Permaculture Design Certification Course

August 13 thru 21st ~ 9AM to 4PM

Registration required *All 10 days includes materials
$800 for Victory Garden Initiative Members / $1000 for Non Members

WHAT IS PERMACULTURE?

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies.  Any system of sustainable agriculture that renews natural resources and enriches local ecosystems; The design, installation and maintenance of indefinitely sustainable human communities set in balanced ecologies, both urban and rural.

Whether you call it Permaculture, Agroforestry, Eco-Agriculture, Reconciliation Ecology, or Restoration Agriculture, Forest Agriculture Enterprises is here to provide the plants, technical assistance, and equipment to help create a healthier, more ecologically sustainable world.

Intentionally designing and planting perennial ecosystems:

REDUCE CARBON DIOXIDE
PRODUCE FOOD
PROTECT FROM SOIL EROSION

MARK L. SHEPARD, CEO, Lead Agroforester, and Ecological Designer of Forest Agriculture Enterprises LLC. An ecological site design company based in Viola, WI. Established in 1995, Forest Agriculture Enterprises LLC specializes in the intentional conversion of  typical row-crops farms into a perennial agricultural ecosystem using oak savannah, successional brushland and eastern woodlands as the ecological models. Trees, shrubs, vines, canes, perennial plants and fungi are planted in association with one another to produce food (for humans and animals) fuel, medicines, and beauty.

Mark is a 1985 graduate of Unity College in Maine where he majored in Ecology.  He and his wife Jennifer homesteaded in Alaska from 1986-1994 Mark was certified as a Permaculture designer in 1993 at the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Basalt, CO. USA and received his Diploma of Permaculture Design in 2006 directly from Bill Mollison, the founder of the Permaculture Design curriculum.

COURSE SYLLABUS:

Principles of Natural Systems
Sustainable Design Methodologies
Patterns in Nature, Culture and Society
Reading Land & Understanding Natural Processes
Large Scale Land Restoration Techniques
Water Harvesting Techniques
Design Principles of Sustainable Human Settlements
Grey Water Recycling
Natural Building Strategies
Cultivated & Productive Ecologies
Food Forests, Plant Guilds, Gardens – Self-Sufficiency
Energy Conservation Technologies
Appropriate Technologies and Renewable Energies
Urban Environment Permaculture
Wildlife Management and Biological Pest Control
Land Arts and Community Activism
Invisible Structures: EcoVillages & Credit Unions
Community Supported Agriculture
Strategies for an Alternative Nation

Three to four webinars will be required as a pre-requisite to the course.

CERTIFICATION COURSE:
Cost (includes all 10 days, plus materials) $800 for Victory Garden Initiative
$1000 for Non Members
9AM – 4PM

Permaculture training is based on the original certification course developed by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren.  The course meets all requirements for certification. Participants that attend all sessions of this class and complete the final design project will receive Certificate of Permaculture Design.

If you must miss one or more sessions please contact us to discuss arrangements. Depending on the situation, you may be asked to pay a little extra and arrange a special meeting with the instructor to make up for the missed portion of the class.

You will be receiving detailed communications about what to bring and what to expect for logistics.

Many thanks to our web team Jamie, Takis, Beth, and Eric, for getting it launched for us!

Regards ~gretchen

Dont Forget! We taking orders for hazel nuts again!  WHY? We want Milwaukee to have a more secure food system.  If everyone sells a few hazel nuts we can really grow Milwaukee’s food forest quickly.  can you sell 2?  6?  30?  Any number will help us build a stronger Milwaukee.  Please help out!  If the girl scouts can do it, we can do it!  Just reply to me for an order form or go to our online store.

Wanted to write you all a note and give you some minutes from the meeting tonight.

First, it was a hit!  There were 80-90 or more people present.  All the right people from all the right groups were represented.  For those of you who are part of Conrcordia Gardens, yo may know that it is in Willie Johnsons County district.  He was there and approached me afterward for my contact info stating that he is intrigued by all of this.  Alderman Nik Kovac, Tim McCollow from the Office of Sustainability, David Sivier from Dept. of Forestry, Yves Lapier from Dept of City Development, Carries Lewis from Milwaukee Water Works, MMSD, neighborhood associations, kids, adults, social service agencies, and most importantly many, many, community gardeners.

