Organic Grower's School 1994-2012

Signs of hope escape our eyes easily; we like to see the doom.
Here's some good news: Attendance at the OGS doubles every five years.
Can we shrink our carbon footprint as quickly as this grows (15%)?
Easily, no. Impossible? Probably not.
(tabled updated every year or so since 2008)

Year # Attendance % growth 1994 1st 100 1995 2nd 213 213% 1996 3rd 141 66% 1997 4th 160 113% 1998 5th 230 144% 1999 6th 430 187% 2000 7th 392 91% 2001 8th 500 128% 2002 9th 533 107% 2003 10th 609 114% 2004 11th 683 112% 2005 12th 800 117% 2006 13th 900 113% 2007 14th 1000 111% 2008 15th 1200 120% 2009 16th 1300 108% 2010 17th 1500 115% 2011 18th 1679 112% 2012 19th 1906 114% Average annual growth= 14.8

Average doubling time = 4.9 years

Figures courtesy of

Meredith Leigh McKissick

Director, Organic Growers School

Crooked Creek Farms; Sweet Earth Flower Farm

www.sweetearthflowers.com

Click Here to Read More..

If everyone told you to give up, would you?

If everyone told you to give up, would you?
*************************
The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.

But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.

If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?

A new documentary, The Garden, follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:

Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public?

And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”

If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?
http://www.blackvalleyfilms.com/trailer
* * *

The Garden has the pulse of verité with the narrative pull of fiction, telling the story of the country’s largest urban farm, backroom deals, land developers, green politics, money, poverty, power, and racial discord. The film explores and exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality, and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.
Click Here to Read More..

An Open Letter to Obama on the next Secretary of Agriculture

The following letter is signed by
Wes Jackson, Wendell Berry, Alice Waters, Marion Nestle and Bill McKibben,
among others.

They suggest some people they think would be good for the next Secretary of Agriculture:

# Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture.
# Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Neb.
# Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture for North Dakota, lawyer, Bismarck, N.D.
# Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Ames, Iowa, and president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, NY.
# Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State, former policy analyst in Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich, co-founder of the Institute for
Agriculture and Trade Policy.
# Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director of the Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.


Jim Barton
http://smithmillcreek.blogspot.com

******************************

Dear President-Elect Obama,

We congratulate you on your historic victory and welcome the change that your election
promises to usher in for our nation. As leaders in the sustainable agriculture and rural
advocacy community we supported you in record numbers during the caucus, primary
and general election because of the family farm-friendly p olicies that you advocated
during your campaign.

As our nation's future president, we hope that you will take our concerns under
advisement when nominating our next Secretary of Agriculture because of the crucial
role this Secretary will play in revitalizing our rural economies, protecting our nation's
food supply and our environment, improving human health and well-being, rescuing the
independent family farmer, and creating a sustainable renewable energy future.

We believe that our nation is at a critical juncture in regard to agriculture and its impact
on the environment and that our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a broad vision
for our collective future that is greater than what past appointments have called for.

Presently, farmers face serious challenges in terms of the high costs of energy, inputs and
land, as well as continually having to fight an economic system and legislative policies
that undermine their ability to compete in the open market. The current system
unnaturally favors economies of scale, consolidation and market concentration and the
allocation of massive subsidies for commodities, all of which benefit the interests of
corporate agribusiness over the livelihoods of farm families.

In addition, America must come to understand the environmental and human health
implications of industrialized agriculture. From rising childhood and adult obesity to
issues of fo od safety, global warming and air and water pollution, we believe our next
Secretary of Agriculture must have a vision that calls for:
• recreating regional food systems,
• supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and
• protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker's rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.

Today we have a nutritional and environmental deficit that is as real and as great as that
of our national debt and must be addressed with forward thinking and bold, decisive
action. To deal with this crisis, our next Secretary of Agriculture must work to advance a
new era of sustainability in agriculture, humane husbandry, food and renewable energy
production that revitalizes our nation's soil, air and water while stimulating opportunities
for new farmers to return to the land.

We believe that a new administration should address our nation's growing health
problems by promoting a children's school lunch program that incorporates more healthy
food choices, including the creation of opportunities for schools to purchase food from
local sources that place a high emphasis on nutrition and sustainable farming practices.
We recognize that our children's health is our nation's future and that currently schools
are unable to meet these needs because they do not have the financial resources to inve st
in better food choices. We believe this reflects and is in line with your emphasis on
childhood education as a child's health and nutrition are fundamental to their academic
success.

