UPCOMING COMMUNITY EVENTS:
Join us for one ~ or all ~ of these inspiring events! You can register for each event below this calendar of events.
Join us for one ~ or all ~ of these inspiring events! You can register for each event below this calendar of events.
Online Tuesday Evening Speaker Series:
February 22, 7pm-8pm: Starting a Local Seed Library! with Saskia Esslinger
$10.00
Saskia is a permaculture educator and gardening coach who has started a successful Seed Library in her town in Homer, Alaska! She will tell her story and share guidance about how we can each start our own local seed libraries.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
April 26, 7pm- 8pm: Intro to Coppicing with Author Mark Krawczyk
$10.00
Intro to Coppicing Meet the author of the new book ‘Coppice Agroforestry - Tending Trees for Product, Profit and Woodland Ecology’ slated for release this June after more than 10 years in the making! Learn about this simple, yet revolutionary traditional woodland management technique directly from Mark Krawczyk himself, zooming in from New Haven, VT!
Coppicing and related forms of “resprout silviculture” have met humans’ material needs for millennia. Learn about the fundamentals of these techniques, why they’re still useful today and how to do it yourself.
Mark Krawczyk is an applied ecological, permaculture design, consultant and educator and grower. He manages Keyline Vermont LLC and Valley Clayplain Forest Farm - a diversified small agroforestry farm - with his wife Ammy in Vermont’s Champlain ValleyApril 26th at 7pm. Send an email to permacultureseries@gmail.com to confirm your registration and receive the meeting invite.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
March 22, 7pm-8pm: Introduction to Fermentation and Wild Fizzy Sodas with Trevor Ring
$10.00
Intro to Fermentation: Learn to Make Wild Fizzy Sodas
Learn the basics and health benefits of fermentation and make fermented sodas with wild microbes in this workshop. Trevor Ring, founder of Community Cultures and Pittsburgh's first Fermented Soda CSA, will help remind you why we should develop a strong relationship with wild microbes. He will illustrate how fermentation can be used for creativity, playfulness, and food waste reduction.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
May 24, 7pm-8pm: Ecocultural Restoration with Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Marko Bey & Belinda Brown of Lomakatsi
$10.00
Ecocultural Restoration with Lomakatsi Restoration Project. Gather stories and teachings about Ecocultural Restoration work with Marko Bey, Founder & Executive Director of Lomakatsi Restoration Project and Belinda Brown, Tribal Partnerships Director of Lomakatsi, who develop and implement forest and watershed restoration projects in Oregon and Northern California with Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
August 23, 7pm-8pm: Supporting Native Pollinator Habitat with Amy of Wing & a Prayer Nursery
$10.00
Meet Amy Pulley, creator of Wing and a Prayer Nursery in Cummington MA, and learn about native pollinators, and what we can do to assist them by locally supporting their habitat.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
July 26, 7pm-815pm: 'Reflection, A Walk With Water' and Meet Filmmaker Emmett Brennan!
$10.00
View the film 'Reflection, A Water Story' and then meet the filmmaker Emmett Brennan to hear his story. There will be an opportunity to ask him about his work of creating this new film, as well as his previous work ‘Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective’.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
September 27, 7pm-8pm: Why Urban Farming? Insights from Eastie Farm with Founder Kannan Thiruvengadam
$10.00
Why Urban Farming? Insights from Eastie Farm
Hear about a successful case study from the Founder of urban farming at Eastie Farm with Kannan Thiruvengadam. Kannan was recently sworn in as a member of the Conservation Commission for the City of Boston.
- Following your registration: You will receive a confirmation email from permacultureseries@gmail.com and link for the meeting invitation.
In Person, Site Tour Days in 2022!