Second, we had a great presentation from Ron Doetch and Alexa Bradley about moving forward with solutions.  Ron’s presentation really got the creative juices flowing… in a big ways, for many people.  Basic statistics about having good soil (COME ON FOLKS HELP US GET THE MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY COMPOST NETWORK UP AND RUNNING, WE NEED YOU!), how much rain falls, how to utilize the layers of the soil, how to use trenches and berm and much more, gave fuel for everyone.

Jan Christensen did a fantastic job of running the small group break-out sessions.  The groups came back energized with many excellent ideas that they are eager to follow-up on.

We put together two workgroups, one to create an urban agriculture policy and one to begin developing strategies for hydrant alternatives.  The former consists of solid players in this process, environmental lawyers, policy makers, community members, city representatives all wrapped up in meeting goodness.  The latter consists of one representative from each community garden and a city representative, David Sivyer.  The groups will reconvene on August 11th to begin the good work.

If you couldnt make it to the meeting, and you’d like to participate in this process, please shoot me an email and Ill hook you up with your group of preference.  If you are part of a community garden that wasnt represented tonight, please let me know about this as well.  We dont want any gardens being left out and unable to access water

In my opinion, ultimately, I believe that this is an opportunity for community gardens and urban agriculture to get ahead of the curve and become more sustainable, more productive, more successful.  However, I dont want to diminish, nor forget, that there are social justice factors at work here, that don’t sit right with me, or with many of the people at the meeting.  I can tell you this:  15.9% of the water produced by MWW is unaccounted for, unmetered water.  Though there are no statistics on how much of this is used for community gardens, I can assure you that this amount is minute, tiny, small, not much water, at all in fact, and I believe it is not only of poor taste for MWW and the City to make this decision before really looking into it, I do believe that in the end, this is a social justice concern.  We cannot let the community gardens that have gardeners who are of little means, go even one season without water.  We all know that community gardens make this city a better place.  We know that they promote a healthy, resilient city – the cost to anyone is minimal.  We are the ones that need to ensure this doesnt happen.

Im still not certain that we have come out in the open with the ‘real’ reason for this decision – frankly, Im convinced this has everything to do with privatization.  But, guess what, I dont care what the corporate minded, perpetual growth economic model, says about this situation.  I dont even care if MWW did in fact pick the lowest hanging fruit they could find to write community gardening out of the budget and save themselves a few thousand dollars a year as one person suggested to me.  Why dont I care? because I have a community of people surrounding me that are going to stop waiting for the government to have all the answers and all the capital.  Know what, we’ve got social capital, we’ve got hands, we’ve got skills, we know people, who know people, who know people, who have just the right skill, tools, intelligence, talents, charms, passion, anger, joy, and the wherewithal to create a local resilient food systems.  We’ve got all this at our disposal.  We just have to use it.

I think it is fair to say this is a momentous occasion for all of us.  Im confident that we are going to move forward towards a more sustainable food system.

Check ya later alligator ~g

Is this really about Fire Hydrants?

When I was asked by our local UW Extension to help plan a community meeting to respond to the recent notification that the City of Milwaukee would be cutting of Fire Hydrant use for Community Gardens, I wasnt convinced that we would have the political capital to adequately forge a path of solutions forward.  We werent getting any real information about why this was happening from the city.  The city representative who was sent to our committee had no real understanding of the issues from a technical or systematic approach.  But then …. the press got involved… front page of the Journal Sentinel, in addition to other publications and suddenly we’re in business.  This meeting will now be well attended with all the right people who can push forth a larger urban agriculture/water policy as well as a group for developing immediate strategies for water access alternatives.

Through this process a reporter asked me the ‘real reason’ that the hydrants were no longer being used.  This was/is my response from the perspective of the community organizer who puts all the pieces together.  However, Im not afraid to say it …. I did have to take pause, for a moment, to put down my metaphorical pitchfork and look at everything from the other side of the coin.  Please dont feel as if you are required to set down your pitchfork:

There is a a considerable amount of confusion about the
‘real reason’  behind Milwaukee’s plan to no longer allow fire hydrant
watering of community gardens, because, whenever we are dealing with a
large system, its never all that simple.