We understand that this is a tall order, but one that is consistent with the values and
policies that you advocated for in your bid for the White House. We realize that more
conventional candidates are likely under consideration; however, we feel strongly that the
next head of the USDA should have a significant grassroots background in promoting
sustainable agriculture to create a prosperous future for rural America and a healthy
future for all of America's citizens.

With this in mind, we are offering a list of leaders who have demonstrated a commitment
to the goals that you articulated during your campaign and we encourage you to consider
them for the role of Secretary of Agriculture.


Signatories:



1. David Murphy, Clear Lake, IA
2. Paul Willis, Thornton, IA
3. Michael Pollan, Berkeley, CA
4. Bill Niman, Bolinas, CA
5. Nicolette Hahn Niman, Bolinas, CA
6. Diane Halverson, Northfield, MN
7. Marlene Halverson, Northfield, MN
8. Aaron Woolf, Elizabethtown, NY
9. Judy Wicks, Philadelphia, PA
10. Wendy Wasserman, Iowa City, IA
11. Anna Lappé, Brooklyn, NY
12. Cornelia Butler Flora, Ames, IA
13. Eleanor Bertino, San Francisco, CA
14. Wes Jackson, Salina, KS
15. Wendell Berry, Port Royal, KY
16. Alice Waters, Berkeley, CA
17. Marion Nestle, New York, NY
18. Bill McKibben, Middlebury, VT
19. Rick Dove, New Bern, NC
20. Ann Cooper, Berkeley, CA
21. Michel Nischan, Fairfield, CT
22. Jerry DeWitt, Ames, IA
23. Michael Dimock, San Francisco, CA
24. Jim Harkness, Minneapolis, MN
25. Frank Reese, Lindsborg, KS
26. Jeff Odefey, Irvington, NY
27. Cathy Liss, Alexandria, VA
28. Eric Schlosser, Monterey, CA
29. Leigh Adcock, Ames, IA
30. Dan Barber, Pocantico Hills, NY
31. Francis Thicke, Fairfield, IA
32. Josh Viertel, Brooklyn, NY
33. Peter Hoffman, New York, NY
34. Tom Philpott, Valle Crucis, NC
35. Hillary Wilson, Valle Crucis, NC
36. Dan Imhoff, Healdsburg, CA
37. Michael Stumo, Sheffield, MA
38. Simran Sethi, Lawrence, KS
39. Lisa Stokke, Clear Lake, IA
40. Sarah Willis, Thornton, IA
41. Peter Kaminsky, Brooklyn, NY
42. Kurt Michael Friese, Iowa City, IA
43. Carl Safina, Stony Brook, NY
44. Anthony Garrett, Washington, DC
45. Eliza Maclean, Snow Camp, NC
46. Odessa Piper, Silver Spring, MD
47. Edward Behr, Barnet, VT
48. Phyllis Willis, Thornton, IA
49. Larry Cleverley, Mingo, IA
50. Jesse Ziff Cool, Menlo Park, CA
51. Curt Ellis, Austin, TX
52. Wenonah Hauter, Washington, D C
53. Patty Lovera, Washington, DC
54. John Ikerd, Columbia, MO
55. Lucia Watson, Minneapolis, MN
56. Deborah Madison, Galisteo, NM
57. George DeVault, Decorah, IA
58. Melanie DeVault, Decorah, IA
59. Andrea King Collier, Lansing, MI
60. Rosiland Creasy, Los Altos, CA
61. John Jeavons, Willits, CA
62. Samuel Fromartz, Washington DC
63. Frances Moore Lappe, Cambridge, MA
64. Denise O'Brien, Atlantic, IA
65. Arnell Hinkle, Berkeley, CA
66. Marjie Bender, Pittsboro, NC
67. Winona LaDuke, Ponsford, MN
68. Diane Hatz, New York, NY
69. Cory Schreiber, Portland, OR
70. Rick Bayless, Chicago, IL
71. Angie Tagtow, Elkhart, IA
72. Ralph Paige, East Point, GA
73. Clara Bingham, New York, NY
74. Arie McFarlen, Dell Rapids, SD
75. Bret Kortie, Dell Rapids, SD
76. Dwight Ault, Austin, MN
77. Amy P. Goldman, Rhinebeck, NY
78. Judith LaBelle, New York, NY
79. Patrick Martins, New York, NY
80. Mary Berry Smith, New Castle, KY
81. John Fisk, East Lansing, MI
82. Tim LaSalle, Kutztown, PA
83. Susan Stokes, St. Paul, MN
84. Jude Becker, Dyersville, IA

Click Here to Read More..

