Greetings all,
Below is a great collection of
upcoming permaculture and sustainability events in the central Virginia
bioregion, including information on Cider Week and a talk on Home and Farm
Resiliency Tuesday night with Ben Falk. If
you know anyone else that would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can
sign up here. If you have an
announcement, email us at blueridgepermaculture@gmail.com for the next monthly e-newsletter. Click here to view this email as a webpage.
Stay warm!
Check out the Blue
Ridge Permaculture Network Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/blueridgepermaculturenetwork/
1.
Home and Farm Resiliency: As Prices Rise and the Climate Shifts
An Evening Talk by Ben Falk
Sponsored
by the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network
Tuesday
November 19, 2013 6-7:30 pm
at the
Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative
209 Monticello Rd, Charlottesville,
VA 22902
Small farmer, designer, and author Ben Falk overviews the
strategies used on his Vermont hill farm - and by his firm - Whole Systems
Design - for dealing with rapid changes, including: drought and flood-proofing
the home and farm, heating a home on a single cord of wood, growing potent
plant medicines, integrating grazing with fruit and nut production and much
more. Ben's talks are attracting diverse large audiences around the
Northeastern US - come see him on this rare visit to Virginia. For more on the
topics covered, please see his book:
2.
2013 Farm to Table
Conference
“Healthy Food and
Vibrant Farms for the Common Wealth and Common Good”
Wednesday, December 4 and Thursday, December 5, 2013
Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center, Weyers Cave, VA.
Blue Ridge Community College Plecker Workforce Center, Weyers Cave, VA.
Sell Tickets Online through Eventbrite
This conference
agenda fosters collaboration, conservation and community by strengthening local
and regional community food systems. Producers, buyers, school and university
officials, community and agricultural development officers, legislators,
administrators, and other key food system stakeholders should attend.
The two day
conference includes speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities
organized to address critical challenges surrounding a sustainable food system.
The Buy Fresh Buy Local Mixer and Chefs’ Challenge on Wednesday afternoon and
evening is a festive event to encourage networking among Virginia producers and
buyers while celebrating locally grown Virginia foods prepared by area chefs.
As a member of the
Farm to Table Conference Planning Committee, the Virginia Food System
Council encourages registration and
participation in this annual event.
3.
On March 8th – 15th, Mason
Sustainability Initiative will be hosting a 72-Hour Permaculture Design
Certificate Course, taught by Wayne Weiseman of the Permaculture
Project LLC. This course will be open to community leaders as well as
Mason students. No prior experience necessary. The course will cover such
topics as Plant Propagation, Seed Saving, Healthy Use of Animals in
Permaculture Systems, Aquaponics, Renewable Energy and many more. Participants
will earn a certificate in Permaculture Design, as
well as Continuing Education units if requested at the start of class.
This
intensive course will take place from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm with breaks for lunch,
with some additional evening activities with served dinner. Catered lunch and
dinners from Everlasting Life Café will be provided, and a light breakfast fare
with snacks will also be available. The total cost for this course is $1,000
with an early-bird special of $900 before January 31st.
More
information on the instructor, Wayne Weiseman, go to: http://www.permacultureproject.com/. More
information on the course can be found here: http://msi.gmu.edu/pdc.html. You can register here:
https://www.regonline.com/permaculturedesigncertification2014
4.
Saturday, Nov. 16th
for Deeply.Be's presentation of Expand the Possible: Exploring Your Inner Landscape
through Music Evoked Imagery. This will be an opportunity to reconnect with
your inner workings, to explore your mind, and to expand your horizons. This event will incorporate all the goodness
of what you know and love of Deeply.Be events- beautiful location, amazing
lunch, great company, tranquil nature - and on top of all that we will be
traversing the mind while using music as our guide.
5.
HIRING ANNOUNCEMENT: WEST VIRGINIA
FOOD & FARM COALITION SEEKS PROGRAM COORDINATOR
The West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition seeks a dynamic and committed individual to help build
and support West Virginia’s rapidly growing local food system. Since
2010, the Coalition has supported a statewide network of West
Virginians working to grow food and farm businesses while improving access
to healthy local food. The position of Program Coordinator requires a
special individual who is willing to work hard, think outside the box, be an
advocate for farmers and consumers, and build partnerships outside of
traditional “silos” in order to continue the Coalition’s success in promoting
food and agriculture as a critical part of West Virginia’s economy and
well-being. The West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition is currently
located in Fayette County, WV, in the heart of Appalachia and site of the New
River Gorge.
6.
Please join us at
this special Hill and Holler celebration of Cider Week to benefit the UVa
Food Collaborative.
Where: Merriweather Springs Vineyard
When: Sunday, November 17, 5pm to 9pm
Cost: $65 per guest
Chef Amalia Scatena
of Pippin Hill and her crew will create an array of small plates, passed dim
sum style on the patio overlooking the vineyard. Enjoy a casual
atmosphere and the freedom to enjoy the local bounty alongside ciders from
Foggy Ridge, Albemarle Ciderworks, Castle Hill, Blue Bee, and Potter's Craft.
Register
Now! http://www.hillandholler.org/events.php
7,
Drink this with that – at Early Mountain Vineyards – Nov. 15
Drink this with that – at Early Mountain Vineyards – Nov. 15
Join Sommelier
Michelle Gueydan and Chef Jenn Crovato as they kick off 2013 Virginia Cider
Week. Indulge yourself in food and cider pairing stations set up throughout our
tasting room, as well as live local music starting at 6pm, featuring Travis
Elliott & Friends. Participating vendors include: Foggy Ridge Cider,
Potter’s Craft Cider, Albemarle CiderWorks, Madison Rainbow Trout and Everona
Dairy. Tickets are $25pp inclusive and $20pp for Early Mountain Charter and
Club Members.
