Spring News from Sage Permaculture and Folk School

Good morning all.
This rainy Monday has kept me from the garden, so I figured it was time to do a catch up newsletter for you.
This time of year is crazy busy, trying to get all the projects done here on the homestead. Gardens planted and plans made.
Her are a couple of upcoming workshops.
Practical Skills for a Sustainable Life
Make your own chemical-free fertilizer
We are working on the dates for the open yard days. Open Yard will include, demos, talks tours of the homestead and yummy wood fired pizza and other treats from the garden.
We hope to post these very soon.
To keep abreast of news from Sage Permaculture and Sage Folk School, Check out our blog and subscribe today!
You can also find us on facebook Sage Permaculture and Sage Folk School
You can also reach us at evonne@sagepermaculture.ca or phone 403-969-9594.
Recently Verge Permaculture did a series on their grads. I was so honored to be included. Here is my video. Routes Magazine interviewed me for an article also.
Enjoy your day. As the farmers say, this is a million dollar rain!
E

 

Spring classes at Sage

As a write the blanket of snow that has enveloped us continues to thicken. My greens in the hoop house are tucked in under 2 layers of remay cloth and my seed starts huddling around the grow lights.The pile of branches are ready and waiting for the upcoming Hugelkultur workshop.  May 18th we will be opening our site for the first workshop of the year, Hugelkultur, moving toward a zero waste yard.

Joining us will be Mike Dorion of Living Soil Solutions and Tawni Bartish, Arborist. This is a hands on workshop collecting and using only resources on site to create a hugelkultur in a day.

A wood fired pizza lunch is included.

Ever wished you could go to summer camp as an adult?

Well here you go. Sage Folk School and Patterson Springs Farm is hosting a 6 day practical skills intensive.

Not only can you have the pleasure of spending 6 days on the farm, your kids can also. Child care is available on site for a fee, as well as camping.

Watch for new listings of upcoming courses and events.

Sage Permaculture will be at the Diamond Valley Community Garden over the spring and summer offering mini workshops .

If you are interested in hands on learning, there are many volunteer positions available at the garden . Contact me for more information.

A primer on seed starting

On the weekend, I  presented a workshop on seed starting. As I always offer to email notes to the participants, I thought I would turn it into a blog post and share with everyone…

Seed starting Spring 2013
Soil
Soil from your garden is great for the garden not so good for seed starting.

Two Choices
1. DIY potting soil
2. Purchased bales on potting soil. I don’t use the more expensive seed starting mix it’s not worth it.

DIY potting soil
⅓ screened compost
⅓ peat moss
⅓ Perilite
(use perilite not vermiculite, it has traces of asbestos in it.)
Mix thoroughly.
Cost wise it’s cheaper to make your own.
Time wise it more efficient to buy a bale of potting soil. A bale is compressed into….well, a bale.

Fill trays and pack firmly. Always water with warm water it absorbs easily and stops water run off.

Seeds do not require any type of nutrient to germinate. They need only warmth and in some cases light and moisture.
At 2 weeks after germination I give them a sprinkling of worm castings or a small drink of compost tea.

Light and Heat
Plants require 14 to 16 hours of daylight after germination.

Not all seeds need light to germinate. Check planting requirements on seed pack or search internet for “germination needs of_______.”
I use banks of florescent lights. One cool white bulb and one florescent. (it’s a double bank)
If the plants have a high light requirement, I keep the bulbs 4” away from the plants.
I also use heated germination pads from Lee Valley. They come in 3 sizes. You can get set up for under $50. (Heat pads)

The top of a fridge or freezer also works. If you have south facing windows you can harvest light and solar heat. ( don’t forget to rotate your plants)
If you work during the day, cover your plants loosely with drycleaning plastic, plastic wrap or one layer of wet newspaper to keep the seeds moist. If the seeds are in the germination cycle and they dry out the embryo will die.
Seeds need 50% their weight in water to germinate.
Water logged soil equals no oxygen which equals an anaerobic environment that kills seeds.
I really like to use a single layer of wet newsprint. Once the seeds have broken through the surface remove the plastic or newspaper to prevent damping off.

Temperature for germination
Germination temperature is 18-25C
Once to seeds break the soil drop the temperature 10C.
Too warm they become leggy which makes for weak plants.

