Learn the SCIENCE behind our model

• The soil growing/composting techniques

• The farming techniques

• The fish raising techniques including the aquaponics system of fertilization and filtration

• The creation of a solar or other renewable powered motor and pump to operate the aquaponics system

• Planting and harvesting cycles

• Maintaining temperatures appropriate for successful growing using worm compost and solar operated fans

Learn the MATH behind our model:

• How many plants can we grow based on the fertilized water of a 600-gallon 8-1/2' diameter x 3' high aquaponics tank?

• Figuring out how many people we need to harvest and plant
• Based on the length of the growing cycle for each plant, how much can we grow?

Learn the DESIGN of our model:

• Hoop house and aquaponics design and building                                                                                                                                  
  
• Composting: getting it to the site and enriching it with worms to make "soil"
  
• The multi-level growing system

Learn the DANCE of our model -- reaching out to the community: 

• Seeking donations, grants and fundraising
• Organizing and educating volunteers
  
• Teaching ZERO WASTE food preparation techniques including: 

    stock making, pickling and fermentation, canning and preservation





                                             

  

growingSOUL Core Curriculum:
Closing the Loop: Creating a Sustainable Food System in a Season

Over the course of a season, participants will learn the fundamentals of creating and participating in a sustainable, local food system. We begin by learning the importance of composting, diverting valuable nutrients out of the landfill in order to arc-weld a broken, linear food  into a self-sustained closed-loop food cycle.  We take our students through all of the cutting edge zero-waste methods of growing, harvesting, preparing, preserving, distributing and recycling their own food. Students decide on a group prepared food product (pickles, pesto, kim chi, salsa, sauces, or herbal vinegars) and develop a marketing plan and campaign for it as well.

Connect with us as we explore, learn about and create a zero-waste, sustainable food system. Our curriculum is a hands-on experience, creating a closed-loop food system fueled by waste vegetable oil and includes: vermicomposting, composting, nutrition, aquaponics, and container food production of shoots and greens, simple preparation and preservation of foods including canning and fermenting pickles, kim chi and salsa, and recycling and filtering tortilla chip fryer oil to run a mobile farmers market!

Please join us as we connect, educate and nourish our community to grow the healthy soil in which good food and strong communities grow & thrive.
 

Lesson 1: Discussing Closing the Loop: Where does Your Food Come From?;  Interconnecting Composting, Food Production, Processing,  Preservation, and Distribution; Deciding A Final Group Product: pickles & kim chi, salsa & pasta sauce, or pesto & herb vinegars


Lessons 2&3: Nature’s Cycles & the Importance of Soil; Why Compost?; The Wonder of Worms: Vermicomposting, Platinum for Plants; Building a Worm Bin, Harvesting Castings for Shoot Production & Recycling Worms Back into the Vermicompost System


Lesson 4: The Foundation of Building a Movable Food System: Container Gardening; Planting to Grow Shoots in castings & coir from seeds and beans the students bring in

Lessons 5 &6: Aquaponics: Farming with Fish: The Ultimate Closed-Loop Growing System; Set up pickles & kim chi, salsa & pasta sauce, or pesto & herb vinegars container gardening; monitor shoot production

Lesson 7: Coloring Our Plates with a Rainbow of Seasonal Foods; Introduce the most nutrient rich produce grown locally; harvest shoots for a home-grown snack

The most Nutrient Rich Foods we Can Grow Locally:
in ground (raised beds, compost berms, 4 gallon pots): sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, daikon, ginger, garlic, onions

above ground (raised beds, berms) brassicas - cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts

greens in pots above ground kim chi & pesto garden (raised beds, compost berms, 1 gallon pots): kale, chard, spinach, collards, mustard greens, green onion

fruiting vines as base for salsa / pizza sauce garden (in pots with cages, aquaponics) tomatoes, peppers

herbs (in pots in aquaponics): cilantro, basil, parsley, thyme, chives

shoots (in flats with castings and coir): sunflower, peas, chia, lentils, radish, broccoli

Lesson 8: Preserving our Food: Fermenting, Pickling & Canning

Lesson 9: The Foundation of Building a Movable Food System: Fueling It by Reusing Straight Waste-Vegetable Oil and Recycling WVO into Bio-Diesel


Lesson 10: Let’s Eat: Preparing the “Fruits” of our Labor: Making Simple Seasonal Snacks on a Budget: Spectacular Salads, pickles, kim chi and a Plethora of Pestos

We look to all of you for input into growingSOUL!