Prairie Permaculture

The Volunteers of America - Western Nebraska, supported by AmeriCorps Volunteers will be hosting a series of classes on "Growing Foods for Health and Environment" as part of a Sustainable Living campaign. 

• Growing Food in the Home:  Sprouting and Container Gardening
• Extended Season Garden:  Building a Cold Frame
• Garden Planning:  Seed Selection
• Composting/Vermiculture - Raised Beds
• Keeping Goats:  Goat CheeseBee Keeping
• Grass Feed Beef:  Resources for various aspects (locating, butchering...etc)
• Trees:  Function, Relationship, Planting, Native breeds, Food forest
• Food Preservation:  Canning/Fermentation/Dehydration
  

We are pleased to announce a Permaculture Workshop in Lewellen, NE.  The workshop will include two half day sessions to be held Sunday October 3rd and Monday the 4th at the Methodist Church.

For those of you are not familiar with permaculture, it utilizes natural designs to build permanent agricultural systems in an effort to grow food in a way that regenerates the soil while minimizing ecological impact.

We will be gathering Sunday at noon for lunch before class at the Most Unlikely Place (at each individual's own expense).

Sunday's workshop  will run from 1 until 5 pm, and will include a lively discussion of permaculture principles, winter gardening, and will end with hands on activities in the community garden. 

Monday's  workshop will be conducted from 8:30 am to 12:30 and will include a discussion on preserving the harvest using traditional methods such as drying and fermentation.  There will also be a project to create a food forest design for the community garden. After class please join us for a pot luck and an opportunity to socialize.

The charge is $10 for each half day session.  Payment can be made at class, but please pre-register by Friday October 1st, by calling or emailing Shawn Wolverton at 308-464-0822 or ShawnWo@gmail.com.

Instructor BIOs:

Sandy Cruz has been gardening at 9,200 feet and experimenting with plants for over 30 years.  She founded High Altitude Permaculture in 1992 and holds a Diploma of Permaculture Design from the International Permaculture Institute.  Sandy currently teaches Permaculture and consults on site planning and design in the Boulder area.

Becky Elder was raised in the tall grass prairie of Eastern Kansas. Transplanted to Colorado in 1973, she has been gardening on the Front Range for thirty four years.  Certified in permaculture design in 2002, Becky teaches for the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute and with High Altitude Permaculture, Sustainable Ways and Pikes Peak Permaculture. She was an active Master Gardener for Colorado State University for 13 years. She is involved with the Transition Town movement in her home town, Manitou Springs. A life long organic gardener, she owns Blue Planet Earthscapes, an award winning gardening company. A former wildlife rehabilitator, her Manitou home gardens are Certified Wildlife Habitat and were included in the Audubon Society's book: Colorado Wildscapes.  Her first book, Raven in the Garden, a Front Range Gardener's Journal was published in 2007.

• Claire Zimmerman (Pixie Plots)- Owner and founder of Pixie Plots Garden Company, teaches extensively on wild edible and medicinal plants, Permaculture design, medicinal herb gardens and more. She is a Certified Clinical Herbalist,Permaculture Designer and Educator, and has years of experience working as a field botanist throughout the intermountain west
• Kelly Simmons- A graduate of UC Santa Cruz in ecology, holds a teaching certificate as well as a certificate in permaculture design and permaculture teaching. She has a broad range of teaching experience over the past 20 years including gardening, composting and vermicomposting. More recently she has been teaching sustainable living courses and permaculture classes across Colorado including Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, The Watershed School, CU Boulder and Naropa University. Kelly is the founder and director of the Boulder Sustainability Education Center, a non-profit dedicated to teaching sustainable living skills and permaculture and currently lives with a small menagerie of chickens, ducks, honeybees, worms and her family along with gardens and an orchard in downtown Boulder (from gigbot.com)
• Becky Elder (Pikes Peak Permaculture)- Raised in the tall grass prairie of Eastern Kansas. Transplanted to Colorado in 1973, she has been gardening on the Front Range for thirty four years. Certified in permaculture design in 2002, Becky teaches for the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute and with High Altitude Permaculture, Sustainable Ways and Pikes Peak Permaculture. She was an active Master Gardener for Colorado State University for 13 years. She is involved with the Transition Town movement in her home town, Manitou Springs. A life long organic gardener, she owns Blue Planet Earthscapes, an award winning gardening company. A former wildlife rehabilitator, her Manitou home gardens are Certified Wildlife Habitat and were included in the Audubon Society's book: Colorado Wildscapes . Her first book, Raven in the Garden, a Front Range Gardener's Journal was published in 2007.
• John Anderson (Colorado Worm Man)- Known as the "Worm Man", John is skilled in the art of vermicomposting, which creates compost with worms. Vermicompost is a rich soil amendment for area gardens. As a child growing up in Minnesota, Anderson's interest in gardening was evident, "I was always digging in the dirt," he says. After immigrating to Colorado John completed CSUs? Larimer County Training Programs and then became a Master Gardener and Composter Volunteer in 1996. Since then, John has given and attended various local, national and international training courses and events, and has been a primary consultant for business, schools and individuals interested in using worms to compost.