How deep do I plant them?
Small seeds: Plant very shallow or sprinkle on surface and spray with water.
Large seeds: Plant deeper. Plant the length again of the length of the seed.
Damping Off
Damping off is a mold condition that can weaken and kill seedlings.

Sunflower seedlings, note the damping off at the stem.

Causes:
Over watering
Contaminated soil
Dirty growing containers***
Overcrowding
Stress
Low light
Cold
If you see this condition starting, don’t wait to treat.
Effective treatments:
Stinging nettle infusion
Chamomile or clove infusion
One time dusting with cinnamon or charcoal dust.
AIR MOVEMENT is the most important factor in preventing damping off.
*** To clean old gardening containers. Use warm water and hydrogen peroxide 2TBSP/ gal water.

Seed preparation
Seed Scarification: (Scar the seed)
In nature this happens when seeds move through the digestive system of birds and animals and through freezing.
To scarify a seed gently rub it against a piece of sandpaper, just enough to rough the surface and slightly change the color of the skin.
Seeds that will need scarification: Large thick skinned seeds like runner beans, anything in the morning glory family.
Seed Stratification:  naturally: just plant in the ground and allow to go through the freeze thaw cycles naturally.
To mimic nature: place seeds in a plastic zip lock bag with moist soil medium and seal. Place in fridge for 2 weeks remove from fridge, check to make sure their is still moisture in the bag. Store in a cool place for a week. Return to fridge for another 2 weeks , remove and keep in sealed baggie for another week in a cool area. This mimics the freeze/thaw cycle.
Seeds that need stratification: perennials, tiny seeds like poppies, trees and shrubs.
Seed Soaking:  Allows softening of the skin to allow shoot to emerge. Place seeds between 2 pieces of moist cloth or paper towel for 24 hours. Soak seeds that are scarified or wrinkly skinned. Beans, peas, sweet peas, etc…
Beans , peas , sweet peas love to be planted with an inoculant! You can purchase inoculant at all garden centers.

Containers
Almost anything can be used for planting. Egg cartons, milk cartons, plastic salad trays, used take out containers, toilet paper rolls. Newspaper rolls, soil blocks …. The list goes on and on.
Make sure they are clean.

When do I start my seeds?
Start seeds 4 to 12 weeks before last frost.
By March 1st I have onions, leeks,petunias and some perennials started.
Starting too early the plants tend to get leggy and weak which makes them highly susceptible to damping down.

My top 15 starts: Cabbage, Cucumber, leek,onion,peppers,tomatoes, Basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, Marigold,(Dantes), Petunia. Monarda, Wormwood, Rudbeckia.

Hardening off
A week or two before planting out start reducing heat available to plants. Give no supplements such as fertilizer ( worm castings). Reduce watering. This is tough love but conditions your plants to survive in harsh conditions.
If you have a hoop house, greenhouse or cold frames, they are great for hardening off. They allow you to leave the plants out at night with some protection for the elements. Be sure to check the night time temperatures, and remember it really heats up during the day so allow some ventilation.
Planting out day
Choose a day that is cloudy and damp. If you want to get really exact use a Biodynamic planting calendar ( available on the internet) It will give you exact days for root crops and leaf crops to be planted.I love this system and find it does make a difference.

Using fingers dig a small hole add a sprinkling of worm castings. Place plant and add light soil with a bit of sand.
Do not plant too deep!

If you attended my workshop on seed starting, here is the background on seeds. Lengthy, but good to know.
F1 Hybrid seeds
What is an F1 Hybrid?
It’s a cross between two different plants which creates something new and exciting. The crosses have to be done under controlled conditions, sometimes by hand, which makes F1 hybrid seed more expensive to produce than normal (open-pollinated) seed. This is nearly always reflected in the price.
The price hike is often very substantial. The seed companies sometimes hide this very efficiently by pricing the packets only a little higher than the non-hybrids but with a much reduced quantity of seed inside.
F1 hybrids don’t come true from seed.
If you save seed from your hybrid plants and sow them yourself next year, the results will will be less than pleasing.
They will revert to a mixture of feeble and substandard plants which may look nothing like the plant you took them from. To get the same quality as the original seed planted you must purchase new seed.
To maximize their potential, F1 hybrids are often reliant on intensive culture based around chemicals.  Many seed companies also recommend the very fertilizer the seed was raised on and may be infected with.
Without these chemical inputs the plants will give you substandard results.
When folks try to go organic and use Fi Hybrid seeds, many times they are disappointed with the results.
F1 hybrids are usually very uniform, i.e. all the plants turn out the same.
For gardeners there’s more benefit in growing open-pollinated plants which have a healthily diverse gene pool with natural pest and disease resistance, show a few interesting variations from time to time, and from which seed can be saved for free.