In Search of the Fabled Permaculture Chicken/Greenhouse

By Rob Hopkins
http://transitionculture.org/2008/10/20/in-search-of-the-fabled-permaculture-chickengreenhouse

For many years I have taught permaculture courses, and like many who do so, I start my courses with the Tale of Two Chickens. This is a very useful way of looking at inputs, outputs, and the science of maximising beneficial relationships, and it concludes with describing one of permaculture’s Holy Grails, The Chicken/Greenhouse. However, now, as I stand on the verge of actually trying to make a chicken greenhouse, I am finding it very difficult to find actual working examples of chicken/greenhouses. Might I have spent years unwittingly promoting a permaculture urban myth?

The idea is straightforward and works brilliantly on paper. Patrick Whitefield in ‘Permaculture in a Nutshell’ sets it out very clearly (you can read it here), and you can read the thinking behind the Chicken/Greenhouse here. The picture below is taken from ‘In a Nutshell’, and captures the essential idea, which is that by placing the 2 elements of chickenhouse and greenhouse together with the proper orientation, you enable, via. good design, interactions to take place that otherwise would not take place and would require energy inputs to make happen. For example, the warmth from the chickens keeps the greenhouse free of frost, the carbon dioxide from the hens benefits the plants, and so on.

Visit full article at
http://transitionculture.org/2008/10/20/in-search-of-the-fabled-permaculture-chickengreenhouse
Click link to learn more Click Here to Read More..

HomeGrown: a film about a 21st century family farm in the middle of the city

A Documentary About Modern Day Urban Homesteaders
(www.homegrown-film.com)
For screening venue information visit
http://homegrownfilm.blogspot.com

HOMEGROWN (2008) follows the Dervaes family who run a small organic farm in
the heart of urban Pasadena, California. While 'living off the grid’, they
harvest over 6,000 pounds of produce on less than a quarter of an acre, make
their own bio diesel, power their computers with the help of solar panels,
and maintain a website that gets 4,000 hits a day. The film is an intimate
human portrait of what it’s like to live like ‘Little House on the Prairie’
in the 21st Century.

**********
Director's Statement

"Many people are becoming aware of the environment. We may have gone to see
‘An Inconvenient Truth’, changed our light bulbs, or started to recycle
more. But how many of us are really walking the walk’ I know I’m not.

When I heard about the Dervaes family, I sensed that there was a human story
behind the headlines about global warming or buying organic produce. I
wanted to find out what it takes to live the life of an environmental
pioneer. I don’t wish to simply glorify or romanticize their way of life,
however. I want to show that along with the positive benefits there are also
sacrifices. Truly living by your ideals can have costs. I believe that
recognizing the hardships the Dervaes have faced makes their work all the
more inspiring.

HOMEGROWN is ultimately a family story. It’s about what lead them to where
they are today, what changed them and what keeps them together. Perhaps by
learning of their journey to a sustainable life style, we might be inspired
to take our own first steps."

About Robert McFalls

Early in his career he was an associate editor on ‘American Dream’, the
Barbara Kopple documentary, which won the Academy Award in 1990. That
experience helped him to see what a broad reach a well-crafted documentary
could have. He recently edited a documentary feature on the Dalai Lama,
which is now screening at festivals around the world.

Music

The beautiful music for this documentary was performed by our great American
homegrown musicians Jay Unger & Molly Mason.

Jay Ungar and Molly Mason are best known for their haunting composition
Ashokan Farewell in Ken Burns’ hit PBS series ‘The Civil War’’. The
soundtrack won a Grammy and Ashokan Farewell was nominated for an Emmy.
They’ve garnered legions of fans through their appearances on ‘Great
Performances’, ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, their own public radio specials,
and work on film soundtracks such as ‘Brother’s Keeper’, ‘Legends of the
Fall’, and a host of Ken Burns documentaries.

About the Family

The Dervaes Family (Jules, Ana’s, Justin & Jordanne)

Since the mid 1980s, Jules Dervaes and his family have steadily worked at
transforming an ordinary residential lot in Pasadena, California into a
verdant oasis in the midst of the city. On their small fifth of an acre they
are striving to be a self-sustaining urban homestead complete with bio
diesel power, solar energy, and wastewater management. These eco-pioneers
grow much of their own food and raise a menagerie of chickens, ducks, goats,
and an occasional cat. They have been the subject of numerous articles in
newspapers around the country, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles
Times and were recently featured on ABC’s Nightline. You can learn more
about them at their website: www.pathtofreedom.com


Click Here to Read More..

