Want a great way to mark the end of August, do something great for the environment, get some outdoor physical exercise, time in nature AND socialize with like-minded folks. Why not join us at Forêt Capitale Forest’s base of operations at the Just Food Community Farm at 2391 Pepin Court this Wednesday, August 31st any time between 4 – 7 pm.

The task at hand is to move mountains of wood chips in and around the hundreds of trees, shrubs and forbs planted in our Tiny Forest Demonstration plots, to form a thick mulch layer (several inches in depth). We will also be applying a mycorrhizal inoculant upon completion of the mulching. We have wheelbarrows, buckets and shovels and encourage participants to bring work gloves and a mask (to avoid breathing in the wood chip dust).

Mulching these plots helps mimic an established forest floor and encourage a healthy soil microbiome (soil active with a diverse set of fungi, bacteria and other beneficial microbes). The soil’s microbial ecosystem helps the trees intake water and nutrients, allowing them to grow quickly and be more resilient against disease and unpredictable climate events (see a good description of the underlying mechanisms that make this soil magic possible in the American Society for Microbiology article “Unearthing the Soil Microbiome, Climate Change, Carbon Storage Nexus“).

If you have not been to the Just Food Community Farm at 2391 Pepin Court before, please see this map that shows you can park behind the big red barn, and then walk over to the Tiny Forest Demonstration plots (marked with a Mulching Party Location marker on the map). We will encourage participants to not only help to mulch, but tour through the Red Barn Food Forest (the rest of our base of operations), during the event.

Please RRSP to comms@foretcapitaleforest.ca if you plan to join in the fun, we will reserve a shovel for you!