Speaker Spotlight:
Howard Garrett
Dirt Doctor
Natural Organic Pest Control
Howard Garrett
The most effective pest control just happens to be organic. Howard Garrett discusses how to protect and work with beneficial insects, as well as what natural, organic pest control products to use in certain situations.
Speaker Bio
Howard Garrett is recognized as one of the leaders in the research, education, and promotion of natural organic products and practices. Garrett was born in Pittsburg, Texas, graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1965, received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1977. He has extensive experience in natural organic gardening, landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance, and organic product development. Garrett provides state-of-the-art advice on natural organic gardening, landscaping, pet health, composting, pest control, and how to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Books by This Speaker: The Organic Manual
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Jessi Bloom
N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes
Easy Peasy Edibles
Jessi Bloom
Have you wanted to grow your own food but found it is too much work and takes too much of your time? Join award-winning landscape designer Jessi Bloom as she talks about a permaculture design concept that employs design strategies from nature. It allows you to grow easy peasy edibles that are low-maintenance, resilient, and sustainable. Plant once and enjoy the harvest from your edible landscape for years. Bloom covers basic food forest design and goes over some of her favorite low-maintenance edibles.
Mother Earth News Stage | Saturday, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Booksigning: Saturday 1:30-2:00 p.m.
Speaker Bio
Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes, based near Seattle, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction, and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations, and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals. Books by This Speaker: Free-Range Chicken Gardens, Practical Permaculture
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Claudia Lucero
Urban Cheesecraft
Dairy-Free Cheese: Easy, delicious, and custom-made for your diet
Claudia Lucero
Do you choose not to eat dairy but miss cheese? Or do you know someone who does not digest it well? Claudia Lucero, author of One-Hour Cheeseand
creator of Urban Cheesecraft kits, has developed deliciously dairy-free cheese — made with nuts, seeds, veggies and even beans!
Speaker Bio
Claudia Lucero enjoys getting new cheesemakers started with Urban Cheesecraft and her D.I.Y. Cheese Kits. She has partnered with Williams-Sonoma on custom cheesemaking kits and recently wrote the book One-Hour Cheese, which shows beginners how to make 16 fresh cheeses via step-by-step photos. The book is found where books are sold and the kits can be found on www.UrbanCheesecraft.com.
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Jean-Martin Fortier
Les Jardins de la Grelinette
Making a Living on 1.5 Acres
Jean-Martin Fortier
Jean-Martin Fortier is the author of The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming and in this workshop, he shares in detail the techniques, tools, and technology that make his market garden productive and profitable. It is popularly supposed that the small-scale market garden can no longer be economically viable, because it cannot compete with the economies of scale of the larger growers. But is that so? Les Jardins de la Grelinette is a micro-farm located in eastern Quebec, just north of the American border. Despite growing on 1.5 acres of land, owners Fortier and Maude-Hélène Desroches manage to feed more than 200 families through their thriving community-supported agriculture (CSA) program and seasonal market stands. For more than a decade the market garden has provided their only household income. Their operation generates close to $140,000 in sales with a profit margin of about 45%. The secret of their success resides in the low-tech, high-yield methods of production they have developed by continuously focusing on growing better rather than growing bigger, making their operation more lucrative and viable in the process. Fortier provides an overview of all aspects of vegetable production at Les Jardins de la Grelinette, demonstrating how adopting intensive methods of production can lead to the optimization of a cropping system. He discusses how to set up a micro-farm by designing biologically intensive cropping systems, all with negligible capital outlay; how to farm without a tractor, minimizing fossil fuel inputs through the use of the best hand tools, appropriate machinery and minimum tillage practices; and how to grow mixed vegetables systematically with attention to weed and pest management best approach practices.
Mother Earth News Stage | Saturday, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Booksigning: Saturday 6:00-6:30 p.m.
Speaker Bio
Jean-Martin Fortier is a farmer, writer, and educator specializing in organic and bio-intensive cropping practices. He is passionate about demonstrating how small farms can play an important role in rebuilding the food system by growing edibles sustainably for profit on a small, community-based scale. Fortier’s acclaimed book, The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower’s Handbook for Small-Scale Organic Farming, tells the story of how he and his wife started farming on 1.5 acres, yet grossed more than $100,000 per acre, enough to financially sustain their family over a decade. The book has been popular with both urban and rural readers, having sold more than 40,000 copies since its release. It won the 2015 American Horticultural Society book award. Books by This Speaker: The Market Gardener
Order Your Passes Today! ×More than 150 Workshops!
Easy Peasy Edibles
Jessi Bloom
Easy Peasy Edibles
Jessi Bloom
Have you wanted to grow your own food but found it is too much work and takes too much of your time? Join award-winning landscape designer Jessi Bloom as she talks about a permaculture design concept that employs design strategies from nature. It allows you to grow easy peasy edibles that are low-maintenance, resilient, and sustainable. Plant once and enjoy the harvest from your edible landscape for years. Bloom covers basic food forest design and goes over some of her favorite low-maintenance edibles.
Mother Earth News Stage | Saturday, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Booksigning: Saturday 1:30-2:00 p.m.
Speaker Bio
Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes, based near Seattle, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction, and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations, and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals. Books by This Speaker: Free-Range Chicken Gardens, Practical Permaculture
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest has returned this year, and she is sharing even more gardening with chickens tips! Learn what to grow for your flock, how to plant a garden just for them, the health benefits for you and your flock by gardening together, and even how to garden all year long. Tips, clever ideas, outsmarting the chickens as well as safe plantings will be shared. Learn how to successfully plant and enjoy gardens with vegetables, fruits, annuals and perennials with this chicken loving Master Gardener.
Speaker Bio
Melissa Caughey is a backyard chicken keeper, beekeeper, and gardener who writes the award-winning blog Tilly’s Nest. Caughey lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her family. She regularly writes for HGTV Gardens, Community Chickens, Grit magazine, and contributes to Country Living magazine. Better Homes and Gardens named her blog as one of the magazine’s Top 10 Gardening Blogs, and Country Living magazine gave it a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Rendering and Cooking with Animal Fats
Andrea Chesman
Rendering and Cooking with Animal Fats
Andrea Chesman
Meat animals and poultry provide a free source of healthy, economical cooking fats. Learn how to render all kinds of fat to make it ready for cooking and baking, how to store it, and how to use it. Samples of cookies made with tallow and cookies made with lard will be shared.