Saturday July 9th: Tour Wing and a Prayer Native Pollinator Nursery and Nutwood Farm in Cummington MA
$35.00
Saturday July 9th
Tour Wing and A Prayer Native Pollinator Nursery and Nutwood Farm in Cummington MA 10:00-4:00, ($35 for the day) *Lunch will be available as a delicious and catered picnic, by additional donation*
- 🦋 10:00 Tour of Wing and a Prayer Nursery in Cummington, MA ~ Meet Amy and tour her nursery of native pollinator plants. Amy is actively working to save native pollinator habitat in our area. Plants will be available for purchase at the nursery after her tour!
- 12:30 Lunch at Wing and a Prayer, A delicious lunch is offered by Alice of 'Alice's Kitchen' by donation :)
- 2:00 Tour Nutwood Farm in Cummington MA ~ Visit a young agroforestry farm growing hybrid hazelnuts, chestnuts, and other perennial edible tree crops in Cummington, MA. Their goal is to provide delicious, nutrient dense foods for our community while enhancing the fertility, diversity and resilience of the ecosystem we inhabit. They are working to help shift our local food system towards regenerative agriculture, nutrient rich food from enhanced soil fertility, while developing long-term food sovereignty and bold economic sufficiency. )
Saturday July 9th
Tour Wing and A Prayer Native Pollinator Nursery and Nutwood Farm in Cummington MA 10:00-4:00, ($35 for the day) *Lunch will be available as a delicious and catered picnic, by additional donation*
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Upcoming Late Summer or Autumn Tours: October & November, Dates TBA
Tour Wildside Cottage and Gardens in Conway, MA, 10:00-1:00 $25 for the morning
Tour Wing and A Prayer Native Pollinator Nursery and Nutwood Farm in Cummington MA 10:00-4:00, ($35 for the day) *Lunch will be available as a delicious and catered picnic, by additional donation*
- 🦋 10:00 Tour of Wing and a Prayer Nursery in Cummington, MA ~ Meet Amy and tour her nursery of native pollinator plants. Amy is actively working to save native pollinator habitat in our area. Plants will be available for purchase at the nursery after her tour!
- 12:30 Lunch at Wing and a Prayer, A delicious lunch is offered by Alice of 'Alice's Kitchen' by donation :)
- 2:00 Tour Nutwood Farm in Cummington, MA ~ Visit a young agroforestry farm growing hybrid hazelnuts, chestnuts, and other perennial edible tree crops in Cummington, MA. Their goal is to provide delicious, nutrient dense foods for our community while enhancing the fertility, diversity and resilience of the ecosystem we inhabit. They are working to help shift our local food system towards regenerative agriculture, nutrient rich food from enhanced soil fertility, while developing long-term food sovereignty and bold economic sufficiency. )
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Upcoming Late Summer or Autumn Tours: October & November, Dates TBA
Tour Wildside Cottage and Gardens in Conway, MA, 10:00-1:00 $25 for the morning
- 10:00 Wildside Cottage and Gardens ~ Visit Sue Bridge and her energy efficient, off-grid, solar heated home, as well as the forest gardens, living roof, nut grove, greenhouse, market garden, and more! There will be a hands-on learning component of the morning.
- 12:30-1:00 Optional : Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy onsite
- 10:00 Morning Tour of Hickory Gardens, in Leverett MA ~ Visit the homestead of Jono Neiger, co-founder of Regenerative Design Group. Visit the edible forest garden, water catchment and waste treatment systems, and zones of use planning at Jono’s homestead. There will be a hands-on learning project before lunch.
- 1:00 Lunch at the Leverett Village Co-op (Bring your lunch to enjoy at the picnic tables, or pick something up there)
- 2:30 Afternoon Tour of Big River Chestnuts in Sunderland MA ~ This is where Jono is developing a commercial agroforestry system based on chestnuts, small fruit, and chickens. There are ample hands-on learning opportunities at this farm that you can also pursue!
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Attend Our Weekend Series
Permaculture Design Certification Course
THIS FALL!
Visit the Home Page of this website for more info
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Attend Our Weekend Series
Permaculture Design Certification Course
THIS FALL!
