Permaculture Marin welcomes blog posts on relevant topics from our members. Our intention is to feature posts about the many individuals and organizations in Marin (and beyond) who are working towards furthering the development of regenerative ecologies, economies and communities.
If you or your organization has an article you would like to post, please contact DustinKahn@gmail.com.
A corner of the Hall Middle School food forest.
Hall School in Larkspur is about to embark on the next phase of their food forest. They are fortunate to have a crew of students from the Marin Academy along with two amazing permaculturalists, Lindsay Dailey and Massey Burke, to help with this part of the project.
They would like to plant some supporting species around some of the trees and are going to have a few theme areas: CA natives, Lost Crops of the Incas, Meso-America, Mediterranean, and herb spiral. They are also looking for lots of (preferably) edible vines to cover a massive amount of fence. Two purposes there: create a visual and aesthetic wall and also to create more of a sense of place. In terms of vines, they’re thinking edible passion flowers, grapes, chayote, peas, though there could be others.
If you have any plants that fit into the above categories that you could donate, please contact Rebecca Newburn at rebeccanewburn@gmail.com. The Marin Academy students are starting on May 26th, and Rebecca would like to have a sense of what they have and what else they need to get before then.
Bill McDorman, interim Executive Director of Native Seeds/S.E.A.R.C.H., shares his decades of seed business expertise in Seed School, a 5-day workshop held at Solstice Grove Institute, in Nicasio, California from May 1st through the 6th. Seed School offers practical, hands-on knowledge to help create long-term, self-sufficient, agricultural programs.
Worries over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), food security, loss of biological diversity, and the industrial takeover of modern agriculture, have sent people searching for long-term, sustainable gardening solutions. According to Bill McDorman, that solution lies in saving seeds.
Many gardeners, farmers, and growers purchase one-size-fits-all seeds every year when they should be saving their own seeds from plants selected for characteristics (such as pest resistance, hardiness, earliness, and taste) that work best for them. There is no other way to turn the tide on the industrialization of our food system than to think seeds first. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to say we’re going to fight the companies that own and control our food system,” says Mr. McDorman, “until we have our own system in place.”
Seed School will be held at Solstice Grove Institute, a beautiful redwood agricultural center in Nicasio, California in West Marin County, from Sunday, May 1st to Friday, May 6th 2011. This far-reaching, 5-day immersion boasts a practical, hands-on curriculum that teaches everything from basic genetics to modern database management. Seed School trains gardeners, farmers, entrepreneurs, non-profits, and policy-makers to implement long-term, self sufficient, and secure agricultural programs.
Seed School recently completed its third training in Arizona and all sessions sold out. Five more immersions have been scheduled for 2011 including 3 dates in the gorgeous Verde Valley of Arizona, one at Solstice Grove in Marin County and another in Tucson at the brand new Native Seeds/S.E.A.R.C.H. Conservation Center. Students of Seed School learn harvesting, processing, germination testing, packaging, and how to use these skills to create diversity and strengthen local bioregions.
Mr. McDorman founded Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens in 1984. He has over 30 years experience in the seed business and is author of Basic Seed Saving. To register for Seed School, or for more information, visit SeedsTrust.com, email belle@seedstrust.com, or call 928.649.3315.
Click here to download a pdf flier about Seed School.
The Economics of Happiness is a new documentary film by the International Society for Ecology & Culture (ISEC) about the worldwide movement for economic localization. The film is “a persuasive explanation of our ailing world,” according to Bay Area author Joanna Macy. “It connects the dots between climate chaos, economic meltdown, and our own personal suffering. . . . It presents localization as a systemic alternative to corporate globalization, as well as a strategy that brings community and meaning to our lives.”
