Building on what we covered in the first session, we will now delve underground and take a close look at how plants get their nutrients from the soil. We will explore how supporting life in the soil is fundamental to achieving and maintaining a healthy soil, which will in turn gives us healthy and vigorous crops.

We will spend some time unpicking the significance of mineral composition of the soil and understanding the role played by soil pH in the growing of our crops. Mulching will emerge as a key practice in maintaining the health of our soil; which will lead us to explore the benefits of a ‘no-dig’ approach to organic horticulture and why this can help us achieve higher yields. We will cover how to start the practice of ‘no-dig’, or if we have been digging our plots, how to switch to ‘no-dig’ – it’s never too late to change to ‘no-dig’! We will also investigate how to deal with annual and perennial weeds following a no-dig approach.

Our speaker Elena Trivelli was the Coordinator for two Capital Growth Allotments in the Royal Parks, after working and volunteering in therapeutic and community gardens in London over the last six years. She studied Organic Horticulture at OrganicLea and is qualified in Permaculture, and No Dig Gardening with Charles Dowding.

Our Co-host is Richard Andrews, Project Manager, Grow to Give & Director of Grow Together Bucks CIC

We are also running 2 other events:

Grow More- Maximising yield, succession planting and creating compost - 4/5

Know your friends and foes and find your companions - 15/6

The event will be recorded and be available on our website www.growtogive.co.uk