Somerville Garden Club

Gardening for the Planet in Your Own Backyard: Permaculture and Carbon Sequestration. Soil is alive with more microbes in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on this planet. Only in recent years have we begun to understand the full potential of a thriving soil to rapidly sequester carbon, store and filter water, buffer extremes, break down toxins, and support biodiverse ecosystems. Guided by the principles of permaculture (also known as agroecology), gardeners can learn to become stewards of the immense thriving world beneath our feet. Learning these skills not only has benefits for our gardens and the food we grow, but also for our local ecosystems, watersheds, communities, and for the planet.

Presenter Allison Houghton is a soil, plant and natural world enthusiast. She is a Soil Health Advisor, Writer, and Naturalist She recently wrote the gardening guide The Carbon Sequestering Garden: Gardening for the Planet While Growing Some of the Best Food Possible. She has played many roles over the past few years as a gardener, farmer, teacher, writer, mother, and naturalist, including as former Director of Horticulture at Green City Growers in Somerville where she wrote the gardening guide, and The Urban Bounty: How To Grow Fresh Food, Anywhere. She currently works at the Northeast Organic Farming Association with their soil technical assistance program.

All Somerville Garden Club meetings are free and open to the public. 7-9pm. Meetings are held the at the Tufts Administration Building, (TAB), 167 Holland Street, second floor, wheelchair accessible. Parking is available, and the building is a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square MBTA stop.