Soil Health with Rick Mareske

Join us at the Garden at Dogwood Forest with Rick Mareske to learn about his approach to managing soil health on his farm.
About this Event

The Garden at Dogwood Forest features 35 acres of trees, 2 acres of orchard trees and bushes, 2 acres of prairie and a medicinal garden. The farm offers classes in herbalism and orcharding. The farm focuses on organic and sustainable growing principles and primarily sell produce through the Rolling Prairie CSA.

During this workshop, Rick will discuss a sustainable and healthy model that does not require large year to year inputs of fertilizers or massive inputs of organic matter. Once soil minerals are balanced and part of a living soil, the need for insecticide and other rescue chemicals will drop away. A solid understanding of minerals has been the weakness or even missing leg of sustainable agriculture. We will explore some of these concepts and how Rick has applied them at his farm site.

A general outline of the day is as follows:

1. Overall Soil management practices – setting the context
2. Seasonal Crop Production & Maintenance
3. Irrigation and the importance of plant health
4. Look at Soil and Plant Health Indicators (Leaf tissue, Brix, Root / Rhizosphere Health, Aggregate Stability, Water Infiltration, VESS tests)