Visit the Home Page of this website for more info
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Upcoming Events at THE PERMACULTURE PLACE
at The Mill in Shelburne Falls:
Exhibits, Demonstrations, Resource Center & Gift Shop
at The Mill in Shelburne Falls:
Exhibits, Demonstrations, Resource Center & Gift Shop
The Permaculture Place is Open during our Concert Series Dates:
At The Mill, 49 Conway Street in downtown Shelburne Falls, MA
Concert Series at The Permaculture Place!
Sunday June 5th: Stuart Kenney and DriveTrain
6:00 ~ Internationally admired banjo player and his bluegrass band
TICKETS: https://m.bpt.me/event/5442976
Sunday July 10th: Green Sisters
6:00 ~ Enchanting bluegrass music with this quartet of talented sisters
TICKETS: https://m.bpt.me/event/5442985
Wednesday August 3rd: Appalachian Still
6:30 ~ Appalachian Still is an acoustic string band out of Northampton, Massachusetts
playing high energy Americana that combines oldtime mountain music with bluegrass, rock, and folk.
Tickets $20
At The Mill, 49 Conway Street in downtown Shelburne Falls, MA
Concert Series at The Permaculture Place!
Sunday June 5th: Stuart Kenney and DriveTrain
6:00 ~ Internationally admired banjo player and his bluegrass band
TICKETS: https://m.bpt.me/event/5442976
Sunday July 10th: Green Sisters
6:00 ~ Enchanting bluegrass music with this quartet of talented sisters
TICKETS: https://m.bpt.me/event/5442985
Wednesday August 3rd: Appalachian Still
6:30 ~ Appalachian Still is an acoustic string band out of Northampton, Massachusetts
playing high energy Americana that combines oldtime mountain music with bluegrass, rock, and folk.
Tickets $20
~ PREVIOUS EVENTS ~
SITE TOUR DAYS ~ OFF SITE We often offer Tours of Western MA Permaculture Sites! We will visit a number of leading demonstration sites near Amherst, Conway, Shutesbury, Shelburne Falls, and Holyoke.
Offsite Tour: Visit a Permaculture Demonstration Homestead
Tour an edible ecosystem in Conway created by a remarkable woman, Sue Bridge. Spend a day at her forest, meadow, field, rice paddy, forest garden, and market garden. Tour her earth-bermed greenhouse, root cellar, off-the-grid energy generation, living roof, and a very 'green' home. (Pre-registration required, $30)
Offsite Tour: Visit a Long-Standing EcoVillage
The longest-standing intentional community, ecovillage, and retreat center in the northeastern USA is found in Shutesbury, where they employ ecologically conscious methods of living and a consensus-style governance process. Visit a 90 foot long four-season straw bale greenhouse, a hand built cob house, a masonry stove, and a no-till CSA with annual and perennial vegetable gardens. (Pre-registration required, $30)
Offsite Tour: Visit a Straw Bale House
Tour the home of a family of 5 in Shelburne Falls, where they constructed their natural home out of straw bales, and heat their home with a masonry stove. Learn about their design decisions to choose earthen materials and about their construction process. Witness the efficiency and beauty that they have created. This tour is followed by a slide show about natural building techniques and options. (Pre-registration required, $25)
Offsite Tour: Visit a Permaculture Homestead and Demonstration Forest Garden
Tour a home landscape created by Jono Neiger of Regenerative Design Group in Leverett. Witness his efficient energy systems, fruit production, water catchment, nutrient cycling systems, and hear about his permaculture design process over the last 15 years. (Pre-registration required, $25)
EVENING EVENTS:
SUNDAY OCTOBER 13th at 7:30 pm: Farming for Biodiversity
Designing Pollination Systems to Sustain Native Wildlife
A Presentation by Evan Abramson, Pollination Systems Designer at Landscape Interactions
June 2nd, 7pm: Local Textiles, Bringing Regenerative, Non-Toxic, and Ethical Textile Production Back to New England
Nur Tiven, founding member of Western Mass Fibershed, tells the story of producing the first local and sustainable wool apparel fabric to come out of Massachusetts in decades, and discusses the need for and inspiring possibilities of rebuilding regional fiber systems and textile economies. We'll contrast our local regenerative supply chain with the toxic fashion industries which currently clothe us, and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities of building a "local clothing movement." Fibershed mission: "Fibershed develops regional and regenerative fiber systems of behalf of independent working producers, by expanding opportunities to implement carbon farming, forming catalytic foundations to rebuild regional manufacturing, and through connecting end-users to farms and ranches through public education."
