Many have the perception that just because it is organic than it has to be good. Things are not exactly like that. For example, there are organic pesticides which are indiscriminate in their effect, killing both harmful and beneficial insects. Like everything else, to be beneficial, gardening has to be sustainable and that is what this course is all about.
The lecturer for this course will be Peter Gatt. Peter is now retired after a career of more than 40 years in banking. But his love for animals and nature in general was always evident in his various hobbies.
For 28 years he bred and showed 'Il-Kelb tal Fenek', a local breed of dog. He exported this breed to the USA, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Morocco, UAE and China. He promoted the breed abroad and fought for the Maltese name of Kelb tal-Fenek to be used for this breed instead of the fancy name of Pharaoh hound by which some breeders referred to. In 1990, Peter started a joint web site to promote the breed and was the official judge for the breed in Holland, Sweden and in the USA.
He was interested in gardening since a very young age, and was always helping his grandfather in his garden. He took the hobby seriously for the past 20 - 25 years. Peter attended various MCAST and University courses and even wrote a book on sustainable gardening (not yet published). He is such a believer in sustainability that in the last 5 years he also started to keep bees which obviously is very beneficial both for his garden as well as for the environment in general.
Course details:
Subject: Sustainable Organic Gardening
Duration: 12 sessions of 2 hours each totalling 24 hours.
Dates: Every Saturday starting from 1st April 2017 to 17th June 2017.
Time: 09:30
Place: Il-Majjistral Visitor Centre
This is a very comprehensive course and the subject matter to be discussed during this course will be as follows:
· Plant Nutrients
· Chemical fertilizers / insecticides / fungicides and their effects
· Soil types
· Soil biodiversity
· Soil organisms and their effect on plants and soil
· Soil eco-system
· The EU Thematic strategy for soil protection
· Compost & compost tea
· Wormery – how to build it.
· Benefits of vermicompost
· Worm tea; how to make it; how to use it; benefits.
· Humus
· Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
· Endo & Ecto Mycorrhizal fungi.
· Glomalin
· Crop rotation
· Green Manure
· No-Dig gardening
· Mulch
· Companion planting
· Water-wise gardening; watering systems.
· Drought tolerant plants; more use of Maltese indigenous plants.
· Natural pest control (IPM)
· Organic fertilizers
For booking send an email to walks@majjistral.org.
Places limited and booking on a first come first served basis.
Closing date for booking Sunday 26th March 2017.