Building soil and soul resilience

Subscribe to get notified about new events!

The Compost Connection CIC

LXCL:The Compost Connection CIC: building soil and soil resilience. Connecting people and communities with their local soil through hands on education that empowers them to make great compost, grow nutrient-dense food, and develop spaces that have more resilience to drought, flooding and high temperatures in the face of climate change.

Join us for this empowering day at Haye Farm, learning how to build resilience in your garden or allotment, and grow your own food in the reality of our changing climate. &nbsp; This foundational workshop will give you in-depth, practical knowledge about building healthy soil, making great compost, choosing and tending crops, and planning your growing space in a way that is in harmony with natural processes. &nbsp; Healthy SoilSuccessful food growing starts with healthy soil. We&rsquo;ll explore how to build soil that supports strong, nutritious crops. &nbsp;You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">carry out simple soil observations to recognise signs of both poor and healthy soil</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">use high‑powered microscopes to explore the microscopic life that drives a healthy soil ecosystem</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">learn nature‑friendly ways to improve soil structure and biology</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">make a high‑quality biological &lsquo;tea&rsquo;, and take home the ingredients to brew some at home</li></ul>CompostingHomemade compost is key to growing food in a sustainable way without being reliant on buying inputs. This session will help you feel confident in the composting process and avoid common issues. &nbsp;You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">learn how different materials break down, and how to balance your inputs</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">get guidance on choosing composting methods that suit your space and personality</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">learn how to manage your system and know when your compost is ready to use</li></ul>GrowingWe&rsquo;ll look at how to prepare beds, choose crops, sow seeds, and care for plants in a way that supports resilience throughout the year. &nbsp;You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">sow seeds for crops that can be grown through autumn and winter</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">learn how to prick out seedlings and repot them confidently</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">pick up simple tips for caring for young plants so they thrive</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">explore ways to plan your growing space for resilience to drought, hot weather, and next year&rsquo;s growing season</li></ul>You will leave with confidence to get started, and a kit containing green manure seeds to improve your soil. &nbsp; Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided. Please bring a packed lunch (there is a fridge for keeping food cool) and wear clothing suitable for being outdoors.&nbsp; The workshop will be led by Claire Woolnough, who is an experienced educator, composter, worm farmer, and grower. &nbsp;Claire works with organisations, allotments and gardeners to support them with setting up tailored composting systems, and to regenerate their soil for successful food growing. &nbsp;Haye Farm is run with soil regeneration and wildlife in mind, producing high quality food for local people.&nbsp;

Grow your own food in a changing climate

Join us for an inspiring evening at Haye Farm, learning about the soil ecosystem and how supporting it is key to building resilience in our gardens and our allotments. &nbsp;This is a practical session, perfect for anyone who values hands-on learning and with an interest in gardening or the natural world. &nbsp; You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">carry out simple observations to help you recognise signs of poor or healthy soil, and how they respond to drought and heavy rain</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">use high powered microscopes to take a look at the fascinating microscopic life in a healthy soil ecosystem&nbsp;</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">find out how healthier soil grows more robust plants and vegetables that are more resilient to pests, disease and drought</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">learn simple, nature-friendly ways to nurture the soil ecosystem in your garden or allotment</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">make a high quality biological &#39;tea&#39;, and take home the ingredients to brew some at home</li></ul>This session requires no previous knowledge, and is suitable for beginners or those with more gardening experience.&nbsp; You will leave with confidence to improve your own soil, and a kit containing green manure seeds to help get you started. &nbsp;&nbsp; Please wear footwear and clothing suitable for being outdoors. The session will be led by Claire Woolnough, who is an experienced educator, composter, worm farmer, and grower. &nbsp;Claire works with organisations, allotments and gardeners to support them with setting up tailored composting systems, and to regenerate their soil for successful food growing.&nbsp;

Healthy soil for resilient gardens & allotments

Join us for an inspiring evening at Haye Farm to learn how to make your garden more resilient to the challenges of climate fluctuations and create a beautiful, thriving, self sustaining space for you to enjoy. This will be a practical, hands-on workshop designed to give you confidence and inspiration to analyse your space and apply design principles to benefit your soil and plant health and work with natural systems to provide resilience in the face of some of the more extreme weather events our gardens are required to handle. What you&#39;ll learn: Perhaps you&rsquo;re looking for a way to make your garden more manageable with less watering or more adaptable to flooding or high winds. Through this workshop we&#39;ll look at ways you can adapt your garden to mimic nature and make the most of natural systems to create a space that is more resilient from the soil up! You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Look at sites on the farm that demonstrate how natural systems create resilience and how they can be applied to our own gardens.</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Survey a site and look at inputs and environmental factors and apply this understanding to your garden.</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Learn about techniques and practices you can design into your garden to mitigate against some of the environmental challenges we are experiencing.</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Develop ideas and plans for your garden to create a beautiful, flourishing space where systems work together to reduce your workload and allow all parts of your garden thrive.</li></ul>With lots of hands‑on learning, you&rsquo;ll leave this workshop with confidence and inspiration to analyse your garden and start to implement changes to create a more resilient space.&nbsp; The session is led by Andrea Roberts, a professional gardener, designer &nbsp;and permaculturalist.&nbsp;