Speaker Bio
Andrea Chesman has written more than 20 cookbooks, including Storey’s The Pickled Pantry, Recipes from the Root Cellar, Serving Up the Harvest, and Mom’s Best Crowd-Pleasers. She has also written a number of books on grilling, including the James Beard Award nominee The Vegetarian Grill. She has contributed to many publications, including the New York Times, Cooking Light, Vegetarian Times, Fine Cooking, and many regional and local newspapers. She teaches and does cooking demonstrations and classes at fairs, festivals, book events, and garden shows across the United States. She lives in Ripton, Vermont.
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Heritage Hogwash
Jeannette Beranger
Heritage Hogwash
Jeannette Beranger
The flavor of heritage hogs is a hot topic for chefs and consumers interested in the culinary delights these pigs offer. In this talk, learn about the basics of keeping these animals, about the breeds themselves, and how to tell them apart from the numerous “imposters” that can be a costly lesson to new pig owners.
Speaker Bio
Jeannette Beranger is a program manager for the Livestock Conservancy and has more than 30 years of experience working as an animal professional. She uses the knowledge to plan and implement breed conservation programs. At home, she maintains a heritage breeds farm with a focus on rare breed chickens and horses. In 2015, she was named one of Country Woman Magazine‘s “45 Amazing Country Women” for her work in conserving endangered breeds.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Learn about heirloom garlic and perennial onion varieties, from planting to cultivation and harvesting at home. Ira Wallace covers soil preparation, weed control, and disease prevention, as well as curing and storage requirements. Add these culinary essentials to your garden!
Speaker Bio
Ira Wallace is on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, where she coordinates variety selection and new seed grower contracts. Southern Exposure helps people keep control of their food supply through seed saving and sustainable gardening.
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
As our planet rapidly changes, we must find solutions to retain and build resilience in our agroecosystems. Explore our alliance with fungi, which provides farmers opportunities to support and grow biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services, and provide food and medicine for our communities and the planet. At this workshop, expect a discussion of advanced techniques for mushroom growing and how to use mycelium as a solution to growing a regenerative agriculture.
Speaker Bio
Mark Jones is the owner and mycologist at Sharondale Mushroom Farm in Cismont, Virginia. The farm provides high-quality mushrooms, spawn, tools, and materials for mushroom cultivation. Jones offers cultivation workshops for hobby growers and small farmers.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
You can have an attractive, upscale quality-built tiny home that is artistically beautiful, highly marketable and long-term profitable. Smaller homes can be more livable, cozy, enjoyable, easier to clean and lower maintenance than big houses. But tiny and smaller homes are not for everyone. Learn why and what it takes to live in a small space to make room for a larger life. Explore the many uses of tiny homes and find out why more people are opting for less square footage in exchange for more time, freedom and money.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Foreman graduated from Purdue University with degrees in animal science and pharmacy. She earned a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s Graduate School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is the author of City Chicks: Employing Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers. She is co-author of Chicken Tractor, Day Range Poultry and Backyard Market Gardening.
Order Your Passes Today! ×Speaker Spotlight:
Jessi Bloom
N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes
Top 10 Homestead Hacks for Beginners
Jessi Bloom
Are you looking to save time, money and your sanity as you embark on your homesteading journey? Expert Jessi Bloom coaches folks who are getting started, and she shares her top 10 tips, tricks and wisdom for anyone looking to make their life easier in the garden, on the farm and inside home!
Speaker Bio
Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes, based near Seattle, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations, and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Salad Bar Beef
Joel Salatin
Herbivores not only built the world’s deepest and best soil, they provided the foundation for nutrition in most areas. Building soil and eating well are symbiotic activities, but many today view the herbivore as an enemy … a direct result of misusing animals. In this workshop, Joel Salatin introduces the concepts and high-tech infrastructure that allows modern farmers to duplicate the symbiotic choreography of ancient herds. This system also increases yields and offers the most tasty, nutritious food.
Speaker Bio
Joel Salatin’s family owns and operates Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, producing salad bar beef, pastured poultry, pigaerator pork and forage-based rabbits. The farm services 6,000 families and 50 restaurants. Featured prominently in countless media, documentaries and books, the farm offers many educational opportunities for people wanting to learn these pasture-based systems. He has written 10 books about food and farming, both how-to guides and broad cultural works.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Howard Garrett
Dirt Doctor
Natural Organic Pest Control
Howard Garrett
The most effective pest control just happens to be organic. Howard Garrett discusses how to protect and work with beneficial insects, as well as what natural, organic pest control products to use in certain situations.
Speaker Bio
Howard Garrett is recognized as one of the leaders in the research, education, and promotion of natural organic products and practices. Garrett was born in Pittsburg, Texas, graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1965, received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1977. He has extensive experience in natural organic gardening, landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance, and organic product development. Garrett provides state-of-the-art advice on natural organic gardening, landscaping, pet health, composting, pest control, and how to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Books by This Speaker: The Organic Manual
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Claudia Lucero
Urban Cheesecraft
Dairy-Free Cheese: Easy, delicious, and custom-made for your diet
Claudia Lucero
Do you choose not to eat dairy but miss cheese? Or do you know someone who does not digest it well? Claudia Lucero, author of One-Hour Cheeseand
creator of Urban Cheesecraft kits, has developed deliciously dairy-free cheese — made with nuts, seeds, veggies and even beans!
Speaker Bio
Claudia Lucero enjoys getting new cheesemakers started with Urban Cheesecraft and her D.I.Y. Cheese Kits. She has partnered with Williams-Sonoma on custom cheesemaking kits and recently wrote the book One-Hour Cheese, which shows beginners how to make 16 fresh cheeses via step-by-step photos. The book is found where books are sold and the kits can be found on www.UrbanCheesecraft.com.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Tradd Cotter
Mushroom Mountain
Medicinal Mushrooms: Cultivation, extractions and product development
Tradd Cotter
For thousands of years, mushrooms have been cultivated or gathered and used to treat the root cause of disease, only now to be verified in scientific trials for evaluating the amazing properties fungi possess. There are many different ways to grow mushrooms at home or on the homestead, which are easy and high yielding, for many species of medicinal mushrooms. Tradd Cotter covers basic cultivation, live extraction, and the exciting new developments in product development.
Speaker Bio
Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist and organic gardener who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than 22 years. He is the author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, published by Chelsea Green in 2014. In 1996, he founded Mushroom Mountain (which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, and daughter Heidi) to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries, and he currently maintains more than 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides.
Order Your Passes Today! ×More than 150 Workshops!
Heritage Hogwash
Jeannette Beranger
Heritage Hogwash
Jeannette Beranger
The flavor of heritage hogs is a hot topic for chefs and consumers interested in the culinary delights these pigs offer. In this talk, learn about the basics of keeping these animals, about the breeds themselves, and how to tell them apart from the numerous “imposters” that can be a costly lesson to new pig owners.
