Inspiration Farm Classes

Workshops in Sustainable Practices, Biodynamics and Permaculture at Inspiration Farm Primarily Practical Permaculture Practices for Transitional Times	Aside from Art Glass workshops we also teach Permaculture and homesteading skills: Art Glass Compost building Permaculture design Animal husbandry Sustainable systems Appropriate technology Swale and land forming Biodynamics Tree guilds Food forests Principles of Permaculture Be the change you want to see in the world. How can you help? Visit Transition Whatcom cast iron skillet diatomaceous earth rocket mass heater sepp holzer lawn care raising chickens raised garden beds forums for permaculture
Space is limited so sign up soon. We also accept 20% in Life Dollars
Ask about our Permaculture Biodynamic Apprenticeship 2011 Join a project working group! Bio digesters, Pyrolysis, wood gas, bio-char, Compressed Earth Block Press
Date to be set still- U-bar Building Workshop $145 limited to 6 people. Build your own custom Broad fork out of recycled materials and then recycle your rototiller! Not a common tool in the US, though every gardener wants one. The U-bar is similar to a spading fork, but rather than turning the soil, it aerates down 10" to 20 without mixing the soil strata, maintaining soil health and life force. Perfect for biointensive gardening. Long handles provide extraordinary leverage, allowing a person of average strength to loosen large areas with less time and effort it would take with a conventional fork. Using mostly recycled steel pipes and bar stock, you will build a U-bar specifically suited for you.
May 14th Scythes, the Cutting Edge of Power Down Sell your weed wacker and pick up a scythe! maintain your body not your lawn mower and weed wacker. Learn the sharper points of this elegant tool. Scythes are thought to be old school, but better blades and ergonomically set up for your body makes them one of the most efficient tools out there. Learn what makes a good scythe, what to look for in picking a mowing outfit for your needs and how to properly maintain and use it for years to come. 9 am to 4pm Bring a lunch item to share pot luck style.$40
May 28th - Fruit Tree Food Forest & Permaculture Guild Plants Plant a garden and eat for a year, plant a Forest Garden and eat for decades! This hands on workshop will give you a good understanding to design, plant and orchestrate a perennial food forest. Northwest fruit and nut trees suited to our bioregion, guild plants that fertilize, attract pollinators and mulch will be covered. By stacking the systems one can create the productivity of a forest by capturing and storing available nutrients, water and sunlight. Once established it will continue to provide for most of its own needs, and produce food for decades! Class includes: Presentation-discussion, site tour, hands on guild plantings. 10 am to 4pm Bring a lunch item to share pot luck style.$40
June11th- Beginning with Biodynamics We will discover what Biodynamic practices are practical on small scale farms and gardens. Working with the astrologic calender, using Biodynamic sprays and teas, making Biodynamic compost, bringing the land back into balance. These practices can increase vitality, vigor, Just how do these all work together to create better soils, more then just dirt, it is a universe teaming with a diverse array of interconnected micro organisms working together to perform multiple functions. Learn how to support this community and in turn sequester carbon, grow healthy disease and drought resistant plants and eat from the most nutrient dense food possible, at the same time you Inoculate the land with love and intention. 10 am to 4pm Bring a lunch item to share pot luck style.$40
July 23rd 10-4pm- Practical Permaculture Basics. A hands on approach to implementing some Permaculture principals. Zones, sectors, ethics, mapping, compost and guilds This fun information stacked day will provide practical ways to design your environment into an integrated system of abundance and productivity. Using design strategies we will explore ways of stacking elements within a system to be more productive and self regulating. The morning will be class presentations and discussion, the afternoon will be a site tour and hands on session working with guilds, sheet mulch, keyhole beds and integrated composting systems. Natural Building Bonanza Harvest your building materials with what you have on land. Cob, Compressed Earth Block. stone and pole construction techniques.
August- Low tech Energy and Integrated Systems (details to be announced) $275 Camp and participate in sinergistic group events that will feed the soul and power us forward, Harvest low cost solar energy, Solar oven, Thermal syphon, hot water and more! Camping and meals available.
September- Poultry Processing Is your rooster a stewster? Learn how to humanely butcher raise and process your own fowl to feed your family.
"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life are happiness, freedom, and peace of mind, are always attained by giving them to someone else." Peyton Conway March