Soil Health, Youth Leadership, and Food Security: Tapley Garden Webinar

What does it take to create food security in your local community? Over the last 8 years, the Tapley Youth Agricultural Scientists (YAS!) have been building soil health, cultivating culturally relevant crops, and growing nutrient-dense food for their community. The Tapley garden is a model for urban agriculture centered around soil health, healthy food, and leadership development.

With the support of MDAR, the stewards of this garden have been able to conduct soil health assessments with microbiometers and microscopes. They’ve learned how to confront the challenges of building healthy soil in urban spaces. They’ve developed an intensive and productive food source. They’ve found ways to plant, adapt and cultivate crops valued by their communities. They’ve even started exploring how to produce value-added products! 

In this webinar, the youth will walk you through the critical soil health techniques – mulching, soil ferments, cover cropping – that build soil health. They’ll discuss how they test soil using a variety of methods. They’ll share lessons on planning an intensive garden to maximize yields and optimize space. 

If you’ve wanted to start planning for a community garden in your community, this is a must-watch webinar!