Speaker Bio
Jeannette Beranger is a program manager for the Livestock Conservancy and has more than 30 years of experience working as an animal professional. She uses the knowledge to plan and implement breed conservation programs. At home, she maintains a heritage breeds farm with a focus on rare breed chickens and horses. In 2015, she was named one of Country Woman Magazine‘s “45 Amazing Country Women” for her work in conserving endangered breeds.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
As our planet rapidly changes, we must find solutions to retain and build resilience in our agroecosystems. Explore our alliance with fungi, which provides farmers opportunities to support and grow biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services, and provide food and medicine for our communities and the planet. At this workshop, expect a discussion of advanced techniques for mushroom growing and how to use mycelium as a solution to growing a regenerative agriculture.
Speaker Bio
Mark Jones is the owner and mycologist at Sharondale Mushroom Farm in Cismont, Virginia. The farm provides high-quality mushrooms, spawn, tools, and materials for mushroom cultivation. Jones offers cultivation workshops for hobby growers and small farmers.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Craft Distilling: Making liquor legally at home
Victoria Miller
Craft Distilling: Making liquor legally at home
Victoria Miller
Hobby distilling has become more and more popular in the past few years. However, there is still a lot of confusion about the legalities around the distillation of liquor. The author of the new book Craft Distilling: Making Liquor Legally at Home explains the facts around legal distilling, plus provides an overview of how to make high-quality distilled spirits on a small scale. In addition, she is working with a Washington state legislator to change the laws for hobby distillers. An informative, fun workshop for anyone interested in distilling liquor.
Speaker Bio
Victoria Redhed Miller grew up in Seattle and now lives with her husband, David, on their off-grid farm in the Olympic Mountain foothills near Sequim, Washington. She writes and blogs about homesteading and self-reliance, as well as speaking at events around the country. She is also the author of Pure Poultry: Living Well with Heritage Chickens, Turkeys and Ducks.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Common Sense Natural Beekeeping
Kim Flottum
Common Sense Natural Beekeeping
Kim Flottum
Although honey bees are not as domesticated as your dog or chickens, they aren’t completely wild, either. Putting them in a box they didn’t choose, and in an environment they didn’t first scout places some responsibility for their well-being on the beekeeper who made those choices for them. We don’t, and shouldn’t supply everything they need, but we should lend a hand on occasion when things go wrong. Here’s what, and how.
Speaker Bio
Kim Flottum is the editor of Bee Culture magazine and the author of numerous beginning, intermediate, and advanced beekeeping books. He brings 30 years of beekeeping and teaching experience to the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIRS.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
You can have an attractive, upscale quality-built tiny home that is artistically beautiful, highly marketable and long-term profitable. Smaller homes can be more livable, cozy, enjoyable, easier to clean and lower maintenance than big houses. But tiny and smaller homes are not for everyone. Learn why and what it takes to live in a small space to make room for a larger life. Explore the many uses of tiny homes and find out why more people are opting for less square footage in exchange for more time, freedom and money.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Foreman graduated from Purdue University with degrees in animal science and pharmacy. She earned a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s Graduate School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is the author of City Chicks: Employing Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers. She is co-author of Chicken Tractor, Day Range Poultry and Backyard Market Gardening.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Make Mead Like a Viking
Jereme Zimmerman
Make Mead Like a Viking
Jereme Zimmerman
Learn to make your own mead (honey wine) using techniques that have been utilized by ancient cultures since the first discovery of bubbling honey and its magical effects. Jereme Zimmerman focuses on wild-crafting and spontaneous-fermentation techniques, but also discusses other mead-making practices. Be prepared for an engaging discussion on mead, Vikings, and the simplicity of fermenting your own honey-based alcoholic beverages using local, raw, unfiltered honey, and ingredients harvested from the wild and your own garden. Join the wild mead movement!
Speaker Bio
Jereme Zimmerman grew up on his parents’ northern Kentucky goat farm, Twin Meadows, where he was also homeschooled. After graduating from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, he moved to the Pacific Northwest, where he immersed himself in the world of homebrewing. As the world’s only peace-loving, green-living Appalachian Yeti Viking, Zimmerman writes, blogs and speaks regularly on fermentation, mead-making, homesteading and good eating. He is a regular contributor to various publications and websites, including New Pioneer and Backwoods Home magazines. He writes for Earthineer.com as “RedHeadedYeti.” He currently lives in Berea with his wife, Jenna, and daughters, Sadie and Maisie, where he practices urban homesteading and cavorts with farmers, authors and fellow sustainable living enthusiasts. His first book, Make Mead Like a Viking, will be published by Chelsea Green Publishing in November 2015.
Order Your Passes Today! ×Speaker Spotlight:
Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Salad Bar Beef
Joel Salatin
Herbivores not only built the world’s deepest and best soil, they provided the foundation for nutrition in most areas. Building soil and eating well are symbiotic activities, but many today view the herbivore as an enemy … a direct result of misusing animals. In this workshop, Joel Salatin introduces the concepts and high-tech infrastructure that allows modern farmers to duplicate the symbiotic choreography of ancient herds. This system also increases yields and offers the most tasty, nutritious food.
Speaker Bio
Joel Salatin’s family owns and operates Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, producing salad bar beef, pastured poultry, pigaerator pork and forage-based rabbits. The farm services 6,000 families and 50 restaurants. Featured prominently in countless media, documentaries and books, the farm offers many educational opportunities for people wanting to learn these pasture-based systems. He has written 10 books about food and farming, both how-to guides and broad cultural works.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Howard Garrett
Dirt Doctor
Natural Organic Pest Control
Howard Garrett
The most effective pest control just happens to be organic. Howard Garrett discusses how to protect and work with beneficial insects, as well as what natural, organic pest control products to use in certain situations.
Speaker Bio
Howard Garrett is recognized as one of the leaders in the research, education, and promotion of natural organic products and practices. Garrett was born in Pittsburg, Texas, graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1965, received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1977. He has extensive experience in natural organic gardening, landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance, and organic product development. Garrett provides state-of-the-art advice on natural organic gardening, landscaping, pet health, composting, pest control, and how to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Books by This Speaker: The Organic Manual
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Dan Chiras
The Evergreen Institute
Achieving Complete Self-Sufficiency
Dan Chiras
Many people are working toward a life of total self-sufficiency, but the road can be difficult and confusing. There are so many options and there is so much bad information that it boggles the mind. Additionally, there are many aspects of self-sufficiency (such as self-health care, personal fitness and transportation) that people overlook. Dan Chiras, one of the nation’s leading experts on self-sufficiency, outlines the key steps you must take to completely meet your family’s needs for energy, water, food, health care, income and transportation to thrive during major economic or ecological catastrophe or simply to forge a totally sustainable lifestyle.