So are F1 hybrids superior to open-pollinated varieties?
That depends … not just on how you grow it but on what it is. If it’s sweetcorn then yes  go for an F1, they’re way better. If it’s tomatoes, then F1 hybrids are probably a waste of money.

It’s all to do with the way different types of plants reproduce and how they like to shake up their genes. There are two basic types: inbreeders and outbreeders. Inbreeders, which include tomatoes, peas, lettuces and French beans, have enclosed flowers which almost always self-pollinate. No bees needed. The offspring is genetically almost identical to the parents, and they’re quite happy with that arrangement. Outbreeders, on the other hand, chuck their pollen far and wide in the hope of mixing up the gene pool as much as possible. Sweetcorn, carrots, onions, beets and brassicas are all outbreeders. They rely on being pollinated by other plants of the same species. Otherwise within a few generations they start to suffer.

Hybrid vigor: If you cross two different varieties of an outbreeding plant, the offspring may well turn out bigger, better and faster-growing than either of the parents. This is exactly what an F1 hybrid is: the term stands for ‘first filial’ generation and refers to a direct cross between two separate varieties. If you then cross the F1 generation with itself you get an F2 generation, and so on. But the hybrid vigor is not passed on. It’s for one generation only.

The opposite of hybrid vigor is inbreeding depression. If you cross two outbreeding plants of the same variety, or it self-pollinates, the offspring can turn out weaker and slower-growing than either parent, and it gets worse with each subsequent generation.

Hybrid vigor and inbreeding depression only affect outbreeding plants. Inbreeders can inbreed to kingdom come and not show any ill-effects. But by the same token they don’t show any extra vigor when you hybridize them. There’s no special advantage in buying F1 hybrids of these plants.

Going beyond the realms of the domestic garden for a moment, there are serious issues with the introduction of hybrid seed in developing countries. What started off as aid has in some cases increased hardship and crop failure among some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Big seed companies donate hybrid seed in vast amounts to community projects, which makes them look ‘ethical’. In most cases this involves replacing the locally grown varieties which have been saved and replanted in these communities for generations. Once they have been given the hybrid seed, farmers are locked into a cycle of buying the pesticides and fertilizers to go with them, which are cripplingly expensive as well as unhealthy. The hybrid seed is not optimized for the local growing conditions and often does badly. Shockingly, many farming communities who have received well-intentioned charitable aid in this way are now worse off than they were before.

Open pollinated seeds and heirloom varieties

http://www.open-pollinated-seeds.org.uk/open-pollinated-seeds/Introduction.html

Open-pollinated plants which have a healthily diverse gene pool with natural pest and disease resistance, show a few interesting variations from time to time, and from which seed can be saved for free.

