Have you registered for a Field Trip or Mini Course yet? The registration fees will go up slightly after tomorrow. Are you thinking about using less machinary, then you might be interested in this Field Trip. (We also have a short course on using more machines, more creatively!)
Field Trip #2 Permanent Culture: Creating a Commercial Permaculture Farm
Want to grow for market without outside resources or petroleum-based inputs? To grow no-till crops without herbicides or mechanization? To make degraded land fertile & productive? Can one live entirely off the grid and make a living using permaculture? What is permaculture?
An excellent opportunity for those interested in seeing permaculture in practice, Salamander Springs Farm is quite different from most farms. Featured in the internationally-acclaimed 2015 permaculture documentary film, "INHABIT,"
Susana Lein is a pioneer in farm-scale permaculture. Built from scratch with local materials, the farm operates totally off-grid with few outside inputs, gravity-feed spring water, small solar electric system, and a passive-solar tiny house. Lein's grain and dry bean fields use a no-till system of continuous cover plus poultry forage, inspired by the late Japanese rice farmer, Masanobu Fukuoka. "3-Sisters" cornfields also produce pole beans and winter squash, a system learned during her eight years in Latin America. Learn permaculture practices used to transform extremely poor non-agricultural land into healthy, high-yielding soil, including contour swales, intensively-cropped beds and Hugelkultur practices.
Salamander Springs Farm produces a wide range of vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs, forest foods and flowers for local farmers’ markets, local and online stores and her CSA. See farm website and photo site for more info. (This field trip heads to the beautiful Appalachian foothills, one hour travel time each way.)