Speaker Bio
Dan Chiras is director of The Evergreen Institute in east central Missouri, where he teaches workshops on a wide range of topics on self-sufficiency and sustainability. Chiras is also author of 32 books and several hundred articles on a wide range of topics, including residential energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable communities, green building and natural building. His talks are fun, inspirational and full of useful information.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Tradd Cotter
Mushroom Mountain
Medicinal Mushrooms: Cultivation, extractions and product development
Tradd Cotter
For thousands of years, mushrooms have been cultivated or gathered and used to treat the root cause of disease, only now to be verified in scientific trials for evaluating the amazing properties fungi possess. There are many different ways to grow mushrooms at home or on the homestead, which are easy and high yielding, for many species of medicinal mushrooms. Tradd Cotter covers basic cultivation, live extraction, and the exciting new developments in product development.
Speaker Bio
Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist and organic gardener who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than 22 years. He is the author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, published by Chelsea Green in 2014. In 1996, he founded Mushroom Mountain (which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, and daughter Heidi) to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries, and he currently maintains more than 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides.
Order Your Passes Today! ×More than 150 Workshops!
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Learn about heirloom garlic and perennial onion varieties, from planting to cultivation and harvesting at home. Ira Wallace covers soil preparation, weed control, and disease prevention, as well as curing and storage requirements. Add these culinary essentials to your garden!
Speaker Bio
Ira Wallace is on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, where she coordinates variety selection and new seed grower contracts. Southern Exposure helps people keep control of their food supply through seed saving and sustainable gardening.
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
As our planet rapidly changes, we must find solutions to retain and build resilience in our agroecosystems. Explore our alliance with fungi, which provides farmers opportunities to support and grow biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services, and provide food and medicine for our communities and the planet. At this workshop, expect a discussion of advanced techniques for mushroom growing and how to use mycelium as a solution to growing a regenerative agriculture.
Speaker Bio
Mark Jones is the owner and mycologist at Sharondale Mushroom Farm in Cismont, Virginia. The farm provides high-quality mushrooms, spawn, tools, and materials for mushroom cultivation. Jones offers cultivation workshops for hobby growers and small farmers.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Common Sense Natural Beekeeping
Kim Flottum
Common Sense Natural Beekeeping
Kim Flottum
Although honey bees are not as domesticated as your dog or chickens, they aren’t completely wild, either. Putting them in a box they didn’t choose, and in an environment they didn’t first scout places some responsibility for their well-being on the beekeeper who made those choices for them. We don’t, and shouldn’t supply everything they need, but we should lend a hand on occasion when things go wrong. Here’s what, and how.
Speaker Bio
Kim Flottum is the editor of Bee Culture magazine and the author of numerous beginning, intermediate, and advanced beekeeping books. He brings 30 years of beekeeping and teaching experience to the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIRS.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Craft Distilling: Making liquor legally at home
Victoria Miller
Craft Distilling: Making liquor legally at home
Victoria Miller
Hobby distilling has become more and more popular in the past few years. However, there is still a lot of confusion about the legalities around the distillation of liquor. The author of the new book Craft Distilling: Making Liquor Legally at Home explains the facts around legal distilling, plus provides an overview of how to make high-quality distilled spirits on a small scale. In addition, she is working with a Washington state legislator to change the laws for hobby distillers. An informative, fun workshop for anyone interested in distilling liquor.
Speaker Bio
Victoria Redhed Miller grew up in Seattle and now lives with her husband, David, on their off-grid farm in the Olympic Mountain foothills near Sequim, Washington. She writes and blogs about homesteading and self-reliance, as well as speaking at events around the country. She is also the author of Pure Poultry: Living Well with Heritage Chickens, Turkeys and Ducks.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest has returned this year, and she is sharing even more gardening with chickens tips! Learn what to grow for your flock, how to plant a garden just for them, the health benefits for you and your flock by gardening together, and even how to garden all year long. Tips, clever ideas, outsmarting the chickens as well as safe plantings will be shared. Learn how to successfully plant and enjoy gardens with vegetables, fruits, annuals and perennials with this chicken loving Master Gardener.
Speaker Bio
Melissa Caughey is a backyard chicken keeper, beekeeper, and gardener who writes the award-winning blog Tilly’s Nest. Caughey lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her family. She regularly writes for HGTV Gardens, Community Chickens, Grit magazine, and contributes to Country Living magazine. Better Homes and Gardens named her blog as one of the magazine’s Top 10 Gardening Blogs, and Country Living magazine gave it a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
You can have an attractive, upscale quality-built tiny home that is artistically beautiful, highly marketable and long-term profitable. Smaller homes can be more livable, cozy, enjoyable, easier to clean and lower maintenance than big houses. But tiny and smaller homes are not for everyone. Learn why and what it takes to live in a small space to make room for a larger life. Explore the many uses of tiny homes and find out why more people are opting for less square footage in exchange for more time, freedom and money.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Foreman graduated from Purdue University with degrees in animal science and pharmacy. She earned a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s Graduate School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is the author of City Chicks: Employing Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers. She is co-author of Chicken Tractor, Day Range Poultry and Backyard Market Gardening.
Order Your Passes Today! ×Speaker Spotlight:
Howard Garrett
Dirt Doctor
Natural Organic Pest Control
Howard Garrett
The most effective pest control just happens to be organic. Howard Garrett discusses how to protect and work with beneficial insects, as well as what natural, organic pest control products to use in certain situations.
Speaker Bio
Howard Garrett is recognized as one of the leaders in the research, education, and promotion of natural organic products and practices. Garrett was born in Pittsburg, Texas, graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1965, received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1977. He has extensive experience in natural organic gardening, landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance, and organic product development. Garrett provides state-of-the-art advice on natural organic gardening, landscaping, pet health, composting, pest control, and how to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Books by This Speaker: The Organic Manual
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Rosemary Gladstar
Sage Mountain Herbs
Herbs for Family Health
Rosemary Gladstar
Everyone in the family from infant to elder can benefit from the health-giving properties of herbs. In this practical and informative workshop, Rosemary Gladstar discusses creating an herbal apothecary for your home; 12 popular herbs and their uses; popular remedies for health and well-being; safety issues concerning herbs; and books and references to guide you in your herbal studies. Gladstar also looks at kitchen medicine, local backyard remedies, and how to prepare herbs, as well as the importance of ecological herbalism.