We owe our gratitude to the world farmers, men and women who selected, improved and saved seeds for centuries. For creating a rich and wonderful diversity of food crops, enjoyed, appreciated and valued by all cultures, religions, and nations around the world.
We also owe this rich and wonderful diversity to the forces of regeneration, to the tireless efforts of bees, bumblebees, and numerous insects as primary carriers of plant pollens and to the wind for carrying the pollen along. All ensuring the all important pollination and regeneration year after year. For without these there would be no seeds.
Open pollination is the general term associated with the natural means by which plants reproduce and exchange characteristics from generation to generation. Plants propagate either as cross-pollinators, self-pollinators, or semi cross/self-pollinators.
Attributes of Open Pollinated varieties are usually associated to vegetables.
Their seeds breed true to type, which means the offspring from one generation to another will always closely resemble the parent plants and pass on their characteristics.
Open pollinated varieties carry wide genetic diversity and contribute to bio-diversity within food crops. They are sensitive to the environment and thereby flexible towards adaptation and tolerant to soil types, cold and warm climates, wet and dry conditions, altitudes, latitudes, salinity, diseases and other factors.
OP seeds can be successfully saved by home and professional gardeners. The seeds’ ability to breed true gives rise to a feeling of reliability, continuity, and possibility for the gardener to be in a position to aim and select for something in a plant that is to his/her liking and joy.  To be co-creating can become an empowering feeling and can be a true dialogue with mother nature.
Why Open Pollinated Seeds?
It is not more than 50 years ago when the world population enjoyed its food coming almost entirely from open pollinated varieties (99.5%  OPS vs. hybrid maize/corn, tomato and aubergine which were on the market). However, during the last 45 years open pollinated seeds have disappeared from the seed markets and National Seed Lists at an alarming rate.  Why?  Were they becoming inferior, or out dated?
The fact is, they were being replaced by F1 hybrids.
In 2005**, a study from Germany pointed out that in the European seed markets 74% of cauliflower varieties were hybrids, of carrots 80%, of calabrese 85%, of spinach 87%, of tomato 89%, of salad cucumbers 92%.
In 2011 these figures will undoubtedly be higher.
Clearly, during the last decades our most important open pollinated vegetable species have been turned into F1’s and with the trend increasing.
But our food is not about corporate seed control, or engineering food plants to terminate, or disturb the all vital force of renewability of the seeds. Surely it is more about empowering people and to share our skills and knowledge to make sure our freedom and right to seeds is not threatened or blocked.
Nature never holds back, but gives in abundance. We can improve on crops and breed to our hearts content but to claim the fruits and successes of our labour in private ownership from freely provided biological material is both a betrayal and tragedy.
If plant breeders invested as much time, attention and finance on open pollinated plant breeding as has been invested in developing modern hybrids, results would no doubt be excellent.
With the fast decline of open pollinated varieties, it is crucial to bring them into focus and encourage their come back to the fields, gardens,

Farmer’s almanac planting dates for Calgary

Mother Earth News seed starting guide. It’s U.S. based,but I really like the plant by plant instructions

Mother Earth News seed starting article…excellent

Excellent Podcast on Seed starting and different types of seed. I really enjoyed the discussion on organic seed selection.

When to start seeds in Calgary
Seed companies I use and respect for good quality seed.

Seedy Saturday, Calgary This would be my first stop for seeds that are acclimatized to our area.
Salt Spring Seeds Great selection of Open pollinated, Heirloom, organic seed.

West Coast Seeds They do carry some F1Hybrids, it’s always stated in the description.

High Mowing Organic Seeds for 100% certified organic seeds. Make sure to order soon they take awhile. They have some lovely videos to get you started.

Richters  Although they do not state the status of the seed or growers, I do like their catalogue as a resource and will occasionally order some hard to find native herbal seeds from them. Mostly perennials.

The last word goes to RESPECT………
Consider the seed, each is a living entity. With a protective outer coat, the seed contains an embryo that will grow into a seedling.
It has a supplied store of nutrients along with enzymes that convert to food that is useable and genetic directions for it’s development.
Seeds breathe!!!
They take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide.
When planted, absorb water, activating enzymes that start the sprouting process.
Seeds are programmed to grow.

I hope we meet again along the road to a better planet!
Happy growing!

Evonne Smulders
“Plant seeds, Harvest change”

Bittersweet Valentine’s Day

Today is Valentine’s day.
This is a day that marks so many things for me. Eight years ago today my mother died. She influenced me in so many ways. She was a strong woman. She taught me useful skills and while we worked we talked . I learned about her childhood, my grandparents, especially my grandmother. She was not close to her mother, there was a lot of kids of which she was wedged in the middle. They worked hard every day just to subsist on the farm. I heard about  a few of the really rough times but mostly about the connecting times. Also around work, when everyone got together, worked and talked.  In the winter along with her sisters she slept in the attic. They would warm  large rocks for their bed, jump in and cuddle up to each other and share their deepest secrets.
As a child growing up I was surrounded by family, Aunts would gather with all their kids and we would run in a pack, The women in the kitchen, working, canning processing food for the winter, butchering chickens or helping each other with their massive gardens. To the modern working woman this may sound  like drudgery, but as a child it was bliss. There was always an exceptional meal at the end.
When I had my own babies, my mother was there to support me, making pots of soup, childcare, hanging out the laundry and most of all offer an empathetic ear.
I always longed to work with women, never understanding the root of it. Through midwifery, woman’s organizations, art and now permaculture I have felt the presence of my mother and aunties.

As a young girl I never wanted to be like my mother. I can remember stating emphatically
” I will never be like her”
From gratitude and deep respect I proclaim that I am my mother!

