Liberation Ecology Project Workshop Schedule

Summer Teaching Schedule

Schedule can be viewed online here.
PDF is downloadable
here.

Hi friends,

Permaculture design, social justice, and *mushrooms* seem to be the order of
the day.
I’ll be teaching on those themes all over the northeast – and a bit in the
midwest – in the next few months.
Hope to see you!

Check out recent developments in the Liberation Ecology Project, and the
birth of a new project,
the Ecological Learning Institute, here .

I’ll be leaving the northeast for a few years, starting this summer, as I
begin a PhD program at University of Illinois.
Rest assured, I’ll be back. This part of the world will always feel like
home.

Enjoy the Spring!

Best,
Rafter

*Spring-Summer 2010 Teaching Schedule*

*MAY*
Su 5/2 Burlington, VT: Community Bioremediation, w/ University of Vermont
S-Su 5/15-16 Milwaukee, WI: Mushroom Power! w/ Growing Power S-Su 5/22-23 Ithaca, NY: Mycoscaping w/ Fingerlakes Permaculture Institute
T-Th 5/25-27 Brooklyn, NY: 388 Atlantic community center
T 5/25 evening: Mycoscaping
W 5/26 daytime: Liberation Ecology, Part 1
W 5/26 evening: Liberation Ecology (freestanding talk & discussion) Th 5/27 daytime: Liberation Ecology, Part 2
S 5/29 Northampton, MA: Mycoscaping w/ Montview Neighborhood Farm Su 5/30 Scituate, MA: Mycoscaping
*JUNE*
S-Su 6/12-13 Milwaukee, WI: Mushroom Power! w/ Growing Power *JULY-AUGUST*
July 23-August 8:
Permaculture Design Certificate Course, w/ Fingerlakes Permaculture Institute
F-S 8/13-14 Amherst, MA: Liberation Ecology, Mycoscaping
w/ Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference

*Workshop Descriptions*

*Sunday 5/2 Burlington, VT: Ecological Learning Institute* GreenHouse Residential Learning Community • University Heights South, UVM
Campus
Free and open to the public • To register, go to http://tinyurl.com/ecolearn

1:00-5:00pm
* COMMUNITY BIOREMEDIATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE*
Toxic soil and water pollution are pervasive environmental health issues,
plaguing communities worldwide. Fortunately, many of these toxins can be
dealt with using accessible, ecological techniques. Bioremediation is the
use of living organisms, such as fungi, microbes, and plants, to return
contaminated conditions back to natural levels. We will go beyond practices
for our own homes and backyards, and explore the process of
implementing
community bioremediation projects – focusing on underlying principles and
goals of a bioremediation strategy in order to make our projects more effective and appropriate.

7:00-8:30pm
* SHEET MULCHING*
Sheet mulching is a fun and easy way to prepare plots of land for gardening.
It is a way to create and preserve vibrant soil ecology. Also, sheet mulching techniques can be used to create a barrier or buffer from contaminants in questionable soil, while also creating the conditions that
will help the soil repair itself. We will be using bedding material, compost
tea, mushrooms, and compost in a fun active session of garden bed preparation.

*Saturday-Sunday 5/15-16, *and *6/12-13 Milwaukee, WI*
*Mushroom Power! at Growing Power, Inc.*
*Growing Your Community Food System From the Ground Up – Weekend Workshops*
Registration and information: growingpower.org/from_the_ground_up!.htm $350

Join me as I work with Growing Power staff and workshop participants to
integrate mushroom production with their utterly amazing, intensive urban
agriculture systems. You’ll get the full Growing Power experience, and also
have the option of choosing mushroom production in two different break- out
sessions. The Mushroom Power! breakouts are practical training in both growing gourmet mushrooms and hands-on research and development of fresh,
site-specific, DIY mushroom production techniques.

>From the website:
>From the Ground Up! Workshops are intensive, hands-on trainings offering diverse groups the opportunity to learn, plan, develop, operate, and sustain
community food projects. Project participants leave the workshop with improved skills that they can take back into their communities and pass on
to others. These workshops are for both rural and urban projects.

*Saturday-Sunday** **5/22-23 Ithaca, NY w/ Fingerlakes Permaculture Institute*
*MUSHROOM WORKSHOP WEEKEND*
Registration: http://www.fingerlakespermaculture.org/ Format: Presentation
and hands-on
$100-$300 (sliding scale)
Even if you’re an avid gardener – if you are only gardening plants, you’re
missing out! There is a whole other kingdom to explore – and eat. We can
incorporate delicious, nutritious fungi in our veggie gardens, backyards,
lawns, landscaping, balconies, and more… In this workshop, we’ll explore
the basics – and not-so-basics – of mushroom cultivation, and get some hands-on experience. We’ll learn how to look at mushroom crops through a
holistic, permaculture lens, and find the niche in the landscape where they
can perform useful ecological functions, even as they produce food and medicine for us. We’ll review common and less-common mushroom crops, and
different cultivation techniques. You’ll get some hands-on practice, and
take some of your work home with you. No gardening experience necessary!

