A great day was spent learning about soils and soil health with Sarah Curry from Majors Mulch at Weethalle Public School on Friday, 20 May 2016 under the CWFS Women & Youth Project.
The first workshop was designed to educate kids about basic soil types and involved a fun ‘hands on’ demonstration which, as you can imagine, was very popular. The basics of “living” soils and understanding worms and microbes and their importance in the nutrient cycle for healthy soils were discussed. The children loved getting their hands dirty in the school vegie patch looking for worms and microbes. Another interesting discussion was how their plants were growing in this vegie patch – growing from seeds, viewing seeds sprouting and identifying the various parts of a seedling.
The next session involved adults and Weethalle community members and was aimed at understanding soil types such as identifying soil type and structure. The group looked and handled Sodic soils and learnt about pH and how it affects nutrient availability. Discussion moved to correcting pH induced problems by applying lime, gypsum and green manures. Also, the nutrient cycle was explored – how healthy soils lead to healthy plants and how organic matter builds healthy soils. Last but not least, the workshop finished with composting and how to effectively compost.
This was a great day and everyone learnt a lot and had fun! CWFS would especially like to thank Sarah for her time and expertise and look forward to more of these events with Sarah at the helm. We would also like to thank Weethalle Public School for all their help in organizing and providing the venue for the day.
If you would like more information on this event or the CWFS Women & Youth Project, please contact Diana Fear on (02) 6895 1016 or 0427 897 530.