Writing this today on the anniversary of her death, Valentine’s Day and The world-wide movement day for One Billion Rising has given me the inspiration the put pen to paper.
I am a daughter. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a grandmother.
I write this for my daughters and my newborn granddaughter.
I have fought in my life for women’s rights. I have risked going to jail for what I believe in. I have assisted women in birth who have experienced life and death in the same moment. Women who have given birth and out of undying love for that child given the baby up for adoption. Mostly I have seen women give birth to themselves.
I have also given myself away. In the passion of creating a better and just world I have forgotten to take care of myself.
Last year, I reemerged from a long period (13 months) of self-imposed isolation and contemplation to an expanded way of seeing the world.
As I embark on the next stage of my life, I am drawn to be in service to women.
This time it’s a gentle call, not a call to arms to fight the good fight or change the world by sacrificing myself, but by holding space, staying in one place, planting roots, gathering women and facilitating their journey to reawakening the power of connection.

Remembering Mabel Margret Page Papineau Born March 16th,1925, passed on February 14th. 2004.

My daughters with mom, 1998.

 

Imbolc; half way to Spring Equinox

This holiday is also known as Candlemas, or Brigid’s (pronounced BREED) Day. One of the 4 Celtic “Fire Festivals. Commemorates the changing of the Goddess from the Crone to the Maiden. Celebrates the first signs of Spring. Also called “Imbolc” (the old Celtic name).

This is the seasonal change where the first signs of spring and the return of the sun are noted. It is the half way point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. In other words, it is the festival commemorating the successful passing of winter and the beginning of the agricultural year. This Festival also marks the transition point of the threefold Goddess energies from those of Crone to Maiden.

It is the day that we celebrate the passing of Winter and make way for Spring. It is the day we honour the rebirth of the Sun. It is also a day of celebrating the Celtic Goddess Brigid. Brigid is the Goddess of Poetry, Healing, Smithcraft, and Midwifery. If you can make it with your hands, Brigid rules it. She is also the goddess of animals and children. She is a triple Goddess, so we honour her in all her aspects. I personally consider Brigid the goddess of Permaculture and as permaculturists, this is a day of celebration.

Imbolc (February 2) marks the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the God. The lengthening periods of light awaken Her. The God is a young, lusty boy, but His power is felt in the longer days. The warmth fertilizes the Earth (the Goddess), and causes seeds to germinate and sprout. And so the earliest beginnings of Spring occur. This is an excerpt from White Goddess. For more knowledge on earth spiritually, check out this site.

As we enjoy the last days of sitting by the fire and reading seed catalogs, researching and recharging, I want to share some of the blogs I have been reading lately. Not all are Permaculture blogs, but connecting, heart opening and authentic writings.

* Treesisters,

*Children and Nature

* One Billion Rise Up

* The Lexicon of Sustainability

* Wild Fermentation

* Good Life Project

Starhawk on The Heart and Soul of Permaculture:
Rooting our practice in a sacred relationship with the Earth

Please join us at this exciting event! Starhawk is a wonderful teacher and this is a great opportunity to learn about permaculture and earth-based spirituality.

Ticket are limited and can be purchased here:

http://starhawkcalgaryevent-efbevent.eventbrite.ca/

15$ in advance, $20 at the door.

We will be serving light refreshments after the event.

Permaculture is an exciting and powerful life stance for nurturing health and sustainability, one with enormous potential to impact all areas of human life.The permaculture movement has generated many creative technical innovations that help us better meet our physical needs while building the resilience of natural systems.As modern people re-establishing a partnership with the living Earth, however, we also bring our emotional and spiritual selves to the process. For many, the spiritual and emotional realm is the source of a deep desire for right relationship with the rest of the earth community.Join permaculturist and spiritual teacher Starhawk as she discusses the importance of an integrated approach to permaculture, and how our permaculture practice can reflect our passionate and heartfelt care for the Earth.

Based on her book, The Earth Path, Starhawk will discuss the connection between permaculture and nature-based spirituality, and will facilitate a short ritual of hope, strength, and renewal.

 

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer, and one of the foremost voices in earth-based spirituality. Her twelve books include The Spiral Dance, The Fifth Sacred Thing, and The Earth Path. She has lived and worked collectively for thirty years, and her most recent book is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups.

