Workshops

 

See the CALENDAR for the most up to date listings.

This page is constantly updated- stay tuned and check back often!

2015 Events Calendar and Internship details are HERE.

Enter your email on the right hand side of the page to be notified of workshops, farm tours, farm dinners, and other events and opportunities.

ROOT CELLAR and COLD STORAGE DESIGN/ BUILD

Oct 18 -19

$175 – $250/ weekend

Basement Retrofits –  Root cellars and food storage can be retrofitted into most any existing basement providing easy access to crops in winter and a more an overall more affordable project. In this project we will retrofit an existing basement with super insulated walls, and doors and install venting and shelves for effective crop storage. Participants will use power tools, build and hang doors, fashion a passive venting system out of Pipe and fittings, and learn important factors for design and construction of a small family sized cellar in an existing victorian home basement in downtown Jeffersonville.

Farm and Restaurant Coolbot Walkins – Learn how to build a super insulated and durable affordable Walk-in cooler that will be used for storing farm produce at Willow Crossing Farm. In this workshop we will construct a Cooler shell in an outdoor Kitchen to be cooled by a coolbot operating system tied to an air conditioner providing an affordable summer and on farm cold storage alternative. Participants will learn to estimate storage volumes needed for crop storage, scale mechanical systems for energy efficiency and effective cooling, learn the pros and cons of using this system instead of Compressor based mechanical system,  and effective ways to build a super insulated and durable shell for long term commercial use.

The Fourth Annual Fruit Tree Grafting Workshop andScionwood Exchange

is  scheduled for March 21, 2015.

Each participant will take home a grafted apples on semi-dwarf or full size rootstock.  We’ll also be ‘top-working’ apples, plums, pears, peaches, pecans, and more- changing varieties and creating multi-grafts.  Please send an email to express your interest, or find the event on Facebook in the next few weeks.

Click Here for Details.

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Farm Tours May-September

We will be scheduling a regular series of free farm tours from May- September TBA soon.

Custom Scheduled and Private Tours are $100/ hour suggested donation, depending on group size and mission.

Farm Tours for groups of school children and/ or senior centers are free, with a request for at least 3 months scheduling notice.

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May 3-4 Fruit, Nut, Berry, Vine, and Medicinal Herb Sale

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July 19- July 31:

8th Annual Permaculture Design Certification Course

A residential intensive ‘Farm and Nature Immersion’, world-reknown Permaculture Design Certification Course.

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The full calendar and details for our other offerings will be announced soon.  We’re looking forward to offering:  fruit tree grafting, nut production, diverse understory planting, spring development for gravity fed irrigation, natural building, compost heating, season extension, earth oven construction, natural beekeeping, and more.

Our 2015 Permaculture Design Course will be held July 19-31, and is filling quickly.

More details about our Advanced Permaculture Design Build Grow Teach internship positions will also be announced soon.

We regularly run a variety of workshops on:

Permaculture Design

Pruning, Grafting, Propagation, and other Orchard/ Forest Garden Skills

Natural Beekeeping (Organic and Chemical free, Top Bar Hives, etc.)

Water Catchment, Spring Development, Gravity Fed Irrigation

Greenhouse Design, Build, Season Extension Techniques and Varieties

Natural Building

Wild Ecology, Wildcrafting, etc.

Please be in touch for specific offerings and return soon as we update the calendar.

We can also arrange custom-tailored workshops for you or your group at our farm or your site.

Also- see the ‘Keynotes and Presentations‘ page for more formal presentations, lectures, etc.

TBA: 

Natural Building

Earth Oven Building workshop with Mark Krawczyk and Sima Bode.

Alternative Beekeeping and Pollinator Support

Northeast Tree Crops Symposium at Willow Crossing Farm.

Farm Dinners

Natural Building, Woodchip-Clay Walls, Plastering

Root Cellars

Spring Development for Gravity-Fed Irrigation

Rainwater Catchment

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Previous Workshops:

January 11:

  Nuts for the Northeast

At the 27th Annual NOFA MA Winter Conference  (Worchester, MA)

January 16:

 Farm Scale Permaculture

A Free, Interactive Webinar Presentation with Dynamic Media  (Online)

Supported by UVM Extension, Vermont New Farmer Project, and the Women’s Agriculture Network (WAGN)

TBA (Jan 31- Feb 1):

Plants for Public Permaculture

A public consultation and workshop at the North Bennington Public Edible Forest Garden- McWaters Park (North Bennington, VT)

February 15:

 Nuts for the Northeast

At the 30th Annual NOFA VT Winter Conference (Burlington, VT)

March 2:

Hands on: Fruit and Nut Tree Pruning!

Orchard Pruning Workshop

Join us for one or two days of hands-on practice with fruit and nut tree pruning, in a super diverse permaculture forest garden setting.  We will focus in particular on Apples, Plums, and Pears, with an eye towards maximizing production, fruit quality, ease of future maintenance, and minimizing pest and disease pressure.  We’ll also be setting the stage for top-working, multi-grafting, and varietal changes.

We’ll discuss favorite tools, sound tree health science, and pruning for different objectives- such as timber quality, production, propagation, and aesthetics.  One day workshop is Saturday only.  The two day workshop will go further in depth and include field study of natural tree wounds and healing.

Event is $60/ day suggested donation/ sliding scale, including chili, tea, and hot mulled cider.  No one will be refused for lack of funds.

Please pre-register, and dress to spend the day outdoors.  Feel free to bring your *clean, sterile, and sharp* pruners and saws.

Zach Leonard is a master horticulturalist and as been the farm manager of Elmore Roots Nursery for more than a decade.  He and his family have created High Hopes Farm, a diverse off-grid homestead.

Keith Morris has been collecting and experimenting with rare fruit and nut trees for 12 years, and is professor of ecological design at the University of Vermont.  He has worked creating resilient and diverse food systems in cities and countrysides around the world since 1996.