TOPICS:
Mushrooms 101 – Basic Anatomy, Lifecycle, and Function
Mushroom Cultivation in History and Today
Overview of Sterile & Non-Sterile Techniques
Foraging and Fungal Forest Ecology – Woods Walk!
Garden Polycultures, Theory and Practice
Hands-on Bed & Patch Inoculation
DIY (Non-sterile) Propagation
Overview of Urban Applications
Mushrooms and Bioremediation: Emerging Science and Practice

Saturday morning will be led by local artist and mushroom grower Steve Sierigk, who will cover the basics of shiitake log cultures; tree species to
use, when and how to prepare wood, and a hands-on demo of the process inoculated with sawdust spawn.

*Tuesday-Thursday 5/25-27 Brooklyn, NY: 388 Atlantic Community Center*
Registration and Cost: Melissa Ennen
*Tuesday 6-8:30pm* Format: Lecture and slideshow
*MYCOSCAPING: Mushrooms in the Urban Landscape*
Even if you’re an avid gardener – if you are only gardening plants, you’re
missing out! There is a whole other kingdom to explore – and eat. We can
incorporate delicious, nutritious fungi in our veggie gardens, backyards,
lawns, landscaping, balconies, and more… In this workshop, we’ll explore
the basics – and not-so- basics – of mushroom cultivation. We’ll learn how
to look at mushroom crops through a holistic, permaculture lens, and find
the niche in the landscape where they can perform useful ecological functions, even as they produce food and medicine for us. We’ll review common and less-common mushroom crops, and different cultivation techniques.
We’ll get our hands dirty with a hands-on demo. No gardening experience
necessary!

*Wednesday-Thursday 9:00am-4:00pm both days* Format: Participatory Workshop
*Liberation Ecology: Permaculture, Power, and Project Design* What would “sustainability” look like, if it refused to sustain white supremacy?
What could “liberation” look like, in a society headed for ecological collapse?
In this 2-day experiential workshop, participants develop answers to these
questions in an environment of collaboration, experiment, and wrestling with
some hard questions. Design projects, the Daylighting Exercises, presentation, and facilitated discussion, help participants draw new maps of
our situation, and chart new paths for their own work, forward to a truly
sustainable society. Check out http://www.liberationecology.org for more details.

*Wednesday 6:00-8:00pm * Format: Talk and discussion
Liberation Ecology: Making Sustainability Matter
We don’t have to choose between liberating communities and protecting ecosystems – and we shouldn’t! There is an emerging paradigm that builds on
the connections between healthy, empowered communities and diverse, resilient ecosystems. Come join us for an evening of presentation and facilitated discussion, as we explore how to strategically connect our own
work with this emerging movement.

*Saturday 5/29 10:00am-4:00pm Northampton, MA *
Montview Neighborhood Farm
*MYCOSCAPING: Mushrooms in the Edible Landscape*
Registration: http://www.montviewfarm.org/ Format: Participatory Workshop
$60-$100 (sliding scale)
Even if you’re an avid gardener – if you are only gardening plants, you’re
missing out! There is a whole other kingdom to explore – and eat. We can
incorporate delicious, nutritious fungi in our veggie gardens, backyards,
lawns, landscaping, balconies, and more… In this workshop, we’ll explore
the basics – and not-so-basics – of mushroom cultivation, and get some hands-on experience. We’ll learn how to look at mushroom crops through a
holistic, permaculture lens, and find the niche in the landscape where they
can perform useful ecological functions, even as they produce food and medicine for us. We’ll review common and less-common mushroom crops, and
different cultivation techniques. You’ll get some hands-on experience, and
take some of your work home with you. No gardening experience necessary!

*Sunday 5/30 1:00pm-6:00pm Scituate, MA*
*MYCOSCAPING: Mushrooms in the Edible Landscape*
Registration: kimosabe68@verizon.net Format: Participatory Workshop $60-$100
Even if you’re an avid gardener – if you are only gardening plants, you’re
missing out! There is a whole other kingdom to explore – and eat. We can
incorporate delicious, nutritious fungi in our veggie gardens, backyards,
lawns, landscaping, balconies, and more… In this workshop, we’ll explore
the basics – and not-so-basics – of mushroom cultivation, and get some hands-on experience. We’ll learn how to look at mushroom crops through a
holistic, permaculture lens, and find the niche in the landscape where they
can perform useful ecological functions, even as they produce food and medicine for us. We’ll review common and less-common mushroom crops, and
different cultivation techniques. You’ll get some hands-on practice, and
take some of your work home with you. No gardening experience necessary!

*Friday July 23 – Sunday August 8*
*Permaculture Design Certification Course *
*Fingerlakes Permaculture Institute (FLPCI) • Ithaca, NY*
http://www.fingerlakespermaculture.org/

This internationally recognized 72-hour curriculum is the most powerful and
effective route to ecological design literacy – period. This is my second
year as part of the core teaching team at FLPCI, and their 8th full Pc Design Certification Course.

>From their website:
We train people of all backgrounds to mimic natural patterns and principles
in their yards, on their land, and in their homes and businesses. This affordable course highlights hands-on learning in the beautiful rural Cayuta
Lake Valley. The class equips students with the knowledge of whole systems
and the principles, techniques, and challenges of permaculture as a system
of sustainable design. Our off-grid learning community explores top