Both hard‐hitting and inspiring, The Economics of Happiness demonstrates that millions of people across the world are already engaged in building a better world — that small-scale initiatives are happening on a large scale. The film shows that countless initiatives are united around a common cause: rebuilding more democratic, human scale, ecological and local economies – the foundation of an “economics of happiness.” The film features a chorus of voices from six continents calling for systemic economic change, including David Korten, Bill McKibben, Vandana Shiva, Rob Hopkins, Richard Heinberg, Juliet Schor, Michael Shuman, Helena Norberg‐Hodge, and Samdhong Rinpoche — the Prime Minister of Tibetʹs government in exile.
Sunday, March 6, 1pm
Presented by: Unity Marin Ecos Circle
Unity in Marin, 600 Palm Drive, Novato (Hamilton Field)
Monday, March 14, 7pm
Presented by: Sustainable San Rafael and Pachamama Alliance
Marin Youth Center (MYC), 1115 Third, San Rafael
Tuesday, March 29, 7pm
Presented by: Transition Mill Valley
Mill Valley Community Center (Cascade Room), 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley
Special Musical Guest Matt Jaffe
$10 donation for all events
This post was submitted by Permaculture Marin member Scott Davidson, who is co-teaching a series of classes on tracking with John Brossard.
In the wild edges of Marin County, California
Tracking is a cultural art form, experienced alone and in community, that truly deepens connection to ourselves, each other and to all the life that surrounds us. Tracking is a state of mind that fosters awareness and connects us to the animals and all life on the land. It changes how our body moves, and ultimately what path we walk on the Earth.
Tracking and Nature Connection can help you learn:
Please join us this spring for this fun and enriching series! Each class is from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm and is
held in the field at different sites throughout Marin County.
Cost: $300 for the four-part series
Instructors: John Brossard and Scott Davidson are co-founders of the Marin County Tracking Club and certified in track and sign interpretation by CyberTracker Conservation International.
For more information: call 415-868-9681, or visit: www.regenerativedesign.org
This post has been submitted by permaculture student Rebecca Speert, who is organizing a powerful weekend workshop for women. Please contact her at rspeert@comcast.net if you are interested in attending.
The Red Tent Retreat is a weekend of renewal, inspiration, and connection.
One step toward resilient communities, is nurturing resilient women! This workshop will provide you with tools to empower yourself and other women in your life to engage with the Earth and each other in the most intimate way we have access to, through our blood cycles.
Women are often fed a diet of negativity about their menstrual cycle from a very young age. Since most women were never welcomed into womanhood, their “Inner Maiden” is left inside, often embarrassed, ashamed, or afraid. As a result, many women view menstruation as a “nuisance,” “bother,” or “the curse,” thereby giving way to the development of PMS symptoms.
Uprooting any negativity about menstruation stored in your body since adolescence is the beginning of an empowering and healing journey, which ultimately dissolves and reverses PMS symptoms. Additionally, reclaiming our “Inner Maidens” is a necessary stepping-stone to empowering our daughters as they enter womanhood, preventing yet another generation from suffering needlessly.
This journey is for women of all ages! You will:
Join us for a deeply nourishing weekend, and find the last missing pieces of your womanhood’s jigsaw puzzle!
When: Saturday-Sunday, March 26-27, 10:00 am – 4:00 am daily
Where: Marin County (directions provided upon registration)
Fee: sliding scale $195.00 to $245.00
To register or for more information: Rebecca Speert at (781) 820-4539 or by email at rspeert@comcast.net
Click here to download a pdf flyer about the retreat.
Facilitator: DeAnna L’am (B.A.) speaker, coach, and trainer, is author of Becoming Peers – Mentoring Girls Into Womanhood. Her pioneering work has been transforming women and girls’ lives around the world, for over 20 years. DeAnna was the first to bring Rites-Of-Passage work to Israel/Palestine, her country of origin, where she helped Jewish and Palestinian women surpass political and religious differences by deeply bonding as cycling women. DeAnna specializes in empowering women to reclaim menstruation as source of inner guidance and spiritual renewal, coaches moms to welcome their girls into womanhood with ease and comfort, and trains women to hold Red Tents in their communities. Visit her website at: www.deannalam.com
