upcoming events

Greetings All,

Below you will find info on upcoming permaculture and sustainability events in the near future in the central Virginia bioregion (including a permaculture presentation and potluck tomorrow night – we hope to see all of you there!) and our upcoming spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course.

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.
P3: Permaculture Presentation and Potluck
Planning the Sustainable Vegetable Garden, including Cover Cropping,
with Cindy Conner
Thursday, October 15; 6:00 pm talk; 7:00 pm potluck
Bring utensils and a dish to share
Suggested donation $5
Ivy Creek Natural Area Education Building
1776 Earlysville Rd, Charlottesville, VA 22901
A map may be found at this website: http://ivycreekfoundation.org/contact.html


2.
Spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course

We are pleased to announce our spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course: Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge, over four weekends in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

This 72-hour ecological design certificate course, presented by the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network, will be offered over four weekends with leading permaculture teachers including Dave Jacke, Christine Gyovai and Dave O’Neill. The course will be held in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the following dates:

Jan. 15-18, Feb. 12-15, March 13-14, and April 10-11.

The cost for this course will be a sliding scale, including a discount for early registration. If you register by November 15 the sliding scale is $895-$1200. After November 15 the sliding scale is $995-$1200. A few work trade positions are available for partial tuition; inquire soon about work trade guidelines and availability. The work-trade application deadline ends on December 1st, 2010, and limited scholarships may be available, inquire for details. To register please contact Terry Lilley at tygerlilley@gmail.com or 434-296-3963.


3.
Apprentice Teachers for Spring Permaculture Design Course
The Blue Ridge Permaculture Network is seeking applicants for two Apprentice Teacher Positions for the Spring 2010 Permaculture Design Course. Compensation for this position includes a tuition waiver, lunches during the course and a $200 stipend. If you have a passion for creating a better world through permaculture education then please email Dave O'Neill at leesturgis@yahoo.com for an application.


4.
Saturday, October 24, 2pm onBeat Juice Party at Juice hosted by Leslie Shay & Augusta Ober 1437 Ortman Rd., AftonI-64, Crozet exit, 250 West, less than 2 miles turn left onto Ortman, 3.1 miles on leftPark on street (parking limited; carpool if possible)All ages welcomePlease join us for a community gathering at our little farm in Afton. We'll supply the beats (music), you bring fruit & veggies for juicing, a potluck contribution, outside seating (chairs, blankets, etc.), hoola hoop (if you have one), and friends. Call Leslie at 434-249-2449 or Augusta at 206-240-5194 for more details.


5.
7th Annual Small Farm Family Conference
Sheraton Richmond West Hotel
November 9-10, 2009
VSU Schedules Small Farm Family Conference

Virginia State University's Small Farm Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance Program has scheduled its seventh annual Small Farm Family Conference on Monday, Nov. 9 through Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the Sheraton Richmond West Hotel located at 6624 West Broad Street, Richmond.

Jane Eckert, proprietor of Eckert AgriMarketing , Inc., and a published author with six books on agri-tourism and agri-marketing to her credit, is one of the conference's keynote speakers. She will talk about agriculture tourism opportunities that can enable farm families to generate more income than could ever be earned growing and selling crops and livestock. She will also discuss agri-tourism marketing strategies with a focus on consumer demand, website design and effective publicity for marketing farms and maximizing profits.

Will Allen, chief executive officer of Growing Power, an organization dedicated to developing Community Food Systems, will deliver a keynote message about "Linking Urban and Rural Communities." Other conference sessions include:a) Business and market planning essentials for the small farmer.b) Urban forestry.c) Preserving the farm for future generations.d) Educating kids about agriculture.e) Small farm liability and legal issues associated with marketing directly to the public.f) Selling to restaurants.g) Workplace farmers markets and community supported agriculture; andh) Urban farming for profit. Special program features include a USDA panel session on fundingopportunities and incentives for small, limited resource andsocially-disadvantaged farmers; livestock, aquaculture and horticulturetours; and a children's program.(more)

A registration fee of $25 per person (adult or child) covers conference materials, dinner on Monday, and lunch on Tuesday.

To register, call Carol Streetman, VSU administrative specialist, at (804)524-5960 or e-mail cstreetman@vsu.edu.

For more information on the conference, call Fidelis Okpebholo, coordinator of VSU's Small Farm Outreach, Training and Technical Assistance Program, at (804) 524-5662 or e-mail fokpebholo@vsu.edu. Anyone needing special services or accommodations in order to participate should call by Nov. 2 to discuss arrangements.


6.
~October Workshops and Events at Common Good City Farm ~

October 17th. Growing Gardens Workshop: Uncommon Uses for Common Herbs
Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme -- you grow them in your garden and use them to flavor your cooking, but how else can they benefit you? Learn medicinal uses for the herbs in your spice rack, including fennel, mint, oregano, chamomile, and catnip by making teas and brews in this hands-on workshop. Bring a mug! Click for more info and to Register

October 23-25. Introduction to Urban and Community Food Gardens

Autumn is the perfect time to prepare your soil and site for a Spring garden...Spend a weekend learning the basics of urban gardening, garden design and starting a community garden. Learn how to winterize an existing garden and prepare an area now for a new garden in the Spring. Discussion on basic theories of how to design with nature will be mixed with hands-on activities. (Course is similar to an Introduction to Permaculture class). Click for more information and to register.