I believe it is valid to say all of the reasons that have been thrown
out there are factors – to the fire chief its about safety. Though, in
my limited research this is, statistically, a dead issue. Milwaukee
Water Works says its about metering water effectively as the urban
agriculture movement grows. For the City of Milwaukee – yes,
unfortunately it might simply come down to the budget, because we are
dancing a very fine budgetary line.

Some representatives from the City of Milwaukee truly understand
global and local water issues, energy and sustainability issues and
how these issues relate to urban agriculture and community gardens.
Fundamentally, they want to lead with an understanding of these
issues. Though, like the rest of us, they are straddling this
knowledge in a world based on the myth of perpetual economic growth.
Corporate domination of our economy keeps the budget a precarious
balancing act for even the most well-funded municipalities.

The City of Milwaukee is lead mostly by good people who want Milwaukee
to be a thriving metropolitan region. How to accomplish this is a
rapidly changing notion. We are very close to a time when slight
variations in fire response time will become an obsolete concern when
compared to food security. Growing food will be seen as the end goal,
rather then a means for participating in the economy. Corporate
control over our water supply will become, in the next few decades,
the most profound Human Rights issue that we will face as a city and a
species.

All of these major paradigmatic shifts are brought to the forefront of
the medias attention via the one seemingly small issue of fire hydrant
usage for community gardens. Government and citizen groups must come
together at an unprecedented level to effectively address the shift
that needs to be made. If the City of Milwaukee says its a budgetary
issue, then I believe it is. But these citizens gathering tomorrow
will not let the city forget the larger conversation of the human
condition that is not based solely on economic indicators.

This group of citizens is going to find solutions, with government’s
support, to secure water for community gardens. Based on the level of
heated response towards the city from gardeners about this issue, it
is pretty clear that, in spite of Mayor Tom Barretts very public
interest in community gardening—the people have little faith that the
City of Milwaukee is willing to ensure the success of community
gardens with clear action.

The role the city needs to take right now is one of partnership and
community building – to respond to it’s grassroots strength. Not from
a corporate economic growth model that ensures tightly metered water
for Milwaukee Water Works to offer the cheapest rates to
water-guzzling corporations. This is blatantly a short-sighted
response to a long-term planet. Community gardening offers an
alternative to this economic growth model.  Gardening makes
communities strong, resilient, vibrant, happy, sustainable, healthy,
dynamic, and peaceful.  The people gathering tomorrow need to be
empowered by the city to succeed.

In this moment, I am feeling quite hopeful that Mayor Barrett; our new
Director in the Office of Sustainability, Tim McCollow, also from the
Office of Sustainability; Alderman Nik Kovac; Alderwoman Milele Coggs;
Yves Lapier from the DCD; Carrie Lewis from Milwaukee Water Works;
Ghassan Korban from DPW; and many others who I’ve had personal contact
with and are foot soldiers towards creating a sustainable future, are
going to work with community gardeners to ensure that Milwaukee
remains on the forefront of creating sustainable, socially just,
resilient food systems.

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow night, if I am correct in all of this.
Please attend the community meeting at 6 p.m.,
Wednesday Independence First ~ 540 South 1st Street.

Our friend and compatriot Transition Milwaukee is hosting Power Down Week, beginning the Summer Solstice, June 21st.  The Victory Garden Initiative has several very interesting and engaging demonstrations and workshops happening throughout the week.  Below is the list of VGI sponsored events:

Kale Gate Party!

Thursday June 24th, 6pm at Concordia Gardens (T- Intersection of Palmer and Concordia).  Come join fellow Victory Gardeners for a celebration of the hardy, nutritious and delicious local food source – Kale.  Bring a dish to pass that includes Kale.  Bring us your favorite Kale Recipes.  Join the action-oriented, local, sustainable food community.

Friday, June 25th at 6pm at Concordia Gardens.  Learn to grow the miraculous, carnivorous, edible Oyster Mushroom in your very own backyard. A beloved white, leafy species of mushroom with the power to break down oil spills into simple carbons, the Oyster mushroom, high in protein, minerals and cholesterol-reducing statins can be easily grown on straw and other cellulosic materials (old phonebooks, toilet paper rolls, etc). Join us to set up a test bed and ask your burning fungi questions. Led by home-grower, Tina Samuels.

