August 24, 2017 | seedstock

The Growing Club / Sarvodaya Farms and Seedstock are offering an intimate 3-day Regenerative Urban Farming Intensive workshop in Southern California for professionals on October 20, 21, 22 (Fri-Sun). Only 10 spots are available for the workshop, which is aimed at urban farming professionals who are working towards starting a commercial urban farm as a private for-profit or non-profit business.

The goal of the workshop will be to provide a base of relevant knowledge, basic skills, and local resources to start and operate a regenerative soil-based small-scale or urban farm. Workshop will include both hands-on and lecture portions on the Sarvodaya Farms property where attendees will be able to see, experience, and participate in a working regenerative urban farm.

The workshop is divided into 6 sessions over 3 days: morning and afternoon for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The 6 session topics are:

– Urban Farming System Overview
– Composting and Soil Health Management
– Seed Starting and Nursery Stock Management
– Irrigation Design and Water Management
– Crop and Field Management
– CSA Management and Business Models

The workshop will be led primarily by Sarvodaya Farms founding farmer & director of The Growing Club, Rishi Kumar, with additional sessions led by Manju Kumar (Sarvodaya Farm’s Field Manager) and Lynn Fang (Sarvodaya Farm’s Compost Manager).

Workshop participants will each receive:

• a booklet of handouts, 1 for each session
• a USB-drive with digital copies of all handouts, material sourcing list, and data collection spreadsheets
• Certificate of completion

Click on the flyer below to register and receive the special rate courtesy of Seedstock:

Workshop Details

Daily Schedule

9:00am to 12:30pm – Morning Session

12:30pm to 1:30pm – Lunch

1:30pm to 5:00pm – Afternoon Session

3-Day Workshop Program

Friday, October 20

Morning Session (3.5 hrs) – Urban Farming System Overview

• Introduction and tour of Sarvodaya Farms
• Review of overall farming system and goals
• Foundational ideas: No-till, continuous planting, soil health, water conservation, perennial hedgerows

Lunch on the Farm (1 hr) – Bring your own or purchase tickets for Prepared Farm Lunch

Afternoon Session (3.5 hrs) – Composting and Soil Health Management

• Sourcing organic materials for composting from the urban waste stream
• (Hands on) Building and managing hot compost piles
• (Hands on) Amending, preparing and storing compost for farm use

Saturday, October 21

Morning Session (3.5 hrs) Seed Starting and Nursery Stock Management

• How to design, setup and build a working farm nursery
• Setting nursery irrigation systems and watering schedules
• (Hands on) Making your own potting mix
• Sourcing organic high-quality seeds
• (Hands on) Preparing nursery trays and planting seeds
• (Hands on) Managing and fertilizing nursery stock
• Planning for year-round planting

Lunch on the Farm (1 hr) – Bring your own or purchase tickets for Prepared Farm Lunch

Afternoon Session (3.5 hrs) Irrigation Design and Water Management

• Basic ideas for water management on a small farm
• Water requirements for different types of plants
• (Hands on) Designing and installing an appropriate irrigation system
• Sourcing irrigation materials
• (Hands on) Sample irrigation system build

Sunday, October 22

Morning Session (3.5 hrs) Crop and Field Management

• (Hands on) Dressing, fertilizing, and preparing beds for planting
• Crop rotation and companion planting
• (Hands on) Transplanting and watering seedlings into field beds
• Field crop management – fertility, disease, and insects
• (Hands on) How and when to remove field crops

Lunch on the Farm (1 hr) – Bring your own or purchase tickets for Prepared Farm Lunch

Afternoon Session (3.5 hrs) CSA Management and Business Models

• (Hands on) Post harvest processing and storage
• Farm-scale cold storage
• Produce packing and distribution
• Marketing and sales models
• Data management