Our excitement is mounting as our third installment of the Permaculture Design Course approaches. It is always such an interesting and engaging event when we all get together. Our class participants range from first year gardeners, to established conventional farmers and we are even lucky enough to have a soil microbiologist in our midst. Not only do we learn from the instructors, but local experienced gardeners add a touch of local flavor to the instruction. We have the opportunity to share in the wisdom of practiced area gardeners.

As a newbie myself, I have found the classes not only informative but transformational. I was so thrilled to have stumbled upon this class where so many individuals are concerned about their personal health, as well as the economic and environmental health of our area. These are people who are looking beyond today at what we will need to survive tomorrow.

Our instructors, once again, are driving the long drive from the Colorado Front Range to share their knowledge and experience. Recognized as experts and leaders in the field of Permaculture and Sustainable Agriculture, the instructors each bring something special to the event.

Becky Elder (www.pikespeakpermaculture.org ): Becky is from Manitou Springs. She has been involved with organic gardening since 1975, and has been a CO Master Gardener since '95. She will be will be teaching management of critters in the growing system specifically: Backyard habitat, rabbits & aquaculture. 

Becky Elder. Claire Zimmerman is our herbal expert. She will take the class on herbal walks to collect and harvest plants, and will be sharing processing techniques. 

A worm expert will be joining us to discuss the significance and care of worms in our garden system, and will have several gallons of healthy garden worms available for sale. 

We will also continue creating our design projects: the plan for a greenhouse and edible gardens at the Garden County schools and the creation of a food forest garden around the Most Unlikely Place in Lewellen. 

Registrations are now being taken through the VOA in Lewellen; new participants are welcome.

Please contact Jean Jensen at volunteersofamerica@embarqmail.com or 308-778-5548 to enroll or for more information.

Time: 8:30 to 5:00 on Friday and Saturday and 10:30 to 5:00 on Sunday.

Cost: $50/day or $120 for the weekend.

Location: Methodist Church in Lewellen

Lunch is provided

The entire first day of module 2 was committed to learning solar greenhouse design, by one of the nation's experts, Jerome Osentowski. Originally from Nebraska, Jerome has been demonstrating the ecological and economic health of the permaculture model in Basalt Colorado for nearly a quarter of a century, at his Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. He shared a wonderful slide show of his existing and former greenhouses. 

With the use of 3 greenhouses, Jerome is able to grow ample food the entire year. The greenhouses maintain a Mediterranean climate throughout the winter. In fact, Jerome prides himself on his fig trees. Imagine fig trees growing in the Rocky Mountains at 7200 feet! Through thoughtful design, well place biomass, and proper orientation, the greenhouses run without heat most of the time; reportedly, only cranking up the heat a couple times during the coldest nights of the winter. 

Jerome's Basalt Food Forest, a Rocky Mountain oasis, produces a myriad of food products from Splianthes, Comfrey, Figs, Tomatoes, Micro Greens, and the list goes on and on. Jerome explained how multiple income streams naturally evolve from this kind of structure. He serves to educate the public on how truly manageable sustainable agriculture can be, at the same time offering superior economic value over the same size property being utilized for conventional agriculture. 

The following days were spent in the garden, planting garlic, onions, gooseberries, and dozens of pole beans, as well as scoping out possible sites for our permaculture design projects. 

We decided on creating projects for the Garden County High School, the Most Unlikely Place, and the local elementary school. More on the design projects to come. 

(Check out Jerome's Blog, where he mentions is trip to Lewellen)

A free slide show has been added to our Memorial Week-end permaculture class.

Jerome Ostentowski has generously offered to provide the community with a free slideshow, beginning at 7:00 PM in Lewellen, and "The Most Unlikely Place".

Jerome will share slides that demonstrate the power of permaculture, as we see what can be accomplished in just a few short years.

Please join us.

Call 720-207-9152 for more information.