Saturday, June 26th at 10 am until 12pm at Concordia Gardens. Container gardening for kids – kids will get to prepare their own soil mix especially for container gardening. Please bring a creative container to fill. Some plants will be provided to start your container. (all ages are welcome).  Led by our own Master Gardener, Vala Mohr.

Saturday June 26th from 10am until 12ish at The Roof Top Farm. Solar Convection Dehydrator Workshop led Erik Lindberg of Community Building and Restoration and Nikolai Usack of Pragmatic Construction.  We will construct a dehydrator that members of the VGI will be able to utilize for home food preservation.  Suggested $20 donation, but free or cheap is always available. Contact gretchenmead@gmail.com to RSVP – spots will fill quickly for this one!

Saturday June 26th at Concordia Gardens 12:00-2:00 pm Powered-down fertilizer for the garden – for adults only. Humanure and “liquid gold” methods for fertilizing vegetable gardens will be discussed. Learn how to make a simple humanure toilet from an old chair and a 5 gallon pail. Create your own safe and convenient urine collection system for in home use.  Led by our own Master Gardener, Vala Mohr.

Saturday June 26th at 3pm. Meet at Gordon Park with other Victory Gardeners to forage for food right here in the urban Milwaukee setting. What foods could be less energy intensive than those pick and eaten right here in our own natural, urban settings. Led by Jackie McGraw, one of our knowledgeable, but admittedly still learning gardening/foraging mentors.

Join us for an hour or a week.   Fomenting the Good Food Revolution!

Angelica
Depending on the variety, flowers range from pale lavender-blue to deep rose and have a licorice-like flavor.

Anise Hyssop
Both flowers and leaves have a subtle anise or licorice flavor.

Arugula
Blossoms are small with dark centers and with a peppery flavor much like the leaves. They range in color from white to yellow with dark purple streaks.

Bachelor’s Button
Grassy in flavor, the petals are edible but avoid the bitter calyx.

Basil
Blossoms come in a variety of colors, from white to pink to lavender; flavor is similar to the leaves, but milder.

Bee Balm
The red flowers have a minty flavor.

Borage
Blossoms are a lovely blue hue and taste like cucumber!

Calendula / Marigold
A great flower for eating, calendula blossoms are peppery, tangy, and spicy–and their vibrant golden color adds dash to any dish.

Carnations / Dianthus
Petals are sweet, once trimmed away from the base. The blossoms taste like their sweet, perfumed aroma.

Chamomile
Small and daisylike, the flowers have a sweet flavor and are often used in tea. Ragweed sufferers may be allergic to chamomile.

Chervil
Delicate blossoms and flavor, which is anise-tinged.

Chicory
Mildly bitter earthiness of chicory is evident in the petals and buds, which can be pickled.

Chrysanthemum
A little bitter, mums come in a rainbow of colors and a range of flavors range from peppery to pungent. Use only the petals.

Cilantro
Like the leaves, people either love the blossoms or hate them. The flowers share the grassy flavor of the herb. Use them fresh as they lose their charm when heated.

Citrus (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, kumquat)
Citrus blossoms are sweet and highly-scented. Use frugally or they will over-perfume a dish.

Clover
Flowers are sweet with a hint of licorice.

Dandelion
Read a whole post about dandelions here: Eating and Harvesting Dandelions. (I am nuts about dandelions.)

Dill
Yellow dill flowers taste much like the herb’s leaves.

English Daisy
These aren’t the best-tasting petals–they are somewhat bitter, but they look great!

Fennel
Yellow fennel flowers are eye candy with a subtle licorice flavor, much like the herb itself.

Fuchsia
Tangy fuchsia flowers make a beautiful garnish.

Gladiolus
Who knew? Although gladioli are bland, they can be stuffed, or their petals removed for an interesting salad garnish.

Hibiscus
Famously used in hibiscus tea, the vibrant cranberry flavor is tart and can be used sparingly.

Hollyhock
Bland and vegetal in flavor, hollyhock blossoms make a showy, edible garnish.