Speaker Bio
Rosemary Gladstar has been studying and teaching about herbs for more than 40 years. She is an educator, activist and entrepreneur, serving as director of the Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center, the International Herb Symposium, and the Women’s Herbal Conference. Gladstar is the founding president of United Plant Savers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of native American herbs. She was the original formulator for Traditional Medicinal Herbal teas and currently leads herbal educational adventures around the world. She is the author of many books, including Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health and Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide, as well as Herbal Healing for Women. She lives in East Barre, Vermont.
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Dan Chiras
The Evergreen Institute
Achieving Complete Self-Sufficiency
Dan Chiras
Many people are working toward a life of total self-sufficiency, but the road can be difficult and confusing. There are so many options and there is so much bad information that it boggles the mind. Additionally, there are many aspects of self-sufficiency (such as self-health care, personal fitness and transportation) that people overlook. Dan Chiras, one of the nation’s leading experts on self-sufficiency, outlines the key steps you must take to completely meet your family’s needs for energy, water, food, health care, income and transportation to thrive during major economic or ecological catastrophe or simply to forge a totally sustainable lifestyle.
Speaker Bio
Dan Chiras is director of The Evergreen Institute in east central Missouri, where he teaches workshops on a wide range of topics on self-sufficiency and sustainability. Chiras is also author of 32 books and several hundred articles on a wide range of topics, including residential energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable communities, green building and natural building. His talks are fun, inspirational and full of useful information.
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Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Salad Bar Beef
Joel Salatin
Herbivores not only built the world’s deepest and best soil, they provided the foundation for nutrition in most areas. Building soil and eating well are symbiotic activities, but many today view the herbivore as an enemy … a direct result of misusing animals. In this workshop, Joel Salatin introduces the concepts and high-tech infrastructure that allows modern farmers to duplicate the symbiotic choreography of ancient herds. This system also increases yields and offers the most tasty, nutritious food.
Speaker Bio
Joel Salatin’s family owns and operates Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, producing salad bar beef, pastured poultry, pigaerator pork and forage-based rabbits. The farm services 6,000 families and 50 restaurants. Featured prominently in countless media, documentaries and books, the farm offers many educational opportunities for people wanting to learn these pasture-based systems. He has written 10 books about food and farming, both how-to guides and broad cultural works.
Order Your Passes Today! ×More than 150 Workshops!
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
You can have an attractive, upscale quality-built tiny home that is artistically beautiful, highly marketable and long-term profitable. Smaller homes can be more livable, cozy, enjoyable, easier to clean and lower maintenance than big houses. But tiny and smaller homes are not for everyone. Learn why and what it takes to live in a small space to make room for a larger life. Explore the many uses of tiny homes and find out why more people are opting for less square footage in exchange for more time, freedom and money.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Foreman graduated from Purdue University with degrees in animal science and pharmacy. She earned a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s Graduate School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is the author of City Chicks: Employing Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers. She is co-author of Chicken Tractor, Day Range Poultry and Backyard Market Gardening.
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Extraordinary Equines
Jeanette Beranger
Extraordinary Equines
Jeanette Beranger
Whether you are looking for an equine for the plow, driving, endurance, therapy, or for the trail, there’s the right heritage breed equine out there for you! Learn about the variety of choices and how finding the appropriate breed for your skill and needs can make the dream of ownership and delightful reality.
Speaker Bio
Jeannette Beranger is a program manager for The Livestock Conservancy and counts more than 30 years of experience working as an animal professional. She uses the knowledge to plan and implement breed conservation programs. At home she maintains a heritage breeds farm with a focus on rare breed chickens and horses. In 2015 she was named one of Country Woman Magazine‘s “45 Amazing Country Women” for her work in conserving endangered breeds.
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Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest has returned this year, and she is sharing even more gardening with chickens tips! Learn what to grow for your flock, how to plant a garden just for them, the health benefits for you and your flock by gardening together, and even how to garden all year long. Tips, clever ideas, outsmarting the chickens as well as safe plantings will be shared. Learn how to successfully plant and enjoy gardens with vegetables, fruits, annuals and perennials with this chicken loving Master Gardener.
Speaker Bio
Melissa Caughey is a backyard chicken keeper, beekeeper, and gardener who writes the award-winning blog Tilly’s Nest. Caughey lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her family. She regularly writes for HGTV Gardens, Community Chickens, Grit magazine, and contributes to Country Living magazine. Better Homes and Gardens named her blog as one of the magazine’s Top 10 Gardening Blogs, and Country Living magazine gave it a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award.
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Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Learn about heirloom garlic and perennial onion varieties, from planting to cultivation and harvesting at home. Ira Wallace covers soil preparation, weed control, and disease prevention, as well as curing and storage requirements. Add these culinary essentials to your garden!
Speaker Bio
Ira Wallace is on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, where she coordinates variety selection and new seed grower contracts. Southern Exposure helps people keep control of their food supply through seed saving and sustainable gardening.
Speaker Spotlight:
Jessi Bloom
N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes
Top 10 Homestead Hacks for Beginners
Jessi Bloom
Are you looking to save time, money and your sanity as you embark on your homesteading journey? Expert Jessi Bloom coaches folks who are getting started, and she shares her top 10 tips, tricks and wisdom for anyone looking to make their life easier in the garden, on the farm and inside home!
Speaker Bio
Jessi Bloom is a best-selling author, award-winning ecological landscape designer, and speaker. She owns N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Landscapes, based near Seattle, which is known as an innovator and leader in the field of permaculture, sustainable landscape design, construction and land management. Her work has been recognized by government agencies and industry organizations, and makes headlines in national media. She lives near Seattle with her two sons on their permaculture homestead, which is full of functional gardens and rescue animals.
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Shawna Coronado
www.ShawnaCoronado.com
How to Grow 35 to 40 Organic Plants Within a 2-Square-Foot Garden
Shawna Coronado
Shawna Coronado talks about the easy way to grow vertically and demonstrates how to grow 35 to 40 organic plants within an area that is smaller than 2 square feet using several different planting systems to do so. Coronado also shows full-color photos featuring her extensive front lawn vegetable organic garden and discusses her creative, sustainable ideas for organic soil maintenance, water collection, and sustainable and artful reuse of around-the-house items as vertical wall systems. She also provides suggestions for where to deliver your overabundance of vegetables: Coronado donates more than 100 pounds of food every season to the local food pantry. This workshop is sponsored by Jung Seed.
