Biodynamics for Landscapes & Gardens:
Healthy Soil, Biodiversity & Natural Pest Control
(DPR approved Continuing Education credits
available)
Presented by Transition to Organics
Date: Sept 21, 2013 Time: 8:00am-3:15pm
Location: Oak Grove School, Student Center 220 W.
Lomita Ave, Ojai
Workshop Description: California Biodynamic
Farmer and Educator Gena Nonini, along with Landscape Contractor Severo Lara,
and Landscape Designer Basie Kenton will speak about how to implement
biodynamic practices in gardens, small urban farms, and all facets of
landscaping. Biodynamic Pest
Control Methods and research on biodiversity will be discussed.
Doors open at 7:30am.
7:30am- 8:00am Participant arrive, sign in, and
enjoy tea/coffee and morning refreshments.
8:00am – 10:00am
Instructor: Gena Nonini of Marian Farms (www.marianfarmsbiodynamic.com)
1. Introductions
2. What is Biodynamics?
3. Discussion of the biological “substances”
Fertility
and compost
10:00am-10:15am
Break
10:15am-12:15pm
4. Discussion of the Dynamics of “forces and
processes”
Kingdoms
of nature and role of forces
5. Synergistic relationship between substance
and forces
bd preps
and their application
role of
cosmic rhythms
creating
whole landscape systems
12:15pm – 1:15pm Lunch Break
1:15pm – 2:00pm
Severo Lara, Landscape Contractor, Ojai City
Council Member
6. Applying Biodynamics to Landscapes
7. Integrated Pest Management Plans for the
City of Ojai
8. Compost Tea ~ an alternative to fungicides
Discussion/questions
2:00pm-2:45pm
Basia Kenton, Landscape Designer (www.basiakenton.com)
9. Applying Biodynamic Design &
Technology to Garden Design
10. Compost: The oldest, most effective
method to enrich the soil.
Basia will share and discuss how to transition your
garden to biodynamics.
Discussion/questions
2:45pm-3:15pm
Demonstration of Tea Stir and spray
Discussion with Gena, Severo and Basia.
Closing
Film to follow at the Ojai Playhouse, 4pm: Symphony
of the Soil
The Hidden World
of Soil Under Our Feet - NYTimes.com
...Scientists are also discovering that a healthy
soil ecosystem may sustain plants naturally, without chemical inputs. “The
greater the soil diversity, the fewer diseases that emerge in plants,” said
Eric B. Nelson, who studies soil and disease ecology at Cornell. Insects are
also deterred by plants grown in healthy soils, he said.
Researchers Show That Organic Farming Enhances Biodiversity and
Natural Pest Control
WASHINGTON, July 1, 2010 – A team of
researchers from Washington State University and the University of Georgia have
found that organic farming increases biodiversity among beneficial,
pest-killing predators and pathogens. In potato crops, this led to fewer insect
pests and larger potato plants.
“It’s always been a mystery how organic
farmers get high yields without using synthetic insecticides,” says co-author
Bill Snyder, associate professor of entomology at Washington State University.
“Our study suggests that biodiversity conservation may be a key to their
success.”
Ecosystems with more total species, and more
beneficial species that are relatively evenly distributed, are thought to be
healthiest. The use of insecticides harms biodiversity by reducing the
number of species and by making some species (often pests) much more common
than others. The study, which was funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food
and Agriculture (NIFA) and published in the July 1 edition of the journal Nature,
shows that organic farming practices lead to many equally-common beneficial
species, and that this reduces pest problems.
In potato fields that used conventional
control practices (e.g., applications of broad-acting insecticides), usually
just one species of beneficial predatory insect or pest-killing pathogen was
common. In contrast, in organic fields several beneficial species were about
equally common. Experiments showed that groups of evenly-abundant beneficial
species, typical of organic farms, were far more effective at killing potato
beetle pests. Because natural enemies are usually more even in organic crops of
many different kinds, not just potato, these benefits could be widespread.
NIFA funded this project through the
National Research Initiative Arthropod and Nematode Biology and Management
competitive grants
program.
Through federal funding and leadership for
research, education and extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in
science and solving critical issues impacting people's daily lives and the
nation’s future. For more information, visit www.nifa.usda.gov.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2010news/07011_organic_study.html
For more information about Transition to Organics:
www.transition-to-organics.org Ph:
805-646-4294
Transition to Organics is a non-profit
organization, under the fiscal umbrella of the Blackbird Foundation, dedicated
to inspiring and educating the community, offering workshops, conferences, and
hands-on advice about how to build self-nourishing systems which create healthy
farms, gardens and communities