Below you will find info on upcoming permaculture and sustainability events in
the near future in the central Virginia bioregion.
For more information about permaculture events, see our website:
www.blueridgepermaculture.net. If you know anyone else that would like to sign
up for this newsletter, or if you have an announcement, email Christine at
christinegyovai@gmail.com for the next update, which are sent monthly.
Best,
Christine and the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network team
1.
Stop by and see the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network table, with permaculture
demonstrations, at this year's Heritage Harvest Festival, which will take place
Saturday, September 11, 2010, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on the West Lawn of Monticello
and the new Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center in Charlottesville, VA. Thanks to
Vicky, Terry, Denise and the BRPN crew for being at the table!
For more info, see: http://heritageharvestfestival.com
2.
Sharon Astyk will speak at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church --
Unitarian-Universalist on Friday, September 10, at 7 p.m. (Childcare provided)
in Charlottesville, VA.
Her topic will be "Climate Change, Peak Oil, and the Economic Crisis: Why You
Should Think About Them (Though We'd All Rather Not)."
Astyk farms on 30 acres in upstate New York and is the author of three books:
Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front, Independence Days: A Guide
to Sustainable Food Storage and Preservation, and, with Aaron Newton, A Nation
of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil. You can find her blog
at sharonastyk.com.
This Earth-Friendly Friday is sponsored by TJMC's Green Sanctuary Task Force.
3.
Hello friends and fellow gardeners,
Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest is pleased to announce that we now offer freshly
brewed compost tea. Compost tea is one of the best organic treatments you can
give your plants and garden soil. Full of beneficial bacteria, fungi and other
healthful microflora, compost tea has been proven to improve plants’ ability
to take up soil nutrients, improve the soil’s ability to hold water and
nutrients, build soil structure, and decrease both bacterial and fungal plant
diseases.
Compost tea starts with well-aged, nutrient-rich compost that is “brewed”
using well water and a small aquarium pump. The aeration provided by the pump
aids in the rapid replication of aerobic fungi and bacteria (found in the
compost). The “tea” brews for 24 hours, in which time the beneficial
microflora present in the compost reproduce, literally, hundreds of times. When
applied to the leaves of plants and to garden soil, these beneficial
microorganisms begin colonizing immediately, occupying leaf surfaces and
infection sites that otherwise could be invaded by harmful fungi or bacteria.
For more information on compost tea, click on this link from the National
Sustainable Agriculture Information Service or visit the Soil Foodweb Oregon
website of compost tea pioneer Dr. Elaine Ingham.
If you are interested in compost tea, please email us with your name and
contact information, and we will contact you when our next brew becomes
available.
Thank you for considering compost tea for your garden!
Guinevere Higgins & Mike Parisi
Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest
www.blueridgebackyard.com
4.
Appalachia Rising. A mass mobilization to end mountaintop removal.
Announcing the nation's largest summit and day of action to end mountaintop
removal:
Appalachia Rising
September 25 to 27, Washington DC.
Mountaintop removal has already destroyed over 500 of the world's oldest
mountains, more than 2,000 miles of streams, and has contaminated our nation's
waters. Stand for the abolition of mountaintop removal with the named and
unnamed heroes of coalfield organizing and celebrities Woody Harrelson, Ashley
Judd, Gloria Reuben, Ed Begley Jr., Kathy Mattea, Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon,
Darryl Hannah, author Silas House, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and climate scientist
James Hansen on the Monday, September 27 Day of Action!
Register Now! Click here or go to
www.appalachiarising.org/registration/reg1.php
Join people from across Appalachia and America in building the movement to
abolish mountaintop removal and create sustainable economies from the ground
up: mobilize your friends, family, and community for Appalachia Rising by
filling out this 5 question form by clicking here.
5.
Mushroom Workshops 2010 with Sharondale Farm
**Growing Mushrooms at Home-* an Introduction to the Permaculture of the Fungi*
An introduction to outdoor mushroom growing. Learn about the biology and
ecology of the fungi in your garden and woods. Explore different methods of
outdoor cultivation through hands-on activity. Discussion will focus on
several easy-to-grow gourmet and medicinal mushroom species. Each participant
will receive a bag of spawn to start a home mushroom garden. Workshop dates
are Saturdays October 30th or November 13th from 9a-12p, at the farm in
Cismont, Va. For more information or to register visit:
http://www.sharondalefarm.com/workshops.html or call Mark at 434-296-3301
September 24th- Bear Mountain Farm and Retreat in Highland County
(http://www.mountain-retreat.com/index.htm)
November 20th- Urban Mushroom Gardening- Tricycle Gardens-Richmond
(http://tricyclegardens.org/)
http://www.sharondalefarm.com/
6.
Special Benefit Talk: An Evening with Joel Salatin
You won't want to miss the rare opportunity to see Joel Salatin speak in
Staunton on Saturday, Sept. 4 in a special benefit for Transition Staunton
Augusta.
While Joel keeps busy talking to groups around the country, appearing in films
including Food, Inc. and Fresh: The Movie, and talking to CNN, Martha Stewart,
Smithsonian, National Geographic, and Gourmet, it's seldom that he gets a
chance to speak to a hometown audience.
