| Take control of your soil’s health in 2025! CT NOFA has a new roster of microscopy courses slated for early in 2025. Trainings include three recorded virtual sessions (made available to participants at time of registration) and 1 in-person session, at which participants will receive an OMAX digital compound microscope to keep. Participants will choose their in-person training location/date at registration from the list, below. January 23: Ocean House Farm in Newport, RI January 25: Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA February 8: The Hickories Farm in Ridgefield, CT February 15: Common Ground High School in New Haven, CT March 15: Woven Roots Farm in Tyringham, MA Register here. |
Participants will view various soils and composts, looking at the different soil structures and the microbes that thrive in healthy soil. Demonstrations include how to prepare a slide for viewing, what you might find and how to evaluate your findings. Participants will be trained to analyze the following:
- Bacteria : Fungi ratios – what they mean and why they’re important
Aggregate structure in soil/compost
Bacteria numbers and diversity
Quality of fungi and what that means for your soil
Predators – identify and quantify both aerobic and anaerobic microbes
Compost tea and extracts – microbial populations that exist in real time
Throughout the training we will discuss ways to create healthy, living soil using regenerative agriculture techniques. At the completion of the training you will be ready to use your microscope to evaluate soil and compost, with the ability to store the information in written and visual form, to share, and compare with future samples.
Training includes:
OMAX Digital Compound Microscope (yours to keep)
Three Recorded Virtual Training Sessions
One In-Person training
COURSE COST IS $600.