April 2010

Posted April 7th, 2010 by evhadden

Generating and sharing creative solutions.

Inside this issue of the Circular :

- Permaculture Design Certification in 5 Weekends
- Upcoming Events
- Farewell and Many Thanks
- Backyard Harvest News
- Innovative Trellis Designs
- Note from the Editor

Permaculture Design Certification in 5 Weekends

April 24 - July 25

Learn the basics of the permaculture design method this spring and summer.

Permaculture offers creative, effective, low-tech solutions for people to live comfortably and sustainably while healing the earth. Learn about the basic principles of permaculture and how this design process works. Gain design experience through group exercises and guided tours of key permaculture sites in the Twin Cities area. Get hands-on training in low-tech and powerful permaculture landscape design and installation techniques. Tap into a network of cold-climate permaculture practitioners with a variety of interests and experience.

Our new 5-weekend PDC course will allow you to get your design certification without taking time off from work, and it is spread out to give you more time to digest the material. Course fee of $1200 covers three classroom weekend workshops and two on-site weekend workshops.

more details and registration

Upcoming events

We continue to offer practical classes focused on specific urban farming strategies, hands-on workshops for learning by doing, and social events to help us support each other.

April 13, 20, 27 6-8:30 PM and
May 4,11 6-8:30 PM
Learn small-scale techniques for growing food in urban areas, for your own family’s use or for urban markets. In response to widespread demand, we are repeating this updated Urban Farming series taught by Courtney Tchida.

… choose any or all! $15 per class ($20 at the door) or all 5 for $60. (Click a course topic above for more details and registration.)

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May 1 9 AM - 4 PM
In one day, learn all you need to successfully grow food in our cold temperate climate, with special focus on urban gardens and African crop varieties. $60
more details

April 16 7-9 PM
Lecture by entomologist Neil Cunningham gives an overview of biological strategies for insect management in edible landscapes. $15

April 17 9AM - 3PM
Neil Cunningham and Dan Halsey lead a day of combined classroom and hands-on experience. Learn more about options for organic and biological pest controls and how they work. Design and install habitat for beneficial insects. $35

Receive a $5 discount when you register for both the lecture and the workshop!
more details

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May 15 1-5 PM
Join others in the Twin Cities area as we continue to shape the permaculture collaborative's role within PRI Cold Climate and bring small groups together around specific permaculture projects. Free and open to all.
more details

See all our Upcoming Events on the front page left column of the PRI Cold Climate website.

Farewell and Many Thanks
It is with sadness and deep appreciation that we bid farewell to Lindsay Rebhan, who has been PRI Cold Climate's program and operations director for the last two years. Her dedication, creativity and commitment to permaculture and building an enduring movement for deep sustainability have inspired us all. Lindsay will be spending more time with her family, developing her own permaculture farm, and exploring new entrepreneurial opportunities. We wish her joy and look forward to her continued presence as a member of our community.

From all of us at PRI Cold Climate, thank you so much for your time, effort, and vision on behalf of this organization, Lindsay.

Backyard Harvest News

Our urban farming program is expanding in 2010.  We are still accepting customers!  Here's the latest news:

  • If you live in the Longfellow, Cooper, Howe, or Hiawatha neighborhood of Minneapolis, you may be eligible for a grant to help fund a Backyard Harvest garden in your yard! 

  • Your dollars can help fund two new gardens whose bounty will be donated to food shelves and meal programs for those in need. Donate now and help us to purchase compost, seeds, plants, fencing and watering supplies. You'll also be keeping one urban farmer employed with hands dirty working to grow food for our community.  With your generous support, we can reach our goal of giving away 200 pounds of fresh produce in 2010!

  • Our program is partnering with Twin Cities vendors to help fund our new ventures. You can help when you are shopping:
    • Bring a bag when you shop at Whole Foods during April, May, and June, and the Whole Foods grant program will donate 10 cents per bag saved to Backyard Harvest.
    • Shop at Ten Thousand Villages in St. Paul during 5-8pm on April 21, and they will donate 20% of their sales that evening to Backyard Harvest.

Read more about these and other Backyard Harvest news items.

Thank you again for your energetic support as we begin our second year, and let's get growing!

Innovative Trellis Designs

We were delighted and stimulated by the diverse trellis systems thought up by entrants into our 2010 juried design competition, Trellis About It!

We'd like to offer a hearty congratulations to the winning team, whose design Melon Colony will be installed at the Science Museum's Big Backyard this summer.

For those of you who missed our design exhibition, see the top designs and learn more about the competition.


Designer Anthony Baguss explains his trellis system, Chain Gang, to attendees at the March 12 Exhibition.

Note from the Editor

 Consider the distinct and not unrelated meanings of the word spring. It is the season of emerging growth and the coiled wire.  Both can inject momentum, as we northerners in the throes of spring fever can attest.  Both can also cushion the shock of too much motion.

When the fast pace, the many changes, and the lengthening To-Do list of this season threaten to unbalance me, I take a walk outside and appreciate the landscape that has come alive with new plants and animals... and our dear friend the sun.

Nature has a way of combining opposites within a dual-natured whole. So it happens that the return of the sun is a powerful mood booster, increasing our energy with its golden warmth (and a dose of vitamin D).  At the same time, it calms and soothes us, so that after spending time outdoors, we are both more alert and more focused and can spring back into the mayhem with new enthusiasm.

With respect to the PRI Cold Climate community, our "gentle cyclone" of a few months ago seems to have transformed into a full-blown tornado of events, potential partnerships, and community members old and new.  This is generating a lot of energy and a prime opportunity for each of us to seek solutions and connections.

Bearing in mind the multifaceted nature of springs may help us guard against being drowned in the sweet, fresh pool of possiblities.  Instead, we can pause and savor their variety, then grab onto those that fit and feel right as we let the rest whirl past. 

During this time, we are poised on the brink of a new cycle, and there is an abundance of potential.  Doesn't it put a spring in your step?

-- Evelyn Hadden