Now, to support the work of Transition Staunton Augusta running the Local
Motion Film Series and advocating for clean energy and good jobs in our area,
Joel is donating his usual speaker's fee to fire up the home team for local
food.
His topic for the evening will be "Emancipating Your Food," and his energetic
and irreverant style will be sure to inspire you to take back your food from
big industry. Joel will also share concrete ways that you can support local
producers and make healthy local food a bigger part of your life.
Joel's talk will be in the new ShenanArts at the nTelos Theatre at Gypsy Hill
Place, 300 Churchville Avenue in Staunton at 7:30 pm on Saturday, Sept. 4.
Tickets will be available at the door for $25, and discount advance tickets are
available at selected downtown stores or online. We expect the event to sell
out, so to make sure you're not left out, we recommend that you get your
tickets now.
Get info and tickets » About Us
Transition Staunton Augusta is a group of local citizens who’ve united to
make a difference in our community. Our mission is to help Staunton and its
surrounding area in Augusta County, Virginia, move to an economy beyond fossil
fuels.
Help us in our work to prepare Staunton and Augusta County for a future beyond
fossil fuels while creating sustainable jobs and business opportunities.
http://transitionstaunton.org/food/locavore-fest/
7.
GaiaYoga
Initiation-Internship
Whether you’re a student looking for meaningful life-experiences, a
family looking to unplug from the “rat race”, a spiritual/social/ecological
warrior looking for home and deep camaraderie, or simply a human
being wanting to be whole, healthy, responsible, and happy, our
GaiaYoga 101 Initiation-Internship will satisfy deep needs for you.
GaiaYoga Gardens is a 7-year-old, 17.75 acre, permaculture homestead
and evolving intentional community in Puna, on the East side of the Big
Island, Hawaii. Beyond sustaining and growing our community, our main
service is to offer life-changing, 2-month-long, educational, and healing
initiations into sustainable and holistic living. In them you will:
-Immerse yourself in a tropical Permaculture® community, gaining practical
skills
-Learn to think, speak, and listen using Nonviolent Communication® (NVC)
-Discover the ancient power and pleasure of raw-food Instinctive Eating
-Integrate the principles of GaiaYoga® to create wholeness and balance
-Practice Re-evaluative Co-counseling, working with peers to release trauma
-Study Connection Parenting, and experience communal co-parenting
-Live in beautiful, simple eco-structures, in an off-grid neighborhood
-Experience the majesty, beauty, and shamanic fire of Pele’s Hawaii
-Delight in new skills, health, clarity, and perhaps your new home! ! !
Check out www.gaiayoga.org
For an application
email aloha@gaiayoga.org
8.
Greetings from Earthen Hand,
We have some fun workshops coming up, covering a variety of natural building
skills.
Two workshops are coming up back to back in Puerto Rico on Earthbag domes and
oven making (flights to PR are low right now!). Plus there are two one-day
workshop in Portland on plasters and paints. Full schedule to the left. For
details, view website and info attached.
Please help us fill these events by spreading the word to others. Forward this
email to a friend
These workshops are packed with information, fun, and leave people with
practical skills that will last them a lifetime.
10% off for bringing a friend, 20% for groups of 4 or more.
www.earthenhand.com
9.
Sacred Plant Traditions classes
Saturday, Sept 11
Wild Fermentation with Suzanna Stone
_________
Six Week Introduction to Herbal Healing
September 14 - October 19
This six week series is great for beginners as well as those who want to
deepen their knowledge and use of herbal medicine. This course will include
history, herbal actions, apothecary practices, recipes, sacred use of plants
and more. The weeks fly by as we spend time in the classroom, the kitchen, the
lab and best of all, the garden. We will learn how to identify basic back yard
medicines as well as those cultivated in the garden. We will learn harvest
techniques, how to dry and preserve our medicines.
Fee $200 (Deposit: $50).
Fee includes all materials & text.
Tuesdays Morning Classes, 10am - noon
www.sacredplanttraditions.com
________________________________________
Constitutional Herbalism
Matthew Wood and Constitutional Herbalism
Oct 8 - 10
How exciting to have Matthew return to SPT once again and bring his wisdom to
our area. Enjoy another great weekend with Matthew at the beautiful lodge at
Camp Albemarle. We have been gathering here for a number of years with Matt by
the fire, listening with deep intent to his stories and his wisdom. Whether
this is your first time or you are an alumni, this is not to be missed.
Learn to evaluate people constitutionally, starting with the most basic and
useful typology, tridosha (vata, pitta, kapha) and its Western analogs
(ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph). More complex constitutions will be covered
as well, including some of the Animal Medicine types. Evaluation of pathology
according to the six tissue states, which can be seen as an expansion on
tridosha. Most useful herbs for each category will be covered as well as
evaluation from the tone and color of the skin. Introduction to tongue and
pulse will be presented if time allows.
Fee for the weekend is $295 and this includes camping and rustic cabins, three
meals on Saturday and two on Sunday. We are committed to keeping herbal
medicine accessible and with each passing year it becomes more difficult to
keep fees low as those around us rise. Our food is organic, wild where possible
and always fantastic.
www.sacredplanttraditions.com
10.
We have a place for sale that connects to our property with a green house and
18 acres with community gardens. The house we are selling has 3 acres and a
small home. David VanDerveer
phone # 434-985-7895 cell 434-960-7591