Sunday June 9th, 1pm-5pm: Mushroom Cultivation Demystified! Low Tech and No Waste Methods of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Fungi
Spend the afternoon of July 9th learning various strategies to bring valuable mushrooms close to home. We will learn the mushroom life cycle, how they are produced, and how you can grow these delicious treats without waste or a big investment. This 4 hour course will have an indoor as well as an outdoor portion filled with hands on experience in inoculation. Mushroom spawn and kits will be available for sale for those who wish to use their new knowledge right away! $25-$40 Sliding Scale Afternoon Workshop
Friday June 21st, 7pm: Teaming Up with Soil Life, Intro to Soil Biology & Chemistry (in relation to the plants we want to grow!) + * 8:30pm Special Summer Solstice Community Celebration *
Kaat Vander Straeten is a certified permaculture designer and a graduate of Elaine Ingham's Life in the Soil classes. She can tell a good nematode from a bad one and will show you how you can tell too. Learn all about the soil food web, bacterial versus fungal soils, how to cook up some good compost and compost tea, what earthworms like to eat, and the real definition of a weed.
Movie Night! A Viewing of: ‘Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective’ See the best film about the permaculture movement!
Created by our very own permaculture design course graduate! Meet some of our spring Permaculture Course participants during this movie night ($10 Drop In Donation or Email Us to Reserve Your Seat)
Introduction to Healing with the Five Elements Join us for a guided movement meditation and an informative talk with Tom Matherly of Fox Tracks Healing.
The Chinese Five Elements are a tool that we can use to interpret and understand human health and the world around us. In this workshop we will explore the Chinese Five Element Theory through interactive lecture, movement, and Qi Gong. We will learn how to observe the Five Elements in our daily lives and how they can be utilized to guide us along our path. Other aspects of this workshop include, balancing human health conditions with the five elements, the elements of healing plants and five element permaculture: how to use the five elements for design.
Introduction to Plant Spirit Medicine Join us for a talk with Clare Pearson of Wilder Brook Botanicals, healer and educator, who will guide us in a meditation and share about the healing power of plants.
“Plants have Spirit. And Spirit is the strongest medicine.” ~Eliot Cowan
Plants are our allies. They offer themselves to us as food, and we are moved by their beauty. They are useful to us as medicine and are allies in balancing our life force, or Qi. Maybe you have a favorite tree, one you had a swing in as a kid? Or have you ever brought your frustrations or sadnesses into the woods, a safe place, to work it out? Maybe you take your first cup of coffee on an August morning in your garden with that warm breeze- looking at form and color, smelling the abundance, being fed in your senses. Even the air is delicious on an early August morning.
Most folks I know look to Nature to rest, relax, renew and re-connect with themselves. This connection with Nature has obvious gifts of de-stressing and helping us find ourselves again. But there’s more! Come and learn about Plant Spirits and why they are so important, helpful and necessary in these days.
Plant Spirit Medicine is a form of Chinese 5 Element Medicine that calls upon the Spirit of Plants for the healing. It is elegant in its non-invasive approach, and effective in bringing people to balance. We’ll talk about Plant Spirit Medicine and perhaps do a guided meditation to deepen our relationship with a common local plant. I hope you can join us for a fun, deepening conversation about our friends, the plants. ($10 Drop In Donation or Email Us to Reserve Your Seat)
Mushroom Cultivation in Permaculture Systems with Ari Rockland-Miller of The Mushroom Forager!