Speaker Bio
Shawna Coronado is an author, columnist, blogger, photographer, media host and brand ambassador in the realms of green lifestyle living, organic gardening, and low-cost cuisine who campaigns for social good. She is also an on-camera spokesperson and social media personality with more than 375,000 followers on her various social media venues and she maintains a YouTube channel with more than a million views. In 2015 she co-hosted the radio show, “The Good Green Home Show” and appeared bi-weekly at her home garden as the FOX News Chicago “Gardening with Good Day” organic gardening expert. Coronado’s garden and eco-adventures have been featured in many media venues, including PBS television. Along with her green lifestyle initiatives, Coronado is concerned about promoting and teaching healthy living. She was diagnosed with severe Spinal Osteoarthritis, a diagnosis that has led her to change her lifestyle, lose weight, and consume a mostly anti-inflammatory diet. She educates audiences about beneficial diet, food and health practices through her organic living media. She dreams that this will enable more people who suffer from similar conditions to be active. Her successful organic living photographs and stories have been shown both online and off in many international home and garden magazines and multiple books. You can learn more about Coronado from her website.
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Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Salad Bar Beef
Joel Salatin
Herbivores not only built the world’s deepest and best soil, they provided the foundation for nutrition in most areas. Building soil and eating well are symbiotic activities, but many today view the herbivore as an enemy … a direct result of misusing animals. In this workshop, Joel Salatin introduces the concepts and high-tech infrastructure that allows modern farmers to duplicate the symbiotic choreography of ancient herds. This system also increases yields and offers the most tasty, nutritious food.
Speaker Bio
Joel Salatin’s family owns and operates Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, producing salad bar beef, pastured poultry, pigaerator pork and forage-based rabbits. The farm services 6,000 families and 50 restaurants. Featured prominently in countless media, documentaries and books, the farm offers many educational opportunities for people wanting to learn these pasture-based systems. He has written 10 books about food and farming, both how-to guides and broad cultural works.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Rosemary Gladstar
Sage Mountain Herbs
Herbs for Family Health
Rosemary Gladstar
Everyone in the family from infant to elder can benefit from the health-giving properties of herbs. In this practical and informative workshop, Rosemary Gladstar discusses creating an herbal apothecary for your home; 12 popular herbs and their uses; popular remedies for health and well-being; safety issues concerning herbs; and books and references to guide you in your herbal studies. Gladstar also looks at kitchen medicine, local backyard remedies, and how to prepare herbs, as well as the importance of ecological herbalism.
Speaker Bio
Rosemary Gladstar has been studying and teaching about herbs for more than 40 years. She is an educator, activist and entrepreneur, serving as director of the Sage Mountain Herbal Retreat Center, the International Herb Symposium, and the Women’s Herbal Conference. Gladstar is the founding president of United Plant Savers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and preservation of native American herbs. She was the original formulator for Traditional Medicinal Herbal teas and currently leads herbal educational adventures around the world. She is the author of many books, including Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health and Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide, as well as Herbal Healing for Women. She lives in East Barre, Vermont.
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Howard Garrett
Dirt Doctor
Natural Organic Pest Control
Howard Garrett
The most effective pest control just happens to be organic. Howard Garrett discusses how to protect and work with beneficial insects, as well as what natural, organic pest control products to use in certain situations.
Speaker Bio
Howard Garrett is recognized as one of the leaders in the research, education, and promotion of natural organic products and practices. Garrett was born in Pittsburg, Texas, graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1965, received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1977. He has extensive experience in natural organic gardening, landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance, and organic product development. Garrett provides state-of-the-art advice on natural organic gardening, landscaping, pet health, composting, pest control, and how to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Books by This Speaker: The Organic Manual
Order Your Passes Today! ×More than 150 Workshops!
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Learn about heirloom garlic and perennial onion varieties, from planting to cultivation and harvesting at home. Ira Wallace covers soil preparation, weed control, and disease prevention, as well as curing and storage requirements. Add these culinary essentials to your garden!
Speaker Bio
Ira Wallace is on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, where she coordinates variety selection and new seed grower contracts. Southern Exposure helps people keep control of their food supply through seed saving and sustainable gardening.
Survivalists Guide to Achieving Complete Self-Sufficiency
Dan Chiras
Survivalists Guide to Achieving Complete Self-Sufficiency
Dan Chiras
Don’t bug out, stay put, but don’t just survive in times of disaster, thrive in them. In this workshop, I’ll show suburban and rural homeowners how to live comfortably through almost any disaster by creating totally self-sufficient lifestyle in all aspects of your life: energy, food, water, waste, transportation, health, fitness, and finances.
Speaker Bio
Dan Chiras is director of The Evergreen Institute in east central Missouri, where he teaches workshops on a wide range of topics on self-sufficiency and sustainability. Chiras is also author of 32 books and several hundred articles on a wide range of topics, including residential energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable communities, green building and natural building. His talks are fun, inspirational and full of useful information.
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A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
You can have an attractive, upscale quality-built tiny home that is artistically beautiful, highly marketable and long-term profitable. Smaller homes can be more livable, cozy, enjoyable, easier to clean and lower maintenance than big houses. But tiny and smaller homes are not for everyone. Learn why and what it takes to live in a small space to make room for a larger life. Explore the many uses of tiny homes and find out why more people are opting for less square footage in exchange for more time, freedom and money.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Foreman graduated from Purdue University with degrees in animal science and pharmacy. She earned a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s Graduate School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is the author of City Chicks: Employing Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers. She is co-author of Chicken Tractor, Day Range Poultry and Backyard Market Gardening.
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General Bee Hive Inspection
Shane Gebauer
General Bee Hive Inspection
Shane Gebauer
Shane Gebauer discusses how to inspect a colony of honey bees, from start to finish: everything from lighting the smoke to inspecting the inside of the hive. He discuss what looks good and what doesn’t, and what the next steps might be to ensure a healthy hive.
Speaker Bio
Shane Gebauer has been a beekeeper and worked in the beekeeping industry for more than 12 years. He is the president and a partner at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, which is one of the nation’s largest beekeeping supply companies.
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Chick Fever: Getting started for less
Melissa Caughey
Chick Fever: Getting started for less
Melissa Caughey
Thinking about getting chickens? Chickens make wonderful family pets. Learn all the basics of starting out, including chick care, housing needs, feed, and raising a healthy and happy flock. Throughout this presentation, Melissa Caughey shares tips, hacks, secrets to egg laying, money-saving ideas, and much more.
Speaker Bio
Melissa Caughey is a backyard chicken keeper, beekeeper, and gardener who writes the award-winning blog Tilly’s Nest. Caughey lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her family. She regularly writes for HGTV Gardens, Community Chickens, Grit magazine, and contributes to Country Living magazine. Better Homes and Gardens named her blog as one of the magazine’s Top 10 Gardening Blogs, and Country Living magazine gave it a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award.