Impatiens
Flowers don’t have much flavor–best as a pretty garnish or for candying.

Jasmine
These super-fragrant blooms are used in tea; you can also use them in sweet dishes, but sparingly.

Johnny-Jump-Up
Adorable and delicious, the flowers have a subtle mint flavor great for salads, pastas, fruit dishes, and drinks.

Lavender
Sweet, spicy, and perfumed, the flowers are a great addition to both savory and sweet dishes.

Lemon Verbena
The diminutive off-white blossoms are redolent of lemon–and great for teas and desserts.

Lilac
The blooms are pungent, but the floral citrusy aroma translates to its flavor as well.

Mint
The flowers are–surprise!–minty. Their intensity varies among varieties.

Nasturtium
One of the most popular edible flowers, nasturtium blossoms are brilliantly colored with a sweet, floral flavor bursting with a spicy pepper finish. When the flowers go to seed, the seed pod is a marvel of sweet and spicy. You can stuff flowers, add leaves to salads, pickle buds like capers, and garnish to your heart’s content.

Oregano
The flowers are a pretty, subtle version of the leaf.

Pansy
The petals are somewhat nondescript, but if you eat the whole flower you get more taste.

Radish
Varying in color, radish flowers have a distinctive, peppery bite.

Rose
Remove the white, bitter base and the remaining petals have a strongly perfumed flavor perfect for floating in drinks or scattering across desserts, and for a variety of jams. All roses are edible, with flavor more pronounced in darker varieties.

Rosemary
Flowers taste like a milder version of the herb; nice used as a garnish on dishes that incorporate rosemary.

Sage
Blossoms have a subtle flavor similar to the leaves.

Squash and Pumpkin
Blossoms from both are wonderful vehicles for stuffing, each having a slight squash flavor. Remove stamens before using.

Sunflower
Petals can be eaten, the bud steamed like an artichoke.

Violets
Another famous edible flower, violets are floral, sweet, and beautiful as garnishes. Use the flowers in salads and to garnish desserts and drinks.

Melissa also had some other tips about eating flowers fresh from the garden that are definitely worth remembering:

1) Eat flowers you know to be consumable–if you are uncertain, consult a reference book on edible flowers and plants.

2) Eat flowers you have grown yourself, or know to be safe for consumption. Flowers from the florist or nursery have probably been treated with pesticide or other chemicals.

3) Do not eat roadside flowers or those picked in public parks. Both may have been treated with pesticide or herbicide, and roadside flowers may be polluted by car exhaust

4) Eat just the petals, and remove pistils and stamens before eating.

5) If you suffer from allergies, introduce edible flowers gradually, as they may exacerbate allergies.

6) To keep flowers fresh, place them on moist paper towels and refrigerate in an airtight container. Some will last up to 10 days this way. Ice water can revitalize limp flowers.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/42-flowers-you-can-eat.html

May 29th, 8:00 am.

Come to the Urban Ecology Center – Riverside – at 8:00 am to launch the day.  Or call the UEC to catch-up with us later.

What is the Blitz?

The Blitz is a one day event, put on by The Victory Garden Initiative and Transition Milwaukee (transitionmilwaukee.com) aimed at installing as many new food-producing gardens as possible throughout the Milwaukee area.  We rally volunteers and new and experienced gardeners and focus their energies on the radical transformation of our food system through gardening, for one exciting day, from sun-up to sun-down.  When the day is done, and the gardens are ready to be planted … we celebrate.  Following the Blitz, we CELEBRATE …. Drumming circle and band, potluck, libations, and a growing community of folks who are dedicated to food systems change through growing your own, come together to celebrate and affirm the creation of a new way of being in community with others.   Highlights for this years’ Blitz include a the installation of the gardens of our two FREE GARDEN GIVE AWAY RAFFLE.  Congratulations to the winner or the residential garden, Caroline Gasser; and the winner of the Institutional Garden, Grand Avenue Club!

SIGN UP HERE TO GET INVOLVED!!

When is the Blitz?

The 2nd Annual Great Milwaukee Victory Garden Blitz will be held on May 29th, from sun-up until sun-down.  Following the Blitz, a party/potluck/drumming will be held at an undecided location from 8-12.  All are welcome.  Bring a drum for a drumming circle, a dish to pass, and your choice of beverage.

