This year, Food Well Alliance is bringing community gardeners, school gardeners, backyard gardeners, urban farmers and the local food community together for our annual Soil Festival as we kick off International Compost Awareness Week (May 7- 13).

Soil Festival 2017 will raise awareness of the benefits of using compost to improve and maintain high quality soil and to grow healthy food.

During this year’s festivities, dig in and meet fellow gardeners and visit all of the exhibitors who will be sharing resources and tools to help you enjoy the successes of gardening. We will also be offering bags of compost to attendees and registering community gardens for cubic yards of organic compost for their gardens.

EVENT DETAILS

Join us on May 6, 2017 at Truly Living Well's Collegetown Farm to get the resources you need for your garden while meeting fellow growers and local food enthusiasts. Here are some of the exciting activities to look forward to during this year’s event:

• Take home bags of compost, and register to win a cubic yard of compost for your garden

• Take a gardening, composting or garden-based education workshop

• Bring soil from your garden for complimentary testing

• Invite students to dig in some fun activities about gardening and soil

• Get technical assistance and answers to your garden questions

• Enjoy delicious locally-grown food and drinks

WIN 1,200 POUNDS OF COMPOST

Everyone also has a chance to pick up organic compost at Soil Fest 2017 this year, but only a few will get 1,200 pounds of it delivered directly to their garden!

We will be giving away 200 individual bags of compost (one cubic foot) per each registered gardener. First come first serve! The more gardeners from your community garden attend Soil Fest, the more bags of compost you will bring back to the garden.

Need more than a bag of compost? Community gardeners, you can win one cubic yard (that’s 1200 pounds!) of organic compost and have it delivered directly to your garden.

Here’s how:

• Attend Soil Fest 2017 on May 5, 2017 from 1pm to 5pm

• Register your community or school garden and complete an on-site survey when you arrive at Soil Fest 2017

• Give consent to share your garden on the Food Well Alliance interactive garden map

• Garden must be located in Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, Clayton, or Gwinnett county

• Gardeners must be currently growing and composting at their community or school garden

• Gardens located in low-access neighborhoods will receive priority

• Gardeners from the same community garden who complete the survey on-site will increase their chances

Note:

• Up to three individual gardeners per community garden can win one cubic yard each (based on garden size)

• Awarded gardeners will be notified in June to coordinate deliveries

SOIL TESTING

During the festival, we will also be offering you the chance to bring a sample of your soil for TWO complimentary soil tests. More information to come.

Come out with your fellow garden members, family, friends and neighbors to learn how each of us can help to preserve soil and continue growing healthier communities at Soil Festival.