Workshops to teach people how to grow sustainable food

By Jensen, Randy on April 25, 2020.

Tyler Hay

For The Herald

With spring in full swing and many people eager get outside to work on their gardens, SOUL-fully SOIL and the Lethbridge Sustainable Living Association (LSLA) are offering online workshops to teach people to grow their own sustainable food.

“One of the benefits of starting to grow your own food is, it is an empowering act that people can actually do on their own. There are a lot of disempowering things going on right now that are out of our control and this is a way that people can contribute to their own systems and their own families and communities,” said Mandy Sandbach, president of LSLA and owner of SOUL-fully SOIL.

The first workshop will be on Monday and will focus on growing clean and healthy food while helping to positively affect climate change.

“We are starting to recognize that transportation of our food, when it is coming from other countries, from long distances, puts us in a vulnerable place. The more we can put attention on local food production in small scales, the less we have to rely on that larger scale,” said Sandbach.

On May 4, the workshop will focus on harvesting water. Participants will be able to see hands-on, real-time examples of how to reduce water usage in a garden. They will also learn how to reduce evaporation and keep water in the garden longer.

May 11 will focus on companion planting and how it helps a regenerative, sustainable garden. Later in the month, on May 25, the focus will be understanding weeds and the role they play in a healthy garden.

The workshops will wrap up in June with a lesson on pest control, on June 1. The final workshop, on June 8, will focus on growing a pollinator-friendly garden.

All workshops will be held online through Zoom – the entire course will cost $30.

“I have used Zoom a number of times in the past for different gatherings with people from all over the world. It’s as simple as following the link,” said Sandbach. “The actual platform is wonderful because we get to record what it is we are doing, and be able to share it with participants in the future.”

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