Bio-Intensive Workshop in Virginia

As far as I can decipher, this workshop would cost $400, not including lodging and most meals .

John Jeavons is famous for dropping out of his corporate systems analyst work after Earth Day 1970 to apply the insights to farming, so as to get the most calories out of a patch of land. (Activist Bill Moyer followed a similar path with the American peace movement, and helped to transform it).

If anyone goes to this, I'd be interested in hearing what they learn.
-- Jim Barton
smithmillcreek.blogspot.com
**********************************************


Food and Our Future:
Hope and Solutions through Biointensive Farming
A Workshop with John Jeavons
October 23 through 25, 2008
8:00-5:00 in Dayton, Virginia:
Woodment of the World Hall
3045 John Wayland Hwy
http://www.johnjeavons.info/workshop-locations.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/04/13/HO126062.DTL

http://www.johnjeavons.info/register.html



All of life on Earth…depends on six-inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains!
The soil is a living organism that must be fed and nurtured to keep it feeding us. This
basic understanding is not a major focus of most current forms of conventional
agriculture. In this workshop John will share eight essential aspects of GROW
BIOINTENSIVE including: Deep Soil Preparation, Raised Beds, Composting, Intensive
Planting, Companion Planting, Carbon Farming, Calorie Farming, The Use of Open-
Pollinated Seeds, and A Whole-System Farming Method. John will also provide time for
questions and answers concerning northwest small-scale farming, long-term sustainable
soil fertility, and specific crops.

John Jeavons has directed Ecology Action’s Mini-Farming program since 1972.
He is the author of How to Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains
and Other Crops…, the textbook of the GROW BIOINTENSIVE (GB) Sustainable
Mini-Farming system, as well as being author, co-author and/or editor of over 30
other Ecology Action publications.

His major responsibilities include directing field
and library research and education in GB food raising. He advises biologically-
intensive projects in Mexico, Kenya, Ecuador, Russia, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan
as well as all corners of the U.S. Jeavons holds a B.A. in Political Science from
Yale University. Before coming to Ecology Action in 1971, he worked as a systems
analyst in business, government and university settings. He has received the Boise
Peace Quilt, Santa Fe Living Treasure, Giraffe, and Steward of Sustainable
Agriculture awards for public service. Click Here to Read More..

Building a Sustainable Local Food Economy in North Carolina

This came across my email:
************************************
Building a Sustainable Local Food Economy in North Carolina:
From Farm-to-Fork
March 2 and 3, 2009 Statewide Summit

We are pleased to announce that over the next year, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (www.cefs.ncsu.edu) has been funded to reach out across the state and together with our partners ask: What will it take to build a sustainable local food economy in North Carolina?

From the mountains to the coast, various organizations are promoting and implementing exciting initiatives to support our state and communities through sustainable local agriculture. Examples include new farmer’s markets, local food policy councils, comprehensive county- or region-based food initiatives, farm incubator programs, farm and/or garden youth education programs, health and nutrition projects focused on local sustainable foods, procurement initiatives by large retail and institutional buyers and schools, and much more.

If each North Carolinian spent 25 cents/day on local food (just 2.5 percent of the $3600.00 that we spend on average on food consumption per year), it would mean $792 million for the state’s economy. That money circulates here in the state so has a multiplier effect, rather than going to a corporate headquarters in another state.

Other benefits of a sustainable local food economy in North Carolina include economic development, job creation within farming and food sectors, preservation of open space, decreased use of fossil fuel and associated carbon emissions, preservation and protection of the natural environment, increased consumer access to fresh and nutritious foods, and greater food security for all North Carolinians.

Over the next year, CEFS and its partners will be gathering information from across food system sectors: conducting regional meetings, targeted issues discussions, interviews, and hosting a statewide summit on March 2 and 3, 2009. Our desired result is a Statewide Action Plan for Building the Local Food Economy with specific steps (short- and long-term) that policy makers, Universities, government agencies, environmental organizations, businesses, funding agencies, social activists, NGOs and citizens can take to make this happen.

The first three regional meetings have been set and are to be held in:

Raleigh, North Carolina: October 14, 8:30-11:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 3313 Wade Avenue.