Learn to create a landscape that produces a bounty of gourmet mushrooms while nourishing soil fertility and boosting vegetable yields. Participate in a hands on inoculation demonstration of king stropharia mushrooms in garden beds. Also, discover how to maximize lion's mane yields using the totem method. We will also cover outdoor shiitake production in the Northeast, from inoculation methods to laying yard management and season extension. Participants will inoculate their own shiitake log to take home, and enjoy a mushroom tasting.
An Introduction to Orcharding as a Biodynamic Practitioner with Alan Surprenant of Brook Farm Orchard
Movie Night!! 'Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective'
This film was made by one of our Permaculture Design Course Graduates, and it is the best contemporary film about the permaculture movement! Join us!
Future Topics:
Rainwater Harvesting
Natural Building
Deep Ecology
Financial Permaculture
Food Forest Design & Implementation
Plant Spirit Medicine
Pollinator Gardens
Please email PermacultureSeries@gmail.com to request detailed information and the full schedule.
Offsite Tour: Visit a Permaculture Demonstration Homestead
Tour an edible ecosystem in Conway created by a remarkable woman, Sue Bridge. Spend a day at her forest, meadow, field, rice paddy, forest garden, and market garden. Tour her earth-bermed greenhouse, root cellar, off-the-grid energy generation, living roof, and a very 'green' home. (Pre-registration required, $30)
Offsite Tour: Visit a Long-Standing EcoVillage
The longest-standing intentional community, ecovillage, and retreat center in the northeastern USA is found in Shutesbury, where they employ ecologically conscious methods of living and a consensus-style governance process. Visit a 90 foot long four-season straw bale greenhouse, a hand built cob house, a masonry stove, and a no-till CSA with annual and perennial vegetable gardens. (Pre-registration required, $30)
Offsite Tour: Visit a Straw Bale House
Tour the home of a family of 5 in Shelburne Falls, where they constructed their natural home out of straw bales, and heat their home with a masonry stove. Learn about their design decisions to choose earthen materials and about their construction process. Witness the efficiency and beauty that they have created. This tour is followed by a slide show about natural building techniques and options. (Pre-registration required, $25)
Offsite Tour: Visit a Permaculture Homestead and Demonstration Forest Garden
Tour a home landscape created by Jono Neiger of Regenerative Design Group in Leverett. Witness his efficient energy systems, fruit production, water catchment, nutrient cycling systems, and hear about his permaculture design process over the last 15 years. (Pre-registration required, $25)
EVENING EVENTS:
SUNDAY OCTOBER 13th at 7:30 pm: Farming for Biodiversity
Designing Pollination Systems to Sustain Native Wildlife
A Presentation by Evan Abramson, Pollination Systems Designer at Landscape Interactions
June 2nd, 7pm: Local Textiles, Bringing Regenerative, Non-Toxic, and Ethical Textile Production Back to New England
Nur Tiven, founding member of Western Mass Fibershed, tells the story of producing the first local and sustainable wool apparel fabric to come out of Massachusetts in decades, and discusses the need for and inspiring possibilities of rebuilding regional fiber systems and textile economies. We'll contrast our local regenerative supply chain with the toxic fashion industries which currently clothe us, and discuss some of the challenges and opportunities of building a "local clothing movement." Fibershed mission: "Fibershed develops regional and regenerative fiber systems of behalf of independent working producers, by expanding opportunities to implement carbon farming, forming catalytic foundations to rebuild regional manufacturing, and through connecting end-users to farms and ranches through public education."