Starhawk directs and teaches Earth Activist Trainings, which combine a permaculture design certificate course with a grounding in spirit and a focus on organizing and activism. Her website is www.starhawk.org and she writes a blog on permaculture, Paganism, and politics: “Dirt Worship” at www.starhawksblog.org.

About Permaculture:

Permaculture is a practical system of ecological design that mimics natural ecological patterns in order to build sustainable, productive, diverse, and resilient ecosystems. Designs involve agriculture, energy, water, housing, transportation, community, health, education, governance, and other systems which benefit humans as well as the rest of the natural world.

Event Co-Sponsors:

Earth Sisters Permaculture Collective

www.earthsisterspermaculturecollective.org

Unitarian Church, Green Sanctuary Committee
www.unitarianscalgary.org/green-sanctuary
Calgary Permaculture Guild
www.permaculturecalgary.org

With generous support from:

Sunnyside Market
www.sunnysidemarket.ca
Pages on Kensington
www.pages.ab.ca

 

Western Canadian Permaculture Convergence

Will the Third Alberta Permaculture Convergence
Inspire, Inform, and Empower You and Your Community?
Sure….And That’s Just the Beginning of the Impact This Event Will Have!

When you get a group of passionate permaculture people together for an ad-hoc convergence — and each of them suddenly realizes I’m not swimming alone against the mainstream current! – endless possibilities open up! Ideas start flying, friendships form, needs meet skills, investors meet startups…

That was what happened at the first and second Alberta Permaculture Convergence…and we knew this was just the beginning………

So you will not want to miss our third annual Convergence (whether you’re an Albertan or not!). It’s scheduled August 24th-26th, 2012 on the breathtaking 40-acre retreat center called Woodland West on the border of Kananaskis country.

Why Attend the Third Alberta Convergence?

For starters, it takes all the best features of our previous Convergences to a new level….

• meeting likeminded folks who share your values, your priorities, and your passionate love of the Earth…
• learning nitty-gritty skills that will serve you whether you’re camping in the wilderness or rebuilding after a major disaster…
• swapping tips, resources and practical know-how to create a living knowledge base for your community…
• being inspired by stories from fellow permies across the social spectrum…
• seeing your children creating supportive friendships in a safe, kid-friendly environment…
• feasting on healthy, delicious local food..

And best of all….

• spending three full days of fun and permaculture….(and nothing but fun and permaculture!) as you get back to the land and create community in a vibrant tent city set in a breathtaking landscape!

That’s right – you can swim, stroll, hike, interact with nature (and donkeys, horses, chickens and dogs) in the pristine foothills of the Canadian Rockies…

Every permaculture gathering should be a full-immersion experience of the glories of nature – and you’d think Woodland West was designed just for that purpose, with a large swimming pond, lots of walking trails with aspen and spruce forests interspersed with small streams, beautiful open fields full of wildflowers….even a tree house on the hillside!

You’d think a stunning location like this would have a lodging price to match….but no!

You see, both the Convergence planners and the stewards of Woodland West have a long-range vision…and your budget benefits, too!

Full week-end camping is just $125 per person, and includes:

• Camping site on the farm with composting toilets and solar showers available
• Friday night will be a pizza potluck so please bring toppings for pizza cooked in the cob ovens! Dough will be provided.
• Catered lunches on Saturday and Sunday and supper on Saturday night.
• Participation in all workshops on all days.

A non-camping pass is only $75 per person, and includes:

• Access to the site during both Saturday and Sunday and participation in all workshops.
• Catered lunches on Saturday and Sunday and supper on Saturday night.

Children 12 and under may attend free of charge, but please let us know if you’re bringing children so we can include them in our meal plans.

(Because of the farm animals on the site, please leave your dogs at home!)

Be warned – space is very limited!

Register NOW to lock in your spot before it’s too late!  Due to the limitations of the site, we will have space for only 100 people camping and 25 day registrations.

Payment by cheque is available – email Evonne@sagepermaculture.ca for details.

What Sort of Workshops Will Be Offered? We’re Glad You Asked!

Remember the recipe for Stone Soup? Yeah – it’s something like that! In the best decentralized, community-empowering permaculture tradition, we’re inviting you to join us in creating this event. Can you offer…

• A particular gardening skill?
• A special water-management or water-harvesting technique to share?
• How-to tips for holistic livestock grazing or crop rotation?
• A unique approach to permaculture design principles or social practices?
• A perspective on community-building…or renewable energy applications…or low-impact construction…or earthen building…or plant/animal guilds…or (name your specialty here!) that arises out of your training or life experience?