Burgaw, North Carolina: October 21, 1:30-4:30, Pender County Cooperative Extension office, 801 South Walker Street

Ashville, North Carolina: November 12, 1:30-4:30 at the NC Arboretum, 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way.

The purpose of the regional meetings is to bring together those engaged in all aspects of the food system, to collect information and ideas that will be the building blocks of discussion at the summit and eventually the core components of the State Action Plan. We want to identify specific regional and local sustainable food systems models that are working and also regional challenges that can be addressed through policies, programs, and funding. We seek to engage the broad group of those involved with the food system including farmers, suppliers, processors, economic development organizations, distributors, farm and food industry workers, extension and other educators, marketers, financial institutions, Universities and community colleges, elected officials, government agencies, county and city planners, farm organizations, anti-poverty organizers, social justice workers, consumers and consumer groups, granting agencies, health and wellness organizations, environmental groups, food banks, and more. These regional meetings will be facilitated listening sessions and provide important input into this process, so we are encouraging broad participation.

The end product–the State Action Plan–will articulate a shared vision and set of common goals for building a local, sustainable food system and economy in North Carolina. It will:

1) describe key elements of our current food system and define key terms;
2) identify the diversity of people, businesses, and organizations involved in and impacted by North Carolina’s food system;
3) highlight specific efforts and partnerships underway across our state and within different sectors of the food system to achieve greater “localness” in our food system; and
4) identify opportunities for action, and propose priorities, both in the short and long term, that will enable us to make progress toward shared goals.

Finally, another key goal of this process is the formation of an ongoing working committee or task force, with broad representation across food system sectors that will focus on facilitating and carrying out action items, provide ongoing networking opportunities, and revise the action plan as needs and priorities change.

A “Road to the State Action Plan” listserv has been established, please respond to: nancy_creamer@ncsu.edu to be added to the listserv and receive more information about the project, regional meeting dates, policy forums, summit, etc. If you or your organization is engaged in a food systems project, please take a minute to fill out the attached contact information sheet describing the nature of the work you or your organization does and email to nancy_creamer@ncsu.edu. This information will be included in a data base for all participants, and may also result in further interviews by the project team.

Please feel free to share this information with others who may be interested in becoming involved with this project. Please RSVP to nancy_creamer@ncsu.edu if possible if you are attending a regional meeting as it will help us in our planning, and check the CEFS website (www.cefs.ncsu.edu) for updates. Click Here to Read More..

Three women, three bikes, 1600 miles and a whole lot of gardens and farms; and one movie trailer

In early 2007, three friends planned a three-month-long bicycle journey to tour and document food-producing garden projects from Washington D.C. to Montreal - and back again.

The trailer of their film is now out at
http://womensgardencycles.wordpress.com/watch-the-trailer

*********************

Thanks to those who have answered my question about urban landsharing--
I welcome more stories and anecdotes.
-- Jim

smithmillcreek@gmail.com

Click Here to Read More..

Have you ever rented land from someone to food garden?

The usual model is:
You own land, and you grow things on it.

Has anyone ever been too busy to farm/garden their land,
and rented it out; or bartered use of it to someone else in exchange
for some portion of what is grown? Or have you been the landless grower?

I'm especially interested in people that might have done this inside city limits,
or with land less than 3/4 of an acre.

Please write me at smithmillcreek@gmail.com if you have any leads or tips.

Click Here to Read More..

Four ways to make it easier to raise chickens in Asheville

Hi Folks-
Would you like to make it easier to raise chickens in Asheville?
Here are four things you could do:

1- Attend the hearing on this topic at 4:30 PM, Tuesday, July 8th.
It will be in the city conference room in the Fire Station next to Asheville City Hall (different from Public Works or the City Hall itself)

2- Call or email a city councilperson to express your support for easing the ordinances, which lag behind those of Raleigh. We are not talking about making it easier to have roosters in the city, just chickens:
local, low-cost healthy food in a time of rising food prices. For contact info, visit
http://www.ashevillenc.gov/government/mayor_city_council/city_council/default.aspx?id=1354

3- Join the listserv devoted to discussing this topic. More info at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ashevillecitychickens

4- Last, and something to do TODAY-- take part in the Asheville Citizen-Times poll at
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
(middle of the page, to the left). It asks
"Are you in favor of easing restrictions on raising chickens inside city limits?"

