SOILstart – Regenerative Soil Health & Management (1 day)

About This Event

Healthy soil underpins every successful growing system. SOILstart is a focused, practical introduction to regenerative soil management, suitable for growers, gardeners and those considering food production as an income.

This LANTRA-certified day covers:

What soil is and how it functions
What soil needs to remain productive
Composting techniques and materials
No-dig systems and their benefits
Polycultures and fertility plantings

The emphasis is on practical understanding, helping you make informed decisions about soil care that improve resilience, reduce inputs and support long-term productivity.

This day also forms part of the full FARMStart programme, but can be attended as a standalone qualification. Lunch and all refreshments are included, using as much produce as possible from the market garden.

Course Facilitator
Rachel Hammond is an experienced grower and educator specialising in regenerative, perennial-led and agroforestry market garden systems. She has developed and demonstrated a 75% perennial, climate-resilient and commercially viable market garden model, designed to balance productivity, biodiversity and profitability.

Rachel’s teaching is practical, honest and grounded in lived experience. She is particularly skilled at helping people understand what works in reality – including labour, margins, and long-term sustainability – rather than idealised growing models.

Her approach combines ecological thinking with commercial clarity, making FARMStart especially valuable for those serious about turning growing into a livelihood.

Course Setting
You’ll be learning within:
A working market garden, designed around permaculture principles
The Grange Hub, a purpose-built education and community space
Wide, open views across the rewilding site

The setting supports learning that is grounded, practical and unhurried, with time to ask questions, share experiences and connect skills to a wider ecological context.