Soil 3D Skill Share

Soil 3D Skill Share (in person) with soil scientist Tiffany LaShae and Soul Fire Farm's Briana Alfaro.

The 3D series is a multidimensional workshop series designed for B.I.P.O.C. (Black, Indigenous, &/or People of Color) to deepen skills in specific farming and land stewardship practices in a culturally relevant, supportive, and joyful environment.

“Our duty as earthkeepers is to call the exiled carbon back into the land and to bring the soil life home.” - Larisa Jacobson, Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust

Healthy soils are the foundation of productive and sustainable agriculture and a healthy planet. Managing healthy soils begins by assessing their unique characteristics and understanding how these characteristics impact behavior. Taking a close look at the soil to understand its vitality and fertility isn’t new. Long before the western study of soil science, Indigenous communities practiced--and still practice--methods of evaluating soil health, using characteristics like color or the presence of specific plants or insects that tell us something about the system as a whole.

Join Tiffany and Briana as we explore soil properties such as texture, structure, and color. Together we will learn how to assess soil pH, hardness, aggregate stability, and water infiltration, and learn how to create a soil auger profile to help us understand the story of our soils.

Language: The instruction will be delivered in English.

Cost: The sliding scale is $15-100. Please think generously - what could be more important to contribute to than living food, land sovereignty, and skilled farmers spreading the love and knowledge?! Please let us know if this is a barrier for you, as no one is turned away for lack of funds.

Meal: A gluten-free, plant-based lunch will be provided. If you have other dietary restrictions, we kindly ask that you bring your own meal.

The workshop is designed to be a culturally relevant and safe space that centers Black, Indigenous and People of Color (read why here).

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES

Weather: We gather rain or shine. Please check and dress for the weather, and remember it's always mud season on the farm. Please wear mud/rain/work boots, clothes that can get dirty, layers, gloves, and rain gear if rain is forecasted. Bring a clean change of clothes for your ride home. In the summer, a sun hat and sunscreen are also recommended.

Terrain: The farm is situated on sloped, uneven and often muddy ground. There is a small stream with a stone crossing.

Water: Please bring a reusable water bottle and avoid single use plastic containers.

Bathroom: There are 3 indoor bathrooms available year round. After the last frost and before the first frost, the bathhouse with 3 additional restrooms will be available for guests. There are also multiple sinks for hand washing and filling water bottles.

Sensory Environment: There may be multiple conversations or background noise happening at once. Depending on the task and location, it may be difficult to hear low voices

Interaction level: Medium. We will invite guests to share personal stories and will ask a variety of questions about people’s experience with farming. However, participation is optional.

Breaks: We will collectively take a 45-minute lunch break. There will be picnic tables with bench seating available during the break.

Animals: There are goats, chickens, free range cats and our working farm dog Jax present. No other animals are permitted on the farm except qualified service animals under the ADA. If you are bringing a service animal, please let us know by emailing programs@soulfirefarm.org at least 5 business days before the scheduled event. In your email, please include the type of animal and the work or task the animal has been trained to do. Service animals must be kept on leash, under control, and away from crops and livestock at all times. Pets and emotional support animals are not permitted on the farm.

Ride Share: While Uber and Lyft are available to the farm, they DO NOT provide service from the farm. Please ensure you have a ride from the farm that is not an Uber or Lyft.

Check out responses to other FAQs. Email programs@soulfirefarm.org if you have additional questions or accommodation requests. Please email requests at least 2 weeks in advance when possible.

Presenters:

Tiffany LaShae (she/her) is a farmer, soil steward, and educator. She facilitates in field farmer-led soil research and accessible soil health assessments and recommendations. She has facilitated programs such as Soul Fire Farm Farming Immersions, Land Stewardship Project Farm Beginnings, Climate Land Leaders Soil Health Investigations, The Food Group/Big River Farms Farmer Field Days and Soil Health Demonstration Site, and more.

Tiffany conducted research with the University of Minnesota. The Soil and The Story is a multi-method study integrating soil health and soil stories of Black farmers in the Southeast United States. The Soil and The Story celebrates Black Soilship in the Black Belt Region. “Black soilship is our burdensome, yet beautiful relationship with the soil. It is our ability to dance upon the same soil enriched with our ancestors' blood…”

Tiffany has worked with farmers in Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Madagascar, Mozambique, Ghana, Malawi, and more. She is currently working to create an education farm in Rwanda - teaching soil health, climate change mitigation, agroforestry and seed sovereignty.

Briana Alfaro (she/her) is a multiracial, Mexican and Indigenous gardener, educator, writer, and activist who grew up in the beautiful Kumeyaay valley known as Escondido, CA. She delights in building community through food and farming—sparking warmth, healing, and transformation within herself and beyond. She co-creates educational offerings as Director of Program Administration & Partnerships at Soul Fire Farm.

Her passion for land stewardship and agriculture is rooted in a long-held infatuation with food and cooking; in her family’s experience as campesino farmers and US farm workers; and in a love of nature cultivated by family camping trips as a child. She is a student of plant medicine, fiber arts, language justice, and soil. In addition to 20+ years of restaurant and farm experience, she has worked with National Young Farmers Coalition, Northeast Organic Farming Association of NY, and San Diego Food System Alliance. She holds a M.S. Food Studies from Syracuse University and a B.A. Journalism from Humboldt University.

Briana lives in unceded Gayogohó:nǫ˺ territory, in Ithaca, NY, with her partner and their cat and dog.

About the organizer

Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered training farm committed to ending racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. Our food sovereignty programs reach over 10,000 people each year, including farmer training for Black and Brown growers, reparations and land return initiatives for northeast farmers, food justice workshops for urban youth, home gardens for city-dwellers living under food apartheid, doorstep harvest delivery for food insecure households, and systems and policy education for public decision-makers.