October 31st. Halloween Haunt at the Farm, a Community Event
Bring the whole family and join your LeDroit Park, Shaw, Eckington, Bloomingdale and Howard neighbors for some Halloween fun! Enjoy pumpkin picking in the Common Good City Farm pumpkin patch, pumpkin painting, cider tasting, apple treats and of course, a costume contest. This event is free. 11am-1pm at Common Good City Farm. (Please consider donating to help make this event a success.)

You can un-subscribe by clicking here. To never receive email from the Common Good City Farm click here 2025 3rd Street NW Washington, DC , DC 20001 United States

http://commongoodcityfarm.org/


7."A New Energy Future: Conservation, Efficiency,and Renewables" Physics Building at the University of Virginia Saturday, Oct. 17 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Keynote Address and workshops on energy efficiency, wind energy,biomass. sustainable food production, alternatives to coal and nuclearenergy production and more. $10(includes lunch). Preregistration is encouraged. "REAL DISCUSSION, REAL CHOICES, REAL ANSWERS" Sponsored by:Sierra Club-Piedmont Group People's Alliance for Clean EnergyCharlottesville Center for Peace and JusticeAppalachian Voices For more information call 434-296-2494 or email elena.day@gmail.com


8.
From the Charlottesville Community Design Center

Designing & Building Healthy Places: From Evidence to PracticeFriday, October 16 from 12-1 pm at CCDCJoin us for the first of CCDC + Central Virginia AIA's monthly brown bag lunch & learn series to take place on the third Friday of every month at CCDC beginning in October. This month, CCDC Board member Matthew Trowbridge MD, MPH will present about the public health implications of the design of the built environment. As a practicing physician, Matt brings a unique perspective to field of design. Don't miss this opportunity to engage in an open discussion of ways to develop capacity among architects and urban planners for evidence-based healthy design and construction. Bring your own lunch.

Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) Focus GroupsThe Local Energy Alliance Program, an outgrowth of CCDC's SPARK! program, is planning a series of citizen focus groups to seek opinions and feedback on proposed energy efficiency programs being designed for city & county residents. Your involvement in a focus group will help make sure that the programs LEAP is planning will provide maximum benefit to the Charlottesville-Albemarle community while working toward ambitious energy efficiency and climate protection goals. Groups of 10-12 will meet with LEAP for about one hour either mid-day or in the evenings. Participants will receive a raffle entry for a free Energy Audit Review performed by a certified BPI Building Analyst and a coupon from the Blue Ridge Eco Shop. To receive additional information about participating in a focus group, please fill out a LEAP questionnaire.

Enterprise Announces Green Communities GrantsEnterprise is delighted to announce the Fall 2009 Green Communities Grant application round. Grant awards of up to $75,000 per project will be available to support the planning and construction of green affordable housing. Enterprise invites affordable housing developers to submit a Letter Of Inquiry (LOI) to greencommunities@enterprisecommunity.org by Friday, October 23. Approximately 30 applicants will be selected from the LOI and invited to complete a full online application for funding. Final grant awards will be announced in December 2009. Further details about the grant round as well as instructions on how to submit a Letter of Inquiry are available here.
www.cvilledesign.org


9.
Permaculture email listserve (different from this newsletter listserve)

Vicky Peterson, a grad from the first Permaculture Design Course, has set up a yahoo group for discussion of all things relating to permaculture in the Central Virginia region. From Vicky: With your help, the group will be a place to ask questions, share information and help permaculture take root in our area.
Here is a link to follow if you would like to join:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/BRPermaculture/

There should be a blue button that says "Join this Group!"

If you know of anyone else who might be interested in joining, please feel free to pass this info along.
Other questions? Email me.
Thanks!
Vicky Peterson
vickycp@ntelos.net


10.
Gaia University Orientation & Degree Programs
Integrative EcoSocial Design / Organizing Learning for EcoSocial Regeneration / Open Topic
Hosted by the Sustainable Farm Institute, U.S. Virgin Islands
Dec 1 - 13, 2009

For more information visit www.gaiauniversity.org

What is Gaia University?

Gaia University is a growing institution for higher learning with a unique approach. Our students ('associates') are able to earn accredited Bachelors & Masters degrees and Graduate Diplomas while actively engaged in self and planetary transformation and ecosocial regeneration.


How it Works
Gaia U is based on a methodology called Action Learning and is guided by the principles of Earth Care, People Care, & Fair Share. Within that framework, associates work on self-selected, self-directed projects anywhere in the world they choose, documenting their outcomes and learning process along the way. Throughout their program, they are supported by an international network of learning providers, advisors and mentors and a collaborative online e-learning environment.

Cultivating World Changers
By fusing passion and vision with self-directed practical experience, associates initiate and nurture local and global sustainability, regeneration, justice and peace. At the same time, they refine their skills and deepen their experience to become more effective world changers.

Degree Programs

Integrative EcoSocial Design (IESD) BSc, MSc, GD*
For those wanting to integrate ecological and social aspects of design into projects that focus on ecosystems, societies, communities, technologies, and personal lifestyles.

Organizing Learning for EcoSocial Regeneration (OLE) MSc, GD
For those interested in applied organizational learning and design. Some people focus on the development of a GU regional center as their primary project.

Open Topic (OT) BSc, MSc, GD
For those who are working at a strategic level as world changers and want to design their own program topic.


*GD Post Masters Graduate Diploma

More Information

To apply for and register in these programs, please visit: www.gaiauniversity.org
e-mail: info@gaiauniversity.org


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