Sustainable Homes & Gardens Workshop with Permaculture Potluck & Seed Exchange

Kim & Chris Chisholm have moved Wolf Camp and the Wolf College to Kim's grandparent's old homestead next to Clark's Creek Park, and are using the Principles of Permaculture to return the property into a sustainable farm with herb gardens, fruit and berry production, chickens and more. We're on a journey to turn the Wolf Campus into an herbalist’s delight, a wildlife sanctuary, and a sustainable home that will provide food for family, students, neighbors and community. Our goal in sharing our process is for you to take home new knowledge and skills so that you, too, can create a more self-sufficient landscape around your own house or apartment.

Workshop Itinerary

12:00 Noon Potluck: Please feel free to join Permaculture Graduates & Workshop Alumni who will ring a dish to share in our library of nature books and self-sufficiency guides while we get to know one another, catch up and talk about at least one Permaculture Principle, which in February will be "Obtaining A Yeild."

1:00 PM Workshop Start - Seed Exchange & Permaculture Principle: Obtaining A Yield. After reviewing the principles of permaculture, including the principle of "obtaining a yield," we will review what we learned last month, and discuss ways in which a permaculture design can help you obtain a yield. Everyone will share how they plan to obtain a yield over the coming year, then we'll talk seeds and do a seed exchange (so bring seeds to share and envelopes!).

2:00 PM Rolling Up The Sleeves for Gardens, Orchards & Wildcrafting: We like to focus on one wild plant per month, and in January we plan to make a healthy, cold-fighting tea using our native Sitka Spruce. We will begin preparing our garden for the coming planting season which in January will focus on planning and imagination, using both hind- and foresight to attain the best yield. We'll consider the benefits of crop rotation and the utilization of plant guilds. We will also learn to properly transplant berries and fruit trees as part of our forest garden.

3:00 PM Enhancing Animal Habitat – Survival, Health & Safety: We also like to identify at least one wild animal on site and consider their benefits, but in January we'll focus on many by discussing the importance of overwintering insects and how to provide and maintain essential habitat. We'll also spend time "hangin' with the peeps" which in January will include new digs for our 12 week old chicks and their introduction to the "big girls" (our year-old hens) and Mr. Sunshine-roo. We'll end on a serious note discussing biosecurity and disease prevention (both of which will help you continue to obtain a yield).

4:00 PM Questions: Throughout the workshop, we encourage questions, plus suggestions on future topics you'd like to learn or practice in this workshop series, with Kelda drawing from her work as a Permaculture Teacher, Chris drawing from his childhood in nature and 20 years of professional experience, and Kim drawing from her historical connection to this land, her Wildlife Science degree, and her recent Permaculture Design Training.

Cost:

Just $5.00 if you hold a Permaculture Design Certification. Otherwise, we are also offering $10.00 off for all Seattle Permaculture Guild Meetup Members attending for the first time, so your cost would be just $15 the first time you attend a Sustainable Homes & Gardens Workshop, $20 the second time you attend, $15 the third time, $10 the fourth, and $5 per additional time, which is a pricing system we've developed to encourage repeat community attendance. Accompanied Children: Just $5 for accompanied children who are too young to benefit from instruction.

Please Bring:

• Gardening or work gloves. • Hats and clothing appropriate for the weather. • Waterproof or rubber boots. • Your favorite field guides on herbalism, gardening, permaculture, etc.

Over the course of the academic year we will offer monthly workhops to learn more about sustainability, self-sufficiency, permaculture and herbalism where you can put education into practice. Monthly topics will be recommended by those who attend and may include: • Landscape design • Permaculture zones and sectors • Creating a garden with healthy soil • Wildlife and its importance in your yard • The impact of water • Herbalism, including processing the herb of the month • Raising chickens and other farm animals • Creating a naturalist "phenology" calendar • To till or not to till • Composting with and without worms • Beneficial insects including Mason Bees • Growing fruit trees and berries • And more