Teacher Bio
My name is Gerrit Van Houweling. I grew up in the High Desert of Central Oregon on a small 10-acre farm where learning to connect with nature and wildlife was a big part of my everyday life and my favorite past time. After High School I began splitting my time between community college where I studied plant Dendrology, and local food farms specializing in crop optimization and soil health. From there my deep appreciation for Organic and Holistic farming approaches continued to grow and at the age of 19 I started my first micro-farm growing various medicinal herbs.

Through the complex hurdles of farming in such a difficult bioregion, I had to learn much about resourceful and natural farming techniques involving building healthy soils from scratch, water wise farming, composting, and soil microbiology. These challenges inspired me into furthering my education and knowledge base and eventually led me to learning and integrating many natural farming methods to the land including the Fukuoka method, JADAM, KNF, AACT, and Bokashi. After attending 2 workshop courses in Southern Oregon in 2018, I became a certified educator for both JADAM and KNF and have led workshops around Oregon and Puerto Rico. In 2024, I finally had the privilege to attend my first PDC through the wonderful people at the Caribbean Agroforestry Institute and never turned back.

I am now owner and operator of High Desert Soil Alchemy, a local soil focused company where we offer an array of services, educational content and products tailored to improving soils, mother earth, and human beings. I currently still live in the high desert of Central Oregon where my family and I steward two 5-acre regenerative farms and example sites. On the Farm we practice permaculture design and many regenerative, biodynamic techniques and hope to introduce more people to ecological farming approaches and re-greening the desert! I love talking soils and cherish the opportunity to spread this knowledge with more of the world! 

SATURDAY, Oct 25th: 9am - 5pm

DAY 1: 

9:00 am - Tea, welcomes, names, quick orientation.

9:30 am - Guided meditation with soil in hand + sun and earth salutations.

9:45 am - Participant introductions. What are you hoping to learn?

10:15 am - Who? what? where? why? and how's? of JADAM, KNF, AACT, and Bokashi.

11:00 am - JADAM, KNF, AACT, Bokashi principles.

11:45 am - Q&A

12:00 pm - Lunch/potluck

1:00 pm - Aerobic and Anaerobic microbes explained + Mycorrhizal Fungi.

1:45 pm - Leaf Mold Soil (LMS) and Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO's) + Sea water.

2:30 pm - Collect Leaf Mold Soil on site (different microclimates/elevations) + brief introduction on KNF collection boxes.

3:30 pm - KNF, JADAM, Satori Farms Nutrient Cycle Theory.

4:30 pm - Q&A

4:45 pm - Soil prayer

5:00 pm - Finished

SUNDAY, Oct 26th: 9am - 5pm

DAY 2:

9:00 am - Tea and Greetings.

9:15 am - Group meditation with LMS in hands.

9:30 am - Collect plants and fruits from farm to ferment. 

10:30 am - How to basics for making ferments and inputs (Temperature, Timing, Sourcing, Ratios, Containers, and Storage for JLF, JMS, FPJ, FFJ, IMO, AACT, and Bokashi).

11:50 am - Q&A

12:00 pm - Lunch/potluck

1:00 pm - Tailor making inputs for crop optimization (timing and nutrient sources, locally and abroad).

2:00 pm - Make ferments and inputs with class!

KNF: FAA, FFJ, FPJ + IMO/IMO 2 if ready

JADAM: JMS + N, P, K, Ca, Sl, Trace mineral and Balanced JLF

AACT/BOKASHI demo if time.

3:30 pm - Reveal pre-made ferments to class + apply to farm

4:30 pm - Q&A, Books, Farms, Resources

5:00 pm - Soil Prayer - Finished!