Sunday June 9th, 1pm-5pm: Mushroom Cultivation Demystified! Low Tech and No Waste Methods of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Fungi
Spend the afternoon of July 9th learning various strategies to bring valuable mushrooms close to home. We will learn the mushroom life cycle, how they are produced, and how you can grow these delicious treats without waste or a big investment. This 4 hour course will have an indoor as well as an outdoor portion filled with hands on experience in inoculation. Mushroom spawn and kits will be available for sale for those who wish to use their new knowledge right away! $25-$40 Sliding Scale Afternoon Workshop
Friday June 21st, 7pm: Teaming Up with Soil Life, Intro to Soil Biology & Chemistry (in relation to the plants we want to grow!) + * 8:30pm Special Summer Solstice Community Celebration *
Kaat Vander Straeten is a certified permaculture designer and a graduate of Elaine Ingham's Life in the Soil classes. She can tell a good nematode from a bad one and will show you how you can tell too. Learn all about the soil food web, bacterial versus fungal soils, how to cook up some good compost and compost tea, what earthworms like to eat, and the real definition of a weed.
Movie Night! A Viewing of: ‘Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective’ See the best film about the permaculture movement!
Created by our very own permaculture design course graduate! Meet some of our spring Permaculture Course participants during this movie night ($10 Drop In Donation or Email Us to Reserve Your Seat)
Introduction to Healing with the Five Elements Join us for a guided movement meditation and an informative talk with Tom Matherly of Fox Tracks Healing.
The Chinese Five Elements are a tool that we can use to interpret and understand human health and the world around us. In this workshop we will explore the Chinese Five Element Theory through interactive lecture, movement, and Qi Gong. We will learn how to observe the Five Elements in our daily lives and how they can be utilized to guide us along our path. Other aspects of this workshop include, balancing human health conditions with the five elements, the elements of healing plants and five element permaculture: how to use the five elements for design.
Introduction to Plant Spirit Medicine Join us for a talk with Clare Pearson of Wilder Brook Botanicals, healer and educator, who will guide us in a meditation and share about the healing power of plants.
“Plants have Spirit. And Spirit is the strongest medicine.” ~Eliot Cowan
Plants are our allies. They offer themselves to us as food, and we are moved by their beauty. They are useful to us as medicine and are allies in balancing our life force, or Qi. Maybe you have a favorite tree, one you had a swing in as a kid? Or have you ever brought your frustrations or sadnesses into the woods, a safe place, to work it out? Maybe you take your first cup of coffee on an August morning in your garden with that warm breeze- looking at form and color, smelling the abundance, being fed in your senses. Even the air is delicious on an early August morning.
Most folks I know look to Nature to rest, relax, renew and re-connect with themselves. This connection with Nature has obvious gifts of de-stressing and helping us find ourselves again. But there’s more! Come and learn about Plant Spirits and why they are so important, helpful and necessary in these days.
Plant Spirit Medicine is a form of Chinese 5 Element Medicine that calls upon the Spirit of Plants for the healing. It is elegant in its non-invasive approach, and effective in bringing people to balance. We’ll talk about Plant Spirit Medicine and perhaps do a guided meditation to deepen our relationship with a common local plant. I hope you can join us for a fun, deepening conversation about our friends, the plants. ($10 Drop In Donation or Email Us to Reserve Your Seat)
Mushroom Cultivation in Permaculture Systems with Ari Rockland-Miller of The Mushroom Forager!
Learn to create a landscape that produces a bounty of gourmet mushrooms while nourishing soil fertility and boosting vegetable yields. Participate in a hands on inoculation demonstration of king stropharia mushrooms in garden beds. Also, discover how to maximize lion's mane yields using the totem method. We will also cover outdoor shiitake production in the Northeast, from inoculation methods to laying yard management and season extension. Participants will inoculate their own shiitake log to take home, and enjoy a mushroom tasting.
An Introduction to Orcharding as a Biodynamic Practitioner with Alan Surprenant of Brook Farm Orchard
Movie Night!! 'Inhabit, A Permaculture Perspective'
This film was made by one of our Permaculture Design Course Graduates, and it is the best contemporary film about the permaculture movement! Join us!
Future Topics:
Rainwater Harvesting
Natural Building
Deep Ecology
Financial Permaculture
Food Forest Design & Implementation
Plant Spirit Medicine
Pollinator Gardens
Please email PermacultureSeries@gmail.com to request detailed information and the full schedule.