Healthy Soil for the Home Garden

Healthy soil is the foundation of a thriving garden and a resilient backyard ecosystem. In this practical workshop, participants will explore what soil health means from a home gardener's perspective and learn simple, accessible ways to improve the soil they already have.

We will look beneath the surface to understand how soil structure, organic matter, water, nutrients, roots, and soil organisms work together to support healthy plants. Participants will learn how common gardening practices—including mulching, composting, reducing soil disturbance, keeping living roots in the ground, and increasing plant diversity—can help build healthier soils over time.

Special attention will be given to creating soil conditions that support native plants and pollinator habitat, including approaches that avoid unnecessary fertilizers and amendments while improving water infiltration, nutrient cycling, and biological activity.

The workshop will emphasize observation and practical decision-making rather than complicated testing or expensive products. Participants will leave with a better understanding of how to evaluate their own backyard soils and a set of realistic practices they can begin using to build healthier soil, healthier plants, and more resilient habitat.

Rubén Parrilla is the Education Director and Soil Technical Coordinator at NOFA/Mass, where he develops and leads educational programs focused on soil health, regenerative agriculture, composting, and ecological land management. With a background in environmental laboratory science and soil biology, his work focuses on translating soil science into practical, accessible approaches that farmers, gardeners, and land stewards can use to better understand and manage their soils. He is a Soil Food Web School Certified Lab Technician and has completed advanced training in Korean Natural Farming and biological soil management.