Participating VA
Cideries include: Foggy Ridge, Potter’s Craft, Albemarle CiderWorks, as well as
a surprise cider from a region outside of the State.
Sign Up Here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/va-cider-week-kickoff-drink-this-with-that-tickets-9163493255
CIDER WEEK EVENTS: http://www.albemarleciderworks.com/
8.
Permaculture Farming Work-Exchange/Room with
Optional Employment Opportunities
SilverSage Farm-House-Studios:
Center for Transformational Studies,
a 1991 classic-styled Victorian
house located in Charlottesville, VA, has its first level’s private
furnished studio apartment available immediately. Terms are for a partial rent/farming
work-exchange agreement for this cozy apartment, offering the full monthly rent
of $600 that can be reduced optionally within a range to as low as $300 a month
for 1- 5 hours of work-exchange per week on its surrounding property and
vegetable gardens. Should you choose the
work-exchange option, you would be working with our team of homeowners and
garden managers by collaborating, crop-sharing, and implementing ideas for
making the Silver Sage Farm-House-Studios a more regenerative place to live and
learn.
For more information,
please contact: Linda Capacchione (434) 296-1338 or
linda@naturewellnessprograms.com
9.
Permaculture Design Course –
Rolling Ridge Study
Retreat Community near Charles Town, WV. Class and Lodging will be held at the
Retreat House located on a 1400-acre wilderness preserve. More info
at www.rollingridge.net
Schedule:
A 10-Day Intensive: February
10th-20th 2014
Arrive for
registration & dinner on the 10th and depart on the afternoon of
the 20th.
Tuition: We offer a unique, dynamic tuition structure.
The cost for this course ranges from $794 to $1220 based upon the number of
students in the class (and room options). See below for more info on our
tuition structure.
Course Content: This class covers the essential concepts that
are the heart of the permaculture design system. Students will be immersed in
basic observation and design techniques. Our goal is to empower students to
develop an intuitive understanding of natural patterns and processes, and to
utilize these in the design of the human environment.
To register, Email
Lindsay@rollingridge.net or Call
at 304-724-1069
10.
Permaculture through
the Heart
1 - 29 February 2014
in Bali, Indonesia
Facilitators:
Stephanie Garvin and Margret Rueffler.
This innovative
program blends the core principles of Permaculture gardening and design with
Self exploration from a transpersonal psychological perspective.
"Experiencing Permaculture through the Heart" presents unique
opportunities to combine classroom permaculture learning with
"hands-on" experience, complementing the active physical engagement
with the soil with an inner attitude of loving alignment with the earth.
The program is the first of its kind. More...
Lagu
Damai Foundation and PsychoPolitical
Peace Institute are offering regulars seminars at Jiwa
Damai garden and retreat center in Br Bindu Bali, Indonesia, on subjects
relating to permaculture, meditation, finding inner and outer peace, unfolding
the qualities of the heart and cross-cultural dialogues and more.
Contributions from
our educational programs are returned to the community through projects
and programs by Lagu Damai Foundation.
11.
Monday-Saturday, January 16-21, 2014
This is a 6 day course
at Wolf Gulch in Southern Oregon
Social Forestry
connects villages and communities to their forested water catchment
basin. Here in a developed industrial empire, the forests are
lonely. We have lost our sense of living with forests as friends.
This Social Forestry course will explore reconnecting with forests
through ecological knowledge, the use of hand tools and woodscrafts, seasonal
festivals and work cycles, childrens’ stories, pilgrimages and stewardship
covenants. We will learn ecological assessment, carbon sequestration
methods, restoration forestry and the crafts and products that can be enjoyed
while we are re-establishing our heart space and wonder in the woods.
This is the third year we are offering this fabulous winter experience.
You can read student reviews on the website.
Winter/Spring 2014, 6
Weekends Starting February 1st
12 day course held at
Jackson Wellsprings, Ashland, Oregon
Lead instructor is Tom
Ward with co-teachers Melanie Mindlin and Karen Taylor
The world famous PDC
introduces an array of solutions, tools & strategies for moving into a home
centered, resilient way of living sustainably on the only planet we have.
This is the full certificate course covering the permaculture curriculum
set out by Bill Mollison, along with lots of local knowledge and applications.
Participants will learn to apply regenerative permaculture principles and
patterns to design integrated homesteads, energy and water systems, animals,
gardens, appropriate technology, forestry and healthy communities. Gather
practical skills and learn whole systems design principles for living in
ecological balance with the earth. Join us for this high-powered,
visionary look at the possibilities for a positive future.
12.
VA Tech
Graduate Research
Assistantship
GRADUATE RESEARCH
ASSISTANTSHIP
STUDYING
Appalachian Community Food Security in Virginia
Please forward this
announcement to prospective Master’s
or Ph.D. students interested in community food security. We are seeking a
high quality applicant beginning in January 2014 for a Graduate Research
Assistantship (GRA) on a community-based research project on community food
security in Appalachia Virginia. Awards are available beginning in
January 2014 spring semester. Funding is available for 4 semesters; it
includes a stipend and tuition remission.
Please send a letter
of interest with a resume or curriculum vita to Susan Clark (sfclark@vt.edu)
by December 1, 2013. The review process will begin shortly thereafter and
successful applications will be notified. Please contact Nikki D'Adamo-Damery (nikki11@vt.edu)
or Susan Clark (sfclark@vt.edu) or for more
information about the project.
Please see our AFP
website (www.appalachianfoodshedproject.org)
for more information about the project.
To be considered for
the GRA students need to be accepted into the Graduate School; graduate school
applications are due by January 1st. For more information
about applying to graduate school visit http://graduateschool.vt.edu/admissions/applying/index.html.
