Inspiration Farm Classes

Workshops in Sustainable Practices, Biodynamics and Permaculture If you want to be updated on our workshops Contact us	Aside from art glass workshops we also teach Classes on 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?
A Hands-On Re-Skilling Series at Inspiration Farm Co-sponsored by Transition Whatcom Creating Community Resilience Primarily Practical Permaculture Practices for Transitional Times
Space is limited so sign up soon. All classes start at 10 am and are sliding scale unless stated otherwise. We also accept Life Dollars from Fourth Corner Exchange
Ask about our Permaculture Biodynamic Apprenticeship 2010 Join a project working group! Bio digesters, Pyrolysis, wood gas, bio-char
February 20th- Fruitful Graft Gathering $10-$20 donation. Fruit tree pruning season is upon us! As you prune, remember to save scion wood for the Great Graft Gathering! Bring your favorite Apple, Pear, Plum scion wood varieties from your neighborhood. Share with others and graft on root stock to start new trees! People will be on hand to demonstrate commonly used grafting techniques. You then can select scion wood and rootstock and graft your own tree to take home! Apple, pear and plum rootstock will be available for a nominal fee. Different scion wood varieties will be available to share. 27th- 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.
March 13th- Practical Permaculture Basics. $30 - $60 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. 27th- Fruit Tree Food Forest & Permaculture Guild Plants $30 - $60 Plant a garden and eat for a year, plant a Forest Garden and eat for decades! This hands on workshop will give you a strong understanding for designing, planting and orchestrating a perennial food forest. Northwest fruit and nut tree cultivars suited to our bioregion, guild plants that fertilize, attract pollinators and mulch, will be covered. By stacking the layers of systems one can imitate 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 you for decades!
April 3rd- Critters on the MOVE! Portable Animal Shelters $30 - $60 Incorporate animals and let them do what they do best, weed, feed and fertilize. Sheep & Goat rotations, Duck box, Chicken tractors, Pigorators. Learn about different types of low cost housing and containment for a variety of critters. Integrated animal husbandry practices for small to medium sized herds and flocks. Work with rotations to better manage pests, parasites and manure distribution. 17th 18th- Mind Body and Soil $100-165 Healthy soils = Healthy people. Learn more about Soil, Compost, Biodynamics, Biochar, Worms and Teas. Just how do these all work together to create better soils that allow you to grow the most nutrient dense food possible. Soil is 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, build soil, grow healthy disease and drought resistant plants and eat from a more nutritious garden as a result.
May *11th- Spring Fling a Seed Ball and Natural Orchards with Special Guest Larry* Korn $10-$20 donation Translator and editor of One Straw Revolution. Seed Balls are a method inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka (author of One Straw Revolution) for planting without tilling or planting in harsh environments. Bring seeds if you have them and we will make a variety of seed balls with the mixture of seeds on hand. Then in the afternoon we will walk around Inspiration Farm and talk about natural orchards, food forests the Fukuoka method and more. 15th- Scythes the Cutting Edge of Power Down $30 - $60 Sell your weed wacker and pick up a scythe! Learn the sharper points of this elegant tool. Scythes are thought to be old school, but better blades and set up ergonomic for your body makes it one of the most efficient tools out there. Learn what makes a good scythe, where to get one and how to properly maintain and use it. 29th- Biodynamics Demystified $30 - $60** Applied Basic Biodynamics, Cosmic planting by the calender, using Biodynamic sprays and teas, making Biodynamic compost, bringing the land back into balance. These practices increase vitality and vigor, reduce pests and disease while you Inoculate the land with love and intention.
June 19 & 20th- Water in the Landscape $100-165 Water, love it, hate it. Learn how to make it work for you. Mapping, swales, ponds, considerations and more.
July 10th 11th- Natural Building Bonanza $100-165 Harvest your building materials with what you have on land. Cob, earth bag. stone and pole construction techniques. 24th & 25th- Low tech Energy Systems, $100-165 Harvest low cost solar energy, save a bundle, Solar oven, Thermal syphon, hot water and more
August 6th 7th 8th- Integrated Systems (details to be announced) $275 Camp and participate in sinergistic group events that will feed the soul and power us forward, camping and meals available
September 4th- Preserve what you Grow!- $45 - $75 What can I do with all that #!# cabbage! Fermentation, drying, processing, root cellar, freezing, canning 5th- Small Homestead Dairy. Milk, butter, cheese, yogurt $45 -$75 Thinking of getting a dairy animal? Learn about; housing, feeding, milking, storing and enjoying the products. 18th -Poultry Processing $30 - $60 Is your rooster a stewster? Learn how to humanely butcher raise and process your own foul 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
Co-sponsored by Sustainable Bellingham and Transition Whatcom.