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SolarFest
Festival program
July 15, 16 & 17, 2011
Workshops Sustainable Ag - Saturday - continued
11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Hands-On Mushroom Production
Outdoor Workshop
Located at the Upper Shed
Join us in inoculating shiitake and wine cap mushrooms using both logs and woodchips. This two and a half hour workshop will explore the principles of successful mushroom cultivation, the benefits to the homesteader and small farmer and will practice the two most common types of inoculation. Participants will leave with a familiarity of all tools involved and will be ready to grow mushrooms at home.
Presenter: Ben Falk
12:30 - 2:30 p.m. Holistic Pasture Management
Learn how to make the most out of your fields and pastures by naturally increasing soil fertility, herd productivity, and livestock profits through the proper planning of grazing. Learn how to assess forage supply, figure out graze period and recovery time, and how to monitor your land for results. Ensure your animals will be in the right place at the right time and for the right reason.
Presenter: Craig Leggett
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Growing Rice in Cold Climates
This presentation will cover the water and paddy-based, terraced brown rice production happening at the Whole Systems Design research farm in Vermont. Ben will explore the principles and techniques used to produce grain crop on poor-soiled steep hillsides. Lessons learned in our 3 years of research into the world’s most prolific food crop and its applicability for New England will be the focus of this exciting workshop.
Presenter Ben Falk
Sunday 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Solar Thermal + Root-Zone Heating = ?
Imagine combining solar thermal panels, root-zone heating, and a passive solar high tunnel. Now imagine a twin passive solar high tunnel with no supplementary heat. What would be the differences in the crop yields and payoffs? Come learn the lessons and the early crop research results from Green Mountain College and get the basics of garden season extension systems, from the simple to the complex.
Presenters: Philip Ackerman-Leist and Lucas Brown
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Fossil Fuel Free Farming
Modern food production is heavily dependent on cheap fossil fuels creating a critical vulnerability regarding how we feed ourselves. This workshop will examine the uses of fossil energy in modern agriculture and present alternative production methods and systems, including human-powered and animal-powered systems for tillage, weed control, nutrient management and
pest control, as well as hay harvesting. Following this workshop, join Kenneth for a demonstration of these methods. (To attend the demonstration workshop, please meet at the SolarFest Peace Pole at 12:30 p.m.)
P resenter: Kenneth Mulder
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Fossil Fuel Free Farming Demo
Outdoor Workshop Meet at the Peace Pole
In this follow up hands-on workshop on Fossil Fuel Free Farming, Kenneth will demonstrate how to use many of the tools and methods that are used on the Green Mountain College farm. Participants will be able to use some of these tools to test their own farming skills.
P resenter: Kenneth Mulder
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Got Worms? An Introduction to Home and Industrial Scale Vermicomposting
Worms are some of nature’s greatest unsung heroes. In this workshop, Josh Nelson will provide an overview of the role and importance of worms. He will discuss their role in managing “waste” materials, from a home to industrial scale. The workshop will end with a demonstration on how to make and manage a high performing home sized worm bin.
Presenter: Joshua Nelson
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Managing Vermont’s Food Resources for an Equitable Food System
14% of Vermonters are considered food insecure and at the same time there is a resurgence of importance in regionally grown and raised food. How do we make these two issues meet? Join Theresa as she describes how hunger is addressed in our nation compared to what is occurring in the agricultural sector of Vermont. She will discuss programs that are taking progressive, creative measures to address hunger, food inequalities and injustices here at home.
P resenter: Theresa Snow
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. The Permaculture Mindset
Have you heard of permaculture but you are not sure what it is or what it means? In this workshop Josh will help you begin to see the world through permaculture glasses. He will explore the basic theory of permaculture and offer a few examples of things you can do to begin on your path towards conscious ecosystem development.
Presenter: Josh Brill
T hriving Locally Discover the world just outside your door and how you can leave a smaller footprint by taking advantage of what you find there.
Thriving Locally workshops take place in the Southview Arts Tent or Outdoors as noted.
Friday 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Moors & McCumber Songwriting / Co-writing Workshop
James Moors & Kort McCumber met at the Folks Fest in Colorado and since then have written, recorded and released nearly 60 original songs. In this workshop, they will show, through example, how their words, melodies and rhythms have been enhanced by the editing, revision and arrangement that comes through the co-writing process. This workshop is for the aspiring songwriter and the accomplished veteran alike and will include a brief Q & A.
Presenters: James Moors and Kort McCumber
3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Only Five Percent! Strategies to Increase the Amount of Local Food We Eat
Vermont’s Farm to Plate Strategic Plan estimated that 5% of all the food purchased in Vermont is locally produced -which means approximately 95% of what we eat comes from outside the state. Join Jill as she shares the steps being taken in Rutland County to increase local food purchases and details strategies we can all use to bring local food to our plates at home and in the community.
P resenter: Jill Perry Balzano
3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Weed Walk and Talk
Outdoor Workshop Meet at the Peace Pole
Come take an informative walk through the fields of Forget-Me-NotFarm. Visit our plant relatives and learn about their gifts to us. Learn how to listen to the plants and gather information intuitively. (We offer four weed walks during the festival: Friday 3:30 - 5:00 p.m., Saturday 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Sunday 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. and Sunday 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Space is limited: first come-first served.)
Presenter: Helena Wu
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Building a Vermont Climate Movement
Last year’s keynote speaker Bill McKibben encouraged us to build a movement to take on the Climate Crisis. This workshop will bring together folks trying to do just that. People from Vermont’s Climate Movement will talk about what’s happening now and where we need to
go. We’ll talk strategy, learning from past movements and using social media to make change.
P resenters: Theo Talcott, Joe Solomon, David Strember, Brian Tokar and Jenna Wilson
Saturday 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Homestead Technologies & Tradeoffs
If homesteading is about conscious and conscientious choices, then how do the technological choices fit into these decisions? Philip & Erin will share thoughts and images from their fifteen years of homesteading--shifting from eight years of no electricity, no running water, and no kids to seven years with an off-grid system, indoor plumbing, and three kids. Included in the discussion will be a review of a variety of homestead technologies and their impacts on quality of life.
P resenters: Phillip and Erin Ackerman-Leist
9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Soy Whey Furniture Refinishing
Outdoor Workshop
Located at the Upper Shed
If you are thinking about renovating an old piece of furniture, you are already thinking ecologically, economically and sustainably! Join Melody for this hands-on workshop demonstrating furniture refinishing using non-toxic products. Attendees can bring small project pieces to work on (no lead paint please) and there will be some items available for practice. Sample refinishing products will be provided.
Presenter: Melody Squier
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Funding and Supporting Community Change
Come and talk with Cheryl Fischer from the New England Grassroots Environmental Fund, Gaye Symington from the High Meadows Fund, and Jen Peterson from the Vermont Community Foundation about funding and other resources available for organizations working for social change. Pick their brains about where to find funds, what makes a good grant proposal, and ways to build support for your work.
Presenters: Cheryl King Fischer, Gaye Symington and Jen Peterson
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Weed Walk
Outdoor Workshop Meet at the Peace Pole
Come take an informative walk through the fields of Forget-Me-NotFarm, identifying and learning about the medicinal and edible plants of our community. Come meet your neighbors, the green growing plants we often call weeds, and possibly change your idea of what to do with a weed. (We offer four weed walks during the festival: Friday 3:30 - 5:00 p.m., Saturday 12:30 - 1:30 p.m., Sunday 9:00 - 10:30 a.m. and Sunday 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Space is limited: first come-first served.)
Presenter: Leslie Silver
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