Where is the Blitz?

The Blitz will occur all over the greater Milwaukee area, from Shorewood to Cudahy, from Bayview to Riverwest, the Eastside to Tosa to Silver Spring and back again… everyone is encouraged to jump right in.   The gardens will be installed in your yard, in your neighbors yards, in the yard of a nearby school, church or other organization. Our volunteers (that’s you!!) will spend the day supporting this important cause by putting in gardens all over the city!  Come to the Urban Ecology Center, Riverside at 8:00 am to launch the day with us. (or call to the UEC anytime, all day, to join in the fun!  Find a team to join and install gardens all day, until we are ready for the Post Blitz Party!

How do we GET INVOLVED?

There are many, many ways to get involved.

1) Sign up to win a FREE GARDEN! The Winners were announced at our May Day Garden Installation work day party!  Congratulations to the Grand Avenue Club and Caroline Gasser!  But, we have materials to give gardens for those in need.

2) VOLUNTEER on Blitz Day!  Sign up using this form.  Contact our volunteer coordinator, Kira at volunteer@victorygardeninitiative.org

3) Didnt win the free garden, but still want one? For a donation of your choosing, our Blitz Day Volunteers will come to your house and install your 4X8 foot raised bed gardens.  The proceeds from these gardens will be turned into more gardens around Milwaukee …. we want to remove all barriers to growing food!  We are here to help you get started, just ASK!  For $50 to $100 we can install your garden!  This is a one day Blitz offer (the real price of a garden is closer to $200-$300)

4)  Put together a team of people to put in gardens on Blitz Day.  Contact our volunteer coordinator, Kira at volunteer@victorygardeninitiative.org.

5)  Start your own Blitz in your neighborhood.  Gather your friends and help each other put in gardens all day.

6) Log-In to our Victory Garden Google Map and add your Victory Garden to this powerful movement…. together, we are creating a local, sustainable, nutritious food system that empowers and builds our communtities.

7) Donate to our cause.  Every bit of money we raise goes towards putting in more gardens and helping others grow more food.  We accept donations, sell Victory Garden Initiative merchandise and sell our gardening services.  Check out a complete list of ways to help on our on-line store at www.thevictorygardeninitiative.com.  (Our store is under construction.  Thanks for your patience.)

8)  Live in an apartment??  Our Slow Food Team is specializing in container gardening on Blitz Day.  Have a patio?  Have a deck?  Lets get some tomato plants started for you.  How about some lettuce?  Urban agriculture will take on new and creative forms.  This is how we will localize our food system!  Contact Kathy at kathy.localicious@gmail.com.

One conversation is happening here among a dedicated group of “food activists” working tirelessly to change the system. The other conversation is happening on Hulu.com among the lay public, where well over a thousand comments (in two days!) have generated heated discussions between multi-generations. Most certainly, other conversations are happening nationally, some of which have been pointed out in recent posts. May I suggest, as one strategy, that we also express our voice among the public discussions, as on Hulu. I think people would be very receptive for guidance and supportive information to advance their concern.

Both conversations, however, have something in common: the Story of Food.

I enjoy the stories told among Hulu commentators; they are visceral, direct and authentic. We “food activists” pride ourselves in striving to write a New Story of Food from a systems point of view. However, we all got here for a reason, but I am clueless what reallybrought each of my peers into the Food Revolution. We often share our vocational passion and leave out our personal food story. My food story began as a child in an impoverished family who for years regularly ate a dinner of cracked walnuts or mashed potatoes with a glass of water or bread chunks stuffed in a glass of milk. Try it, it makes you feel full. I became a vegetarian in college after reading Francis Moore Lappe’s Diet for a Small Planet. But for a few years afterwards I had cravings for meat, only gradually relieved (with great will!) by sitting outdoors beneath the fried meat-enriched exhaust fan of a MacDonalds just down the street. I soon became a gardener.