Resilient garden design

Join us for an enjoyable morning at Haye Farm learning about the soil ecosystem and how we can support it for healthier soil in our gardens and allotments. &nbsp;We will spend plenty of time with our hands in the soil, and the session&nbsp;will be a fascinating introduction suited to anyone with an interest in gardening or the natural world.&nbsp; You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">carry out interesting hands‑on observations that help you recognise signs of poor or healthy living soil, and how they respond to drought and heavy rain</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">take a look at fascinating microscopic life&mdash;such as nematodes and amoeba&mdash;using high‑powered microscopes</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">find out how healthier soil grows more robust plants and vegetables, that are more resilient to pests, disease and drought</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">learn simple, nature-friendly ways to nurture the soil ecosystem in your garden or allotment</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">watch how to make a high quality biological &#39;tea&#39;, and take home the ingredients to make some at home</li></ul>This session requires no previous knowledge, just your curiosity! &nbsp;We will be outdoors so wear something you will be comfortable in. &nbsp; You will leave confident with simple, low cost ideas to try at home, and three packets of green manure seeds to improve your soil. &nbsp; The session will be led by Claire Woolnough, who is an experienced grower, composter and educator. &nbsp;Claire has worked with hundreds of allotment holders &amp; gardeners, and over thirty community organisations, to support them with setting up composting systems, and to regenerate their soil.&nbsp;

Healthy Soil Workshop

Join us for an inspiring morning at Haye Farm, learning how to make great compost, and picking up some ideas for how this can become a satisfying and grounding process - good for the soul as well as the soil! &nbsp; Many people tell us they like the thought of composting, but don&#39;t feel confident in what they&#39;re doing, or that they are put off because of issues like rats or bad smells. &nbsp; This workshop will combine enjoyable hands-on learning, practical advice on avoiding common issues, and plenty of time for questions, so that you leave feeling confident in the process, and with a clear idea of how to make the composting process fit your life. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;We will also spend time exploring the incredible universe that dwells within our compost bins, and reflect on the alchemy that we get to take part in when we compost. &nbsp; You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Be introduced to life in the compost and observe fascinating microorganisms using the microscopes&nbsp;</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Learn how different materials break down, and how to balance your inputs simply and effectively</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Get advice on choosing composting methods that suit your space, personality, and physicality. e.g. wormeries, bokashi, &#39;dalek&#39; composters, hotbins.</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Learn how to manage your compost system and know when your compost is ready to use</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Have time for reflection and questions</li></ul>If you have some homemade or shop bought compost, do bring it along and we will have a look at some under the microscopes. &nbsp;Around a cup full will be plenty. &nbsp; You will leave with confidence to get started at home, and some vermicompost to make a beneficial microbial extract for your garden.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The session will be led by Claire Woolnough, who is an experienced grower, composter and educator. &nbsp;Claire has worked with hundreds of allotment holders &amp; gardeners, and over thirty community organisations, to support them with setting up composting systems, and to regenerate their soil.

Joyful Composting

Join us for a nourishing morning at Haye Farm to experience how composting can be a grounding, restorative practice for the soul as well as the soil. &nbsp; This will be a practical, hands-on workshop designed to give you confidence in the process, and inspiration What you&#39;ll learn: Perhaps you&rsquo;re looking for a way to deepen your sense of connection with the natural world, or to make regular space for reflecting on mystery, or the cycles of life , and mystery. Or maybe you simply want to make lots of great compost for your garden or allotment.Whatever draws you to composting, this hands‑on workshop will offer plenty of practical know‑how and food for thought. You will:<ul fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Become acquainted with the incredible life that transforms waste materials into beautiful compost. We&rsquo;ll take a closer look at the life inside a wormery, and peer under the microscope at some of the fascinating microorganisms usually invisible to us</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Learn how different materials break down, and how to balance your inputs simply and effectively for great results</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Get advice on choosing composting methods that suit your space, personality, and physicality</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: inherit;">Pick up practical tips to prevent common issues such as rats</li></ul>With lots of hands‑on learning, you&rsquo;ll leave this workshop with confidence and inspiration to compost in a way that nurtures both you and your soil. &nbsp;There will also be some green manure seeds and vermicompost for you to take home to improve your soil. &nbsp; The session is led by Claire Woolnough, a passionate composter and soil advocate. &nbsp;She has set up many communal compost systems, and trained hundreds of people and organisations in composting methods and soil health. &nbsp;

The Compost Connection CIC

The Compost Connection CIC

Past events

Past events

Grow your own food in a changing climate

Healthy soil for resilient gardens & allotments

Resilient garden design

Healthy Soil Workshop

Joyful Composting

Joyful Composting

Powered by