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Hopping for Fun and Profit with Heritage Rabbits
Alison Martin
Hopping for Fun and Profit with Heritage Rabbits
Alison Martin
Rabbits can be easy, versatile and quiet animals to raise on your small property. Heritage breeds offer a chance to set yourself apart from other rabbitries and provide value-added product for both home use or sale. Get acquainted with the breeds and the basics of raising rabbits.
Speaker Bio
Alison Martin is the program director at the Livestock Conservancy, a membership organization for conserving heritage livestock and poultry. With more than 20 years of experience in agriculture, she provides technical support and education to heritage breed farmers and ranchers.
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Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Salad Bar Beef
Joel Salatin
Herbivores not only built the world’s deepest and best soil, they provided the foundation for nutrition in most areas. Building soil and eating well are symbiotic activities, but many today view the herbivore as an enemy … a direct result of misusing animals. In this workshop, Joel Salatin introduces the concepts and high-tech infrastructure that allows modern farmers to duplicate the symbiotic choreography of ancient herds. This system also increases yields and offers the most tasty, nutritious food.
Speaker Bio
Joel Salatin’s family owns and operates Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, producing salad bar beef, pastured poultry, pigaerator pork and forage-based rabbits. The farm services 6,000 families and 50 restaurants. Featured prominently in countless media, documentaries and books, the farm offers many educational opportunities for people wanting to learn these pasture-based systems. He has written 10 books about food and farming, both how-to guides and broad cultural works.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Dan Chiras
The Evergreen Institute
Achieving Complete Self-Sufficiency
Dan Chiras
Many people are working toward a life of total self-sufficiency, but the road can be difficult and confusing. There are so many options and there is so much bad information that it boggles the mind. Additionally, there are many aspects of self-sufficiency (such as self-health care, personal fitness and transportation) that people overlook. Dan Chiras, one of the nation’s leading experts on self-sufficiency, outlines the key steps you must take to completely meet your family’s needs for energy, water, food, health care, income and transportation to thrive during major economic or ecological catastrophe or simply to forge a totally sustainable lifestyle.
Speaker Bio
Dan Chiras is director of The Evergreen Institute in east central Missouri, where he teaches workshops on a wide range of topics on self-sufficiency and sustainability. Chiras is also author of 32 books and several hundred articles on a wide range of topics, including residential energy efficiency and renewable energy, sustainable communities, green building and natural building. His talks are fun, inspirational and full of useful information.
Order Your Passes Today! ×
Howard Garrett
Dirt Doctor
Natural Organic Pest Control
Howard Garrett
The most effective pest control just happens to be organic. Howard Garrett discusses how to protect and work with beneficial insects, as well as what natural, organic pest control products to use in certain situations.
Speaker Bio
Howard Garrett is recognized as one of the leaders in the research, education, and promotion of natural organic products and practices. Garrett was born in Pittsburg, Texas, graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1965, received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University in 1969 and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves from 1970 to 1977. He has extensive experience in natural organic gardening, landscape contracting, greenhouse growing, golf course planning and maintenance, and organic product development. Garrett provides state-of-the-art advice on natural organic gardening, landscaping, pet health, composting, pest control, and how to enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Books by This Speaker: The Organic Manual
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Tradd Cotter
Mushroom Mountain
Medicinal Mushrooms: Cultivation, extractions and product development
Tradd Cotter
For thousands of years, mushrooms have been cultivated or gathered and used to treat the root cause of disease, only now to be verified in scientific trials for evaluating the amazing properties fungi possess. There are many different ways to grow mushrooms at home or on the homestead, which are easy and high yielding, for many species of medicinal mushrooms. Tradd Cotter covers basic cultivation, live extraction, and the exciting new developments in product development.
Speaker Bio
Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist and organic gardener who has been tissue culturing, collecting native fungi in the Southeast, and cultivating both commercially and experimentally for more than 22 years. He is the author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation, published by Chelsea Green in 2014. In 1996, he founded Mushroom Mountain (which he owns and operates with his wife, Olga, and daughter Heidi) to explore applications for mushrooms in various industries, and he currently maintains more than 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides.
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Steven Raichlen
Workman Publishing
Barbecue Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades: Bastes, butters, and glazes, too
Steven Raichlen
Barbecue Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades is Steven Raichlen’s encyclopedia of the flavor boosters, dry and wet, that give grilled food its character, personality, depth, and soul. Chili-fired rubs, lemony marinades, buttery bastes, and flavorful sauces, mops, slathers, sambals, and chutneys: In more than 200 recipes from around the globe, Raichlen shows how to add the expert touch to every dish in your repertoire. The book also includes a number of recipes for finished dishes, such as Korea Town Brisket, Jamaican Jerk Spareribs, and Kung Pao Smoked Chicken. The best-selling original edition sold over half a million copies and, due to its popularity, Workman has fully revised and updated it with a beautiful new look, full-color photographs throughout, information on all of the latest advances in barbecuing and grilling techniques, and a number of new recipes.
Speaker Bio
Steven Raichlen is America’s foremost grilling authority. His last book, Project Smoke, was a New York Times best-seller, and previous live-fire cookbooks have won James Beard and IACP awards. Articles by Raichlen have appeared regularly in The New York Times, Food & Wine, and Bon Appétit, and for the past dozen years he’s taught sold-out Barbecue University classes, currently at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He and his wife divide their time between Miami, Florida, and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
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Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Growing Great Garlic and Perennial Onions
Ira Wallace
Learn about heirloom garlic and perennial onion varieties, from planting to cultivation and harvesting at home. Ira Wallace covers soil preparation, weed control, and disease prevention, as well as curing and storage requirements. Add these culinary essentials to your garden!
Speaker Bio
Ira Wallace is on the board of the Organic Seed Alliance and is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, where she coordinates variety selection and new seed grower contracts. Southern Exposure helps people keep control of their food supply through seed saving and sustainable gardening.
Keeping Honey Bees Alive
Shane Gebauer
Keeping Honey Bees Alive
Shane Gebauer
Maintaining a healthy hive is no easy task. Explore what a healthy hive is and how to achieve it. Controlling disease and pests certainly is important, but perhaps equally as important is a vigorous queen, reducing contaminates in the hive, and good nutrition.
Speaker Bio
Shane Gebauer has been a beekeeper and worked in the beekeeping industry for more than 12 years. Currently, he is the president and partner at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, which is one of the nation’s largest beekeeping supply companies.
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Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Gardening with Chickens: More secrets to success
Melissa Caughey
Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest has returned this year, and she is sharing even more gardening with chickens tips! Learn what to grow for your flock, how to plant a garden just for them, the health benefits for you and your flock by gardening together, and even how to garden all year long. Tips, clever ideas, outsmarting the chickens as well as safe plantings will be shared. Learn how to successfully plant and enjoy gardens with vegetables, fruits, annuals and perennials with this chicken loving Master Gardener.
