Managing Urban Soils and Growing Media for Food Production
Horticulture & Turfgrass
Neith Little
Extension Educator
University of Maryland Extension
Baltimore
Abstract
In needs assessments, urban soil management consistently ranks highly as topic on which urban farmers want training and guidance. Urban growers encounter unique soil conditions, including extremely compacted and degraded anthrosols. As a result, many urban growers choose to grow in imported soils or in non-soil growing media such as compost. This is borne up in practice by farmers who request technical assistance on soil and growing media issues and organizations which request guest lectures on urban soils. This presentation will report on technical management recommendations and Extension program delivery methods from Maryland's Urban Agriculture Extension Program, which has responded to these needs by developing and teaching research-based material on four topics areas: (1) introduction to soil science, (2) soil contamination risk assessment and management, (3) managing salinity and pH in high tunnels, and (4) managing man-made growing media. Since 2016, this urban soil management program has offered 32 events, with 1,036 participants, and 24 class hrs.
Authors: Neith Little, Andrew Ristvey
-
Neith Little Extension Educator, University of Maryland Extension, Maryland, 21215
-
Andrew Ristvey Extension Specialist, University of Maryland Extension, Maryland, 21658