Soil Festival

Dig in the dirt at the 5th annual Food Well Alliance event

By Grace Huseth

Food Well Alliance spends most of their days helping gardens and farms grow local greens and vegetables. But this spring they are getting down to earth, whether it’s collecting scraps for compost piles or collecting tools to work the land.

During the 5th annual Soil Festival on May 4, Food Well Alliance will be previewing a Community Compost Learning Lab at the Truly Living Well urban farm. The lab’s focus on composting education is the only one of its kind in the area and will continue to be a learning resource for all farmers, gardeners and home composters after the festival.

The groundbreaking lab shows what’s really inside a compost pile: the layers of low nitrogen, such as prunings, garden waste and soil, between layers of high nitrogen found in grass clippings or kitchen food scraps. A composting demonstration during the Soil Festival will show the benefits of using local compost to improve and maintain high quality soil and to grow healthy food.

“You have to have a connection to where healthy food is coming from, to the person who grew it, to the soil, to the land. That’s when you start to see our personal food choices change,” said Kim Karris, Executive Director of Food Well Alliance.

Those visiting Truly Living Well urban farm will also be able to participate in workshops on gardening, composting and beekeeping. Making education fun for all ages, Food Well Alliance will host a children’s corner with garden-based activities and story time, a petting zoo, a visit from the STE(A)M Truck and a variety of urban agriculture exhibitors along with music and complimentary farm-to-table food.

The Soil Festival is free, but Food Well Alliance is asking for an unusual entry fee: they are encouraging all attendees to bring kitchen scraps to the event to support the production of healthy soil in Atlanta.

“Not everyone [may] be a gardener or farmer, but everyone eats and everyone can support their neighborhood garden or farm just by separating their food scraps and putting it back into the local soil,” Karris said.

The Community Compost Learning Lab is for people all over Atlanta to come and see how composting can be done in an urban setting. It’s an opportunity for residents nearby, as well as schools and restaurants nearby, to drop off their food scraps to produce not only high quality, nutrient dense compost for Truly Living Well, but for other farms in the future.

Food Well Alliance is also working in partnership with the Atlanta Community ToolBank and the City of Atlanta to create a farm and garden tool lending program. Thanks to a $10,000 donation from Whole Foods Market, the lending program is already acquiring tools most needed by urban growers.

Rather than each small urban farm investing thousands of dollars in tractors and tillers, Food Well Alliance plans to share equipment with like-minded growers. After receiving certification for each machine, farmers and gardeners will have access to borrow any of the heavy equipment at the ToolBank for free.

“It’s always about the food and the people who grow this food, so we’re working collaboratively with partner organizations to find tangible other resources to support our local growers,” Karris said.

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Festive Friday, a neighborhood block party and benefit for Zonolite Park and Nickel Bottom Garden, will return on May 3, 2019 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. with drinks, food trucks, live music, an artisan market, and activities for kids. Admission is $5. Visit festivefriday.com for more information.

Wylde Night, an art event to honor Oakhurst Community Garden founder Sally Wylde, will be held May 4 from 6 to 11 p.m. at Chosewood Arts Ccomplex, 420 McDonough Blvd. SE. There will be music, refreshments, cash bar and more. For tickets, visit wyldecenter.org.

Trees Atlanta will host a Mother’s Day Nature Walk from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. as naturalist Zach Lim offers a guided, interpretative tour of Springvale Park (Inman Park) and its plants, trees, and wildlife. This walk is ideal for families with children of any age. Wear outdoor clothing, such as hiking boots and comfortable clothes, to be prepared to get close to nature. For more information and to RSVP, visit treesatlanta.org.