Worm Alchemy: Building Soil Health through Vermiculture
Join vermiculture expert Monique Bosch as she takes us on a deep dive into the microbial strata of soil health and shows how to improve it. In the first part of the workshop, Monique will zoom in at 400X magnification to identify the beneficial microscopic critters that live in healthy soils. Then we’ll learn how to increase their numbers with worms, so that we can grow the healthiest plants and most nutritious food.
To that end, we’ll adjourn to Rudy McEntire’s nearby garden for a demonstration of worm composting. Three different vermiculture setups will be shown, and we’ll learn to brew compost tea, an elixir that feeds beneficial microbes and enriches soil with plant-available nutrients. Your garden game just got a whole lot better.
About Monique: Trained in landscape design, horticulture and soil biology, Monique is a community leader focused on healthy soil/healthy food. In the last 14 years she’s helped build over 40 edible school and community gardens as well as a 2-acre urban farm in Bridgeport, CT. She studied with Elaine Ingham, recognized as the world’s premier soil health biologist. Currently Monique is helping to launch the Center for Food and Resilience at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. As founder of nonprofit and for-profit entities, her focus is on getting healthy organic food efficiently to those that need it most. She runs Wiggle Room LLC, a worm-composting business, with her son.