic acid observation.

Soil Food Web microorganisms and nutrient cycling.
An introductory session into the soil food web organisms and the basics of plant nutrition. You will see short videos as we explain some of the marvellous microorganisms that make up a biologically active compost. Diversity is key!

Sorting the wheat from the chaff.
A practical demonstration using samples from the commercial composts and the RhizoPhyllia Compost Station

Lunch.
Entirely plant based and prepared either by Foodie Festival’s Chris Bailey (The Vicar of Hell’s Kitchen), or renowned chef Kate Forrester, or The Courtney Smith Kitchen – all equally stupendously, ridiculously delicious and filling. A chance also to wander freely through the gardens and home allotment.

Common composting techniques, practices, and practicalities.
In this hands-on session at the Compost Station, we will discuss and demo static composting and batch composting (thermophilic and JohnsonSu) using on-site examples and including monitoring and turning. We will consider C:N ratios and designer composts, in other words recipes aligned to the plant groups you are growing.

With refreshments at 3:00pm we will chat about other types of composting such as bokashi, HugelKultur, and Korean Natural Farming in the light of knowledge gained from earlier sessions.

You will put your learning into practice by each preparing a recipe for a crop of your choosing. We (you!) will gather materials from around the RhizoPhyllia gardens and Compost Station and create a small test batch to take home and monitor. So don’t forget to bring a plastic carrier bag (ordinary supermarket size) with no holes in the base!

Extracts, teas, infusions, and amendments.
In this session we will use a biologically rich compost and work together to produce a compost extract. I will explain how to recognise a suitable compost without the need for a microscope. We will then set the tea brewer running and I will explain the process for successful outcomes such as ‘Peak Protozoa’, and what to do if something goes wrong! How will you know if a brew has gone ‘wrong’ – you’ll smell it! During this last session we will consider amendments such as biochar, bonemeal, rock-dusts, and Effective Microbes.