Speaker Bio
Melissa Caughey is a backyard chicken keeper, beekeeper, and gardener who writes the award-winning blog Tilly’s Nest. Caughey lives on Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her family. She regularly writes for HGTV Gardens, Community Chickens, Grit magazine, and contributes to Country Living magazine. Better Homes and Gardens named her blog as one of the magazine’s Top 10 Gardening Blogs, and Country Living magazine gave it a Blue Ribbon Blogger Award.
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Heritage Hogwash
Jeannette Beranger
Heritage Hogwash
Jeannette Beranger
The flavor of heritage hogs is a hot topic for chefs and consumers interested in the culinary delights these pigs offer. In this talk, learn about the basics of keeping these animals, about the breeds themselves, and how to tell them apart from the numerous “imposters” that can be a costly lesson to new pig owners.
Speaker Bio
Jeannette Beranger is a program manager for the Livestock Conservancy and has more than 30 years of experience working as an animal professional. She uses the knowledge to plan and implement breed conservation programs. At home, she maintains a heritage breeds farm with a focus on rare breed chickens and horses. In 2015, she was named one of Country Woman Magazine‘s “45 Amazing Country Women” for her work in conserving endangered breeds.
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Growing Your Own Food on the Homestead
Growing Your Own Food on the Homestead
Growing your own food provides an endless number of benefits for you and your family, some of which include self-sustainability, improved health, and teaching the values of hard work to the younger generation. With his vast horticultural and agricultural knowledge, Greg Key provides insight into the tools and practices needed to grow food on the homestead. Key delivers practical and feasible solutions for beginner or advanced gardeners to help them grow good, clean food for their family and friends.
Speaker Bio
Greg Key has been involved in horticulture and agriculture for more than 30 years. With a special interest in organic and small-scale production, he has been on the forefront of the local food movement. He enjoys studying the processes and educating people about how to make growing healthy, local food more possible. With vegetable gardening being one of his favorite hobbies, he founded Hoss Tools in 2009 with the goal of manufacturing and selling high-quality, American-made garden tools. Today, Hoss Tools provides gardening tools and supplies to people all over the world, with the primary goal of helping people grow their own food.
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Craft Distilling: Making liquor legally at home
Victoria Miller
Craft Distilling: Making liquor legally at home
Victoria Miller
Hobby distilling has become more and more popular in the past few years. However, there is still a lot of confusion about the legalities around the distillation of liquor. The author of the new book Craft Distilling: Making Liquor Legally at Home explains the facts around legal distilling, plus provides an overview of how to make high-quality distilled spirits on a small scale. In addition, she is working with a Washington state legislator to change the laws for hobby distillers. An informative, fun workshop for anyone interested in distilling liquor.
Speaker Bio
Victoria Redhed Miller grew up in Seattle and now lives with her husband, David, on their off-grid farm in the Olympic Mountain foothills near Sequim, Washington. She writes and blogs about homesteading and self-reliance, as well as speaking at events around the country. She is also the author of Pure Poultry: Living Well with Heritage Chickens, Turkeys and Ducks.
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Hopping for Fun and Profit with Heritage Rabbits
Alison Martin
Hopping for Fun and Profit with Heritage Rabbits
Alison Martin
Rabbits can be easy, versatile and quiet animals to raise on your small property. Heritage breeds offer a chance to set yourself apart from other rabbitries and provide value-added product for both home use or sale. Get acquainted with the breeds and the basics of raising rabbits.
Speaker Bio
Alison Martin is the program director at the Livestock Conservancy, a membership organization for conserving heritage livestock and poultry. With more than 20 years of experience in agriculture, she provides technical support and education to heritage breed farmers and ranchers.
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Make Mead Like a Viking
Jereme Zimmerman
Make Mead Like a Viking
Jereme Zimmerman
Learn to make your own mead (honey wine) using techniques that have been utilized by ancient cultures since the first discovery of bubbling honey and its magical effects. Jereme Zimmerman focuses on wild-crafting and spontaneous-fermentation techniques, but also discusses other mead-making practices. Be prepared for an engaging discussion on mead, Vikings, and the simplicity of fermenting your own honey-based alcoholic beverages using local, raw, unfiltered honey, and ingredients harvested from the wild and your own garden. Join the wild mead movement!
Speaker Bio
Jereme Zimmerman grew up on his parents’ northern Kentucky goat farm, Twin Meadows, where he was also homeschooled. After graduating from Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, he moved to the Pacific Northwest, where he immersed himself in the world of homebrewing. As the world’s only peace-loving, green-living Appalachian Yeti Viking, Zimmerman writes, blogs and speaks regularly on fermentation, mead-making, homesteading and good eating. He is a regular contributor to various publications and websites, including New Pioneer and Backwoods Home magazines. He writes for Earthineer.com as “RedHeadedYeti.” He currently lives in Berea with his wife, Jenna, and daughters, Sadie and Maisie, where he practices urban homesteading and cavorts with farmers, authors and fellow sustainable living enthusiasts. His first book, Make Mead Like a Viking, will be published by Chelsea Green Publishing in November 2015.
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Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
Growing Fungi for Farm Diversity and Resilience
Mark Jones
As our planet rapidly changes, we must find solutions to retain and build resilience in our agroecosystems. Explore our alliance with fungi, which provides farmers opportunities to support and grow biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services, and provide food and medicine for our communities and the planet. At this workshop, expect a discussion of advanced techniques for mushroom growing and how to use mycelium as a solution to growing a regenerative agriculture.
Speaker Bio
Mark Jones is the owner and mycologist at Sharondale Mushroom Farm in Cismont, Virginia. The farm provides high-quality mushrooms, spawn, tools, and materials for mushroom cultivation. Jones offers cultivation workshops for hobby growers and small farmers.
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A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
A Tiny Home to Call Your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
You can have an attractive, upscale quality-built tiny home that is artistically beautiful, highly marketable and long-term profitable. Smaller homes can be more livable, cozy, enjoyable, easier to clean and lower maintenance than big houses. But tiny and smaller homes are not for everyone. Learn why and what it takes to live in a small space to make room for a larger life. Explore the many uses of tiny homes and find out why more people are opting for less square footage in exchange for more time, freedom and money.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Foreman graduated from Purdue University with degrees in animal science and pharmacy. She earned a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from Indiana University’s Graduate School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
She is the author of City Chicks: Employing Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Creators, Bio-recyclers and Local Food Suppliers. She is co-author of Chicken Tractor, Day Range Poultry and Backyard Market Gardening.
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