Registrations are now being accepted for the second module of gardening using permaculture techniques.  Classes will be held the 24 to 26th of May in Lewellen.  Jerome Ostentoski, who grew up in Ord, will be here to share his 25 years of experience in building solar systems that support extending the growing season and require no extra energy sources.  Jerome raises food forests at an altitude of 9000 ft in the Rockies.  He is currently involved in building a solar greenhouse in the local high school. Both teachers, Sandy Cruz and Jerome, have well established small acreages and will continue to share their expertise in “getting the most from your gardening”.  Jason Gerhardt will be providing instruction and hands on experience building a cob (adobe) oven.  We will also be planting memorial trees and bushes.   

Mornings will be spent in the classroom, and afternoons will involve hands on experience in the community garden.  Join us 8:30 to 5:30 on Saturday and Monday and 10:30 to 5:30 on Sunday at the Methodist Church in Lewellen.  Lunch will be provided.   

Register for individual days or for the entire weekend. The cost is $50 per day or $120 for all three days.   Some half scholarships are available for the full weekend.

Please contact Jean Jensen at the Volunteers of America for more information: (308) 778-5548 or volunteersofamerica@embarqmailcom.

The public is invited to a free slide show presented by Jerome Ostentoski  7:00 PM Friday May 23rd at The Most Unlikely Place in Lewellen.

World Class teachers from Colorado headed by Sandy Cruz, include Jerome Ostentowski and Jason Gerhardt.
 
Why Permaculture now? Local communities are equipping themselves to become more self reliant and resilient in the midst of economic and environmental crisis.  Community and home gardens can help people thrive with good quality food and sustainable systems.  Join us to learn some of these skills.


Class Schedule: (Fri & Sat 8:30-5:30 / Sunday 10-6)

    * The permaculture design projects/forest gardens (Day 1)
    * Solar greenhouse designs/no energy input required (Day 2)
    * Building a cob oven/alternative building structures (Day 3)

Hands on activities will include construction of a cob (like adobe) oven, guiding plant layers, and individual/group design projects.

Participant Investment*:

    * Full Course/Certification @ $ 700.00 (includes all 5 three day modules)
    * 3 day Module Participation @ $120.00
    * 1 day Participation @ $50.00/day

Lodging & Meals :

The Prairie Permaculture Guild of western Nebraska is planning a three hour workday this Saturday, April 18, between 9:00 am and Noon next to the church.  
 
The  workday is to support the Lewellen community garden project sponsored by the United Methodist Church and Volunteers of America.  They will be building and demonstrating the layering process of sheet mulching which is also referred to as lasagna gardening. These techniques can easily be used at home.

The Prairie Permaculture Guild is adding its expertise as students and teachers of the permaculture process.  Permaculture is the art of creating living ecosystems that imitate nature to provide food, fuel and shelter.

All are invited to participate in this new way of gardening in community and home gardens.  Please join us on Saturday.  

Contact info:  Dianne Greenwald and Salvatore Caruso 308-778-5933

A Big thanks goes out to the folks of Lewellen, who have generously coordinated and hosted the first Permaculture Design Certification Program to be offered in the Region.  A special thanks to Dianne Greenwald, R. Salvatore Carusoe, Jean Jenson and the rest of the Volutneers of America staff who managed to pull this off.  Also big hand to Sandy Cruz and Jason Gerhardt who traveled from the lofty heights of Ward and Nederland to share their knowledge and resources, only to be pummeled by a cold Nebraska blizzard.  Our hats off to you and your continued committment to spreading the message of Permaculture.

We saw a great turnout, there were folks from Chappel, Oshkosh, Lewellen, Ogallala, Venango and parts in between in attendance.  It was with sheer delight we were joined by a large group of kids from the Garden County School.  No better way to spread the wisdom of sustainable gardening than by incorporating the young people.  Thank you all for being there and we welcome you back.

Topics we covered in our first series of classes, (some of which will be explored further in subsequent posts) were

The Ethics of Permaculture

The Principles of Permaculture

Rainwater Harvesting

Soil Preparation

Pest Control

No Dig Gardening/The Lasagna Bed approach

Composting

Zone and Sector Analysis

Beneficial Insects

Companion Planting

and some great hands on experience (in spite of the blizzard).

It was fun to see how easily the garden beds started coming together with the input from such a large group.  Individuals donated all the materials we needed: Logs to form the bed framing, straw, horse manure, grass clippings and leaves, sheep manure, fresh kitchen scraps.  A nearby neighbor watching us work, generously offered up for planting some of her Ogallala strawberries, and Sandy and Jason contributed seeds, minerals, and Reemay so we could get some seeds in the ground, and have them protected from the wind, birds, and cold.

I personally had a great time, and was so pleased to meet such a well intentioned, progressive, group of people I could ever want to know out in my reclaimed prairie home.

Shawn