If so, we want to hear from you! Send us your workshop proposals and we’ll contact you for further conversations.

We can tell you about one workshop for sure….

How to Create a Permaculture Awareness in Your Community
with Jeff and Julilynn Gilles of Rancho Relaxo from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta
Having recently won the prestigious Martha Kostush environmental award, Jeff and Julilynn are leaders in rallying community support for permaculture. You’ll hear about their real-life adventures in building their neighbors’ awareness, overcoming skepticism, and creating a supportive permaculture-friendly environment.

And the Impact of This Convergence Won’t End on August 26…

Of course you expect that any Convergence would have a long-term impact as participants bring new information and ideas back to their communities. But the planners for the Alberta Convergences have a bigger vision…

• to establish a cohesive community of permaculture practitioners…
• to wake up the average Albertan to permaculture options…
• to thrill our mainstream society with sustainable, practical, low-tech permaculture solutions…
• and, over time, toleave a lasting legacy of functional permaculture sites from one end of the province to the other!

How, you ask? By building up to each Convergence with a month-long series of hands-on workshops that lay the groundwork for long-term permaculture-based venues!

This July we are offering Skill-Building Weekends at Woodland West, in which we’ll create the permanent infrastructure elements for the Convergence – elements that will set the stage for sustainable, zero-impact events to be held on that site long into the future. This is your opportunity to start building the know-how, the connections, and the energy that will culminate in the Convergence…

• July 7th – Composting Toilet Workshop with Evonne Smulders of Sage Permaculture,1-4 pm by donation.
• TBA – Round Wood Timber Construction with Robert Smulders  of Sage Permaculture, 9-5 each day. Lunch provided.
• July 12 –  Rocket Mass Heater Showers with Rob Avis of Verge Permaculture, 9-5, Lunch provided by Woodland West (this is a volunteer event, contact rob@vergepermaculture.ca if interested in attending).
• July 19 – Cob Oven building workshop with Ashley Lubyk and Heather Noakes of Dirt Craft Natural Building.

You might say we’re putting the practicum ahead of the concept! At the Skill-Building Workshops you’ll gain solid, hands-on practice in core permaculture technologies…and then, at the Convergence, you’ll hear the weekend leaders discussing the theory and process behind the work you did.

So why should you attend the skill-building workshops? Here are our five six reasons

5. Have Fun In the Country – These are going to be high-energy weekends with a high fun quotient!

4.  Get Your Hands Grubby Practicing Real Skills – We promise, no  abstract theory, just do-it-now, get-’er-done, hands-on, practical learning!

3. Bask in the Praise of Convergence Participants- “What an amazing shower setup,” they’ll say – and you can tell them the behind-the-scenes stories of building it!

2. Be a Pioneer, Create a Legacy – This is the first Alberta Convergence site to get the long-term infrastructure treatment. You’ll be breaking new ground in more ways than one…and helping to create a precedent for future Convergences to follow!

And our Number One reason?

1. Bring Friends, Build Community – Worried that the friendships you make at the Convergence will just be three-days-and-gone connections? There’s no better way to anchor in an acquaintance than by sweating together to do a good work well!

And That’s the Bottom Line – the Real Reason to Come to This Year’s Convergence…

We’ve all felt it – the sense that we’re alone, struggling to live sustainably in a culture that’s determined to destroy the environment we all depend on for our lives. It isn’t easy!

It’s events like this, however, that can give you hope – meeting others who share your values, exchanging ideas and perceptions and inspirations and resources and tips….

…and building a community…a legacy of knowledge, creative connection, and real-life examples…a small and growing groundswell of change where you live and across the province.

We don’t know about you, but that’s what keeps us going despite all the odds and obstacles! And that’s why we’ll be taking in the mountain air at Woodland West this year….and hoping to see you!

Don’t wait. Spaces are limited, and are filling up already!

Whether you sign up only for the Convergence, or add on one or all of the Skill Building Weekends, we can promise that this series of events will deepen your understanding, broaden your connections, and replenish your energy for the planet-saving permaculture work you do!

Looking forward to seeing you there –

Evonne & the Crew

Questions? ABconvergence2011@gmail.com

Check out our blog:
http://abconvergence2012.blogspot.ca/