Homescale Food Forests and Urban Strategies: 2 Workshops

PLEASE NOTE: BOTH WORKSHOPS ARE FILLED.  We cannot accommodate refund/cancellation requests after midnight Wed 1/6. Thank you for your interest in these events.

Toby Hemenway's Thursday evening lecture is open to the public with general admission seating and no advance registration required ($10/person suggested donation at the door).

ARE YOU REGISTERED FOR ONE OR BOTH WORKSHOPS?

The weather will not stop us!  Get Agenda and Directions here.

PRI Cold Climate is pleased to present several inspirational and educational events featuring Toby Hemenway, author of the groundbreaking Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture! Hemenway has been a pioneer in adapting permaculture ideas for urban areas and small gardens,  particularly those in colder climates. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, where he has helped keep that city at the forefront of sustainable culture and urban design, he visits the Twin Cities for a public lecture on Jan 7, 2010 (see lecture details) and two full-day workshops on Jan 8 & 9 (described below).

Design and Manage a Homescale Forest Garden

Date : Friday, January 8, 2010
Time : 8AM - 4:30PM
Location : University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus, Classroom Office Building, Room B25 (detail map). This building is located at 1994 Buford Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113. It is just off the SE corner of Buford Avenue and Eckles Avenue. Here is a PDF map of the St Paul Campus.

Food forests, or edible forest gardens, are life-filled places that not only provide food for people, but habitat for wildlife, carbon sequestering, biodiversity, natural soil building, beauty and tranquility, and a host of other benefits. These gardens are designed to function like natural landscapes and to reconnect people with natural patterns and processes.

This workshop will cover the basics of designing, planting, and maintaining a many-layered woodland garden of fruit and nut trees, perennial and annual vegetables, and flowers. See practical examples of ecological principles at work. Discover the qualities of soil, water, plants, and animals that will help you to work with them and understand their interconnections. Learn how to create plant mixes that work well together.

A full day of learning will give you both the theory behind food forests and a wealth of practical information, including which plants to use, where to start, and what to expect as your food forest grows.

Strategies for Regenerating Urban Areas

Date : Saturday, January 9, 2010
Time : 8AM - 4:30PM
Location : University of Minnesota St. Paul Campus, Classroom Office Building, Room B25 (detail map). This building is located at 1994 Buford Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113. It is just off the SE corner of Buford Avenue and Eckles Avenue. Here is a PDF map of the St Paul Campus.

This workshop deals with issues faced by city planners, community gardeners, and other urban dwellers interested in creating green oases within their communities, reconnecting with their neighbors, and reclaiming degraded or unused land.

How can we apply permaculture to urban and suburban places? Though land may be limited, cities are rich in other resources, especially social capital. Well-designed (or redesigned), our cities could provide for most human needs.

We will discuss how to find, harvest, and integrate the many resources in our cities in sustainable ways, including:

• getting access to land for gardening,
• creating business guilds and networks,
• learning the pattern language of the city,
• creating public space in neighborhoods, and
• building urban ecovillages.

We will examine specific instances where sustainability practices are being implemented at the neighborhood and city level -- primarily in Portland, Oregon, but also around the country. We will also address strategies for presenting these concepts to policymakers in city government, citizen organizations, and other stakeholders.

Expand your notion of what is possible in an urban community tailored to people's comfort and health in accordance with natural processes and patterns. Learn how permaculture's principles and design methods apply to the dense, rich environments of our cities, and how to leverage the special opportunities that cities provide.

About Toby Hemenway A former researcher in genetics and immunology, Hemenway's current project is developing urban sustainability resources in Portland, Oregon, where he lives. He also teaches at Portland State University, is Scholar in Residence at Pacific University, and consults, teaches, and lectures on ecological design and permaculture throughout the country. He was associate editor of Permaculture Activist, a journal of ecological design and sustainable culture, from 1999 to 2004. You can find out more about him and read several of his recent articles at patternliteracy.com.

Questions? Contact Evelyn.