Thank you,
-- Jim
*****************************
From an email I got recently:

I am writing you because you have indicated an interest in changing
the existing Asheville city chicken ordinance. There is now something
very important, and easy, that you can do.

Just to catch you up on the city chicken work, there is a group who
has been meeting for some time, gathering friendly NC ordinances,
writing a draft ordinance for the council to consider, and meeting
with council members.
We are putting together information to support our assertion that a
few chickens are positive and not a nuisance, a solution to the high
cost of food, environmentally friendly as they are very local, an
excellent experience for the family, the eggs are very nutritious, and
Asheville has historically allowed small flocks for families.

Many other NC municipalities allow them, even Raleigh, within a
reasonable distance from a neighbor¹s home, typically 25 ft, and our
ordinance requires 100ft, and our permit requires 150 ft. Impossible.

We have been told that the city is holding a public hearing to discuss
animal ordinances July 8, Tuesday, 5:30 at the 4th floor training room
of the police department, not city hall.

If you could be there, please do! If not, please e-mail city council
and ask for a more favorable ordinance. You don¹t have to ask for
specific provisions.
Better yet, come to the hearing, and e-mail city council.
Could you please forward your e-mail to me and let me know if you plan
to attend the hearing?

Please forward this to anyone who would be supportive.

Thanks,
Jenny Mercer

Click Here to Read More..

Two Permaculture Events This Weekend

Come join us this weekend for a film and a talk as well as the opportunity to share and learn more about permaculture.

Friday Night, June 6, will be a film screening of The Global Gardener: PERMACULTURE with Bill Mollison.

Sunday night, June 8, we host "The Permaculture Underground: Getting Deeper Into The Soil Biology Of Our Region" - an evening with Dr. Laura Lengnick.
*********************************************

Film Screening: The Global Gardener: PERMACULTURE with Bill Mollison

Friday, June 6, 7 PM
West Asheville Library
942 Haywood Rd., West Asheville, NC 28806
250-4750

BILL MOLLISON is a practical visionary. For nearly two decades he has traveled the globe spreading the word about permaculture, the method of sustainable agriculture he devised. Permaculture weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management and human needs into intimately connected productive communities. Mollison has proved that evening the most difficult conditions permaculture empowers people to turn wastelands into food forests. Presented by West Asheville Friends of the Library and the Smith Mill Creek Permaculture School.

***********************************

"The Permaculture Underground: Getting Deeper Into The Soil Biology Of Our Region" - an evening with Dr. Laura Lengnick

Sunday, June 8th, 7 PM
Firestorm Café, 48 Commerce St in Downtown Asheville
Donations welcome

Topics might include:

* a long-term, soil-centric agricultural vision for the southern Appalachians
* learning the most from your soil test
* intro to the soil food web
* geological origins of our soils
* soil building strategies
* the differences between forest and field, fungal and bacterial soil biologies
* cultivating beneficial microbes
* ethics and sources of mineral amendments and alternatives to those amendments
* Native and imported plants and their different soils

Laura Lengnick is a Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at Warren Wilson College. She holds a Ph.D. in Agronomy from Penn State and a Masters in Soil Science from N.C. State. Some of you might know her from the mean fiddle she plays while you dance.

This event is the first in the Asheville Permaculture Guild 2008 speaker series. The series consists of bi-monthly speakers chosen to deepen our understanding of topics related to the seeding of a resilient, beautiful culture. All of these events are open to the public. The Asheville Permaculture Guild is the new pink. For more info and the calendar of future events, check us out at ashevillepermacultureguild.org.

For more info pertaining to APG speakers call Gwen at 203.273.4527 or Zev at 828.279.2870 Click Here to Read More..

Transition Town movement talk

Tuesday, May 6th- 7 PM
Naturalist Frank Cook will introduce the Transition Town movement and elaborate on the application of permaculture to climate-friendly city planning.

Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins for sale, probably for $25.
(Not officially for sale in the US until August or September)

Firestorm Cafe and Books (no admission; food & drinks for sale)
48 Commerce St., downtown Asheville near Pritchard Park
(additional door on Patton next to Weinhaus)
Email smithmillcreek@gmail.com for more info. Click Here to Read More..

100 Million Farmers?

Sharon Astyk, who apparently spoke at the Community Solutions conference in Yellow Springs, called for 100 million farmers in the US. Richard Heinberg heard her speech, and gave a speech calling for 50 million more farmers in the US (at the annual E.F Schumacher lecture, by the way, which I decided not to go to this October). Click Here to Read More..