We are less than three months away from the start of the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence. Workshop (session) submissions are still rolling in. As of right now, we have 10 sessions up on our session page and will be adding more in the next few weeks. If you are interested in leading a session please submit your proposal by visiting our facilitator proposal webpage. You can find the link at the bottom of this page.
We are working with a local food cart vendor, El Wiscorian, from Madison to provide the meals for the convergence. The past year has been hard on the restaurant biz, including food cart vendors, and we are pleased to provide them with business. Louise has been a pleasure to work with and is working with us to source as much of the food as possible from local farms. In order to secure them as a vendor we need to provide a deposit. If you have not signed up for the convergence yet, but are planning to attend, please register ASAP. These funds will go towards securing the food and other accommodations. The convergence strives to share all proceeds with the people and services that make this event happen. We depend on early registration to help secure these services.
Highlighted Sessions
BUILDING WITH EARTH!
A short half hour power point presentation delving into earth building techniques (ancient through modern) to be followed by an hour and a half hands on mixing of various recipes to help better convey the quality and uses of locally available clay soils, aggregates and fibers.
JIM SCHALLES
Jim Schalles, owner and operator of Tallgrass Hearth and Home has the following to say.
"The philosophy of Tallgrass Hearth and Home is simple. A radical restructuring of the world's building practices is necessary to create a healthy existence for humans and the natural world alike. By empowering ourselves with the traditional knowledge of our ancestors who constructed home and hearth for millennia before drywall and fiberglass were introduced, we can move into the future, equipped with modern tools and understandings of engineering and human health considerations. We did not evolve to crawl around on formaldehyde laden carpets as children, and we don't function well when subjected to mold from improperly placed vapor barriers at every turn as adults. Our spaces need to breath just as we do. By building with materials sourced from our adjacent surroundings, we can help ensure that forests remain forests and grasslands don't degrade into deserts. A log cabin can look entirely out of place on the treeless prairie, yet a straw bale home plastered with the local soil blends seamlessly into the landscape surrounding it. Vernacular architecture connects us with the world of our surroundings."
SAVING SEEDS AND MAKING SEED PAPER
Learn about seed saving, why it's important, and how to do it. Use saved seeds to make seed paper and seed balls with some seeds that have been saved.
CHERYL DEWELT
Cheryl DeWelt is the Environmental Education Manager and lead horticulturalist at the Madison Children's Museum. She educates about permaculture in the Wonderground and on the museums green rooftop where there are chickens, homing pigeons, extensive gardens, and a solar oven. Cheryl is passionate about living sustainably and has raised chickens, built aquaponics systems, planted mushrooms, grown large organic gardens, restored prairies, and worked with the community to further permaculture and sustainability for more than 25 years.
GROUNDING YOUR PERMACULTURE INSPIRED FOOD FOREST GARDENS IN REALITY
In this session, Bryce will cover the importance of incorporating multiple approaches to food security by raising annual and biennial plants in a food forest garden. He will cover strategies for stacking functions seasonally with multiple cropping styles in the garden.
BRYCE RUDDOCK
Bryce Ruddock is author of the e book Plant Guilds available free at Midwest Permaculture's website. He is also one of the three authors of Integrated Forest Gardening: the Complete Guide to Plant Guilds and Polycultures in Permaculture Systems (Chelsea Green , 2014). He is also an editor and researcher at the Natural Capital Plant Database, an online resource for ecological design and habitat restoration used by Permaculture designers globally. Bryce has been a Permaculture practitioner at his home site in South Milwaukee for the past thirty-seven years.
More molasses, less spotted knapweed please!
We are excited for attendees to experience some of the changes that are happening at what is now Full Circle Farmstead. The big change was the transition of a conventional Ag field into a perennial pasture stocked with heritage breed Murray Grey steers. These animals are an integral component to soil rehabilitation onsite and are being used to turn “opportunistic” species like knapweed & thistle into nutrient dense food for the Carlson family and friends. They also provide endless entertainment and hilarity.