After being forced out in the late 1970s as a too radical professor at the University of Oregon, I began tackling food issues with some of the bravado I admire in Jamie Oliver. I started a restaurant to serve healthy food and fresh smoothies. I created the first food pushcarts in Eugene and helped formulate pushcart standards. I marched into local markets and convinced retailers to also put fruits at the check-out just to give people a healthy impulse-buying option alongside candy and gum. I marched into buffets and cafeterias and convinced them to have bowls of fresh fruit as a lunch or dinner entree. I convinced a few vending machine owners to place fruit in the machine. My wife and I built 100 square foot organic raised beds for hundreds of poor families, elderly, abused and alter-abled in our Lane County, and our volunteers taught them how to garden without failure. We wrote succinct, state-of-the art food gardening and composting guides that the lay person could understand and follow, step-by-step.

Today, those two guides have been distributed to over a million households throughout North America. I believe education is the greatest act of goodwill we can offer. To be informed, not misinformed, is to empower choice. We then move from being a consumer of food to a prosumer. The media, and its media heroes, are effective in their way. We cannot throw out the “media baby” with the wash, however we applaud or disdain its use or effectiveness. Neither can we mute the voice of the people, an abused Earth, or an abused animal. And we cannot ever censor our voice as dedicated change agents. I believe a Food Revolution belongs to no one person. It is made up of many individual food revolutions, each a unique Food Story. And each of these individual revolutions begins with a revelation. This personal food revelation and revolution starts as a seed of consciousness that we plant, steward, sustain and harvest in our commitment to better health and wellness, to a better spirit and faith, to a better stewardship of Earth. Whether the conversations Jamie Oliver evokes is among food activists, politicians, community leaders, parents, children, religious leaders, whomever — we should always ask: Does the cause drive us, or do we drive the cause? From my personal food story, it is both. But the revolution started within me from insight, curiosity, knowledge, personal health issues, whatever. When a revolution is afoot, every voice is important and respects to be heard.

C. Forrest McDowell, PhD

Cortesia Sanctuary & Center

Cortesia Press peace@onesanctuary.com

Our websites:  www.onesanctuary.com

www.homecompostingmadeeasy.com

I’m preparing to sheet mulch (a form of “composting in place”) a large area and wondered whether I could substitute coffee grounds for manure for some of the layers. (I’m using Toby Hemenway’s sheet mulching instructions from the book Gaia’s Garden.) My conclusion is that yes, coffee grounds make a suitable substitute for manure, though of course some amt of manure is really ideal in any compost. Anyway, I thought some of you might also be interested in this info about using coffee grounds in compost.

About 2 percent nitrogen by volume, used coffee grounds can be a safe substitute for nitrogen-rich manure in the compost pile.

Contrary to popular belief, coffee grounds are not acidic. After brewing, the grounds are close to pH neutral, between 6.5 and 6.8. The acid in the beans is mostly water-soluble, so it leaches into the coffee we drink.

Keep in mind that uncomposted coffee grounds are NOT a nitrogen fertilizer. Coffee grounds have a carbon-to-nitrogen ration of about 20 to 1, in the same range as animal manure. Germination tests in Eugene showed that uncomposted coffee grounds, added to soil as about one-fourth the volume, showed poor germination and stunted growth in lettuce seed. Therefore, they need to be composted before using near plants.

Wise and her composting protégés have been conducting informal research on composting coffee grounds. So far, they have observed that coffee grounds help to sustain high temperatures in compost piles. High temperatures reduce potentially dangerous pathogens and kill seeds from weeds and vegetables that were added to the piles. They have noticed that coffee grounds seem to improve soil structure, plus attract earthworms.

When coffee grounds made up 25 percent of the volume of their compost piles, temperatures in the piles stayed between 135 degrees and 155 degrees for at least two weeks, enough time to have killed a “significant portion” of the pathogens and seeds. In contrast, the manure in the trials didn’t sustain the heat as long.

Pasted from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080707171641.htm.

More Tips:

• Anecdotal evidence suggests that worms are very attracted to them so you can feel free to use them in vermiposting (worm bin) situations if you desire.
• It is also widely held that placing coffee grounds under acid loving plants is beneficial. But as the evidence has shown, this may just be a myth since the spent grounds are neutral. You can do it or not as you wish. At best it is a good soil conditioner and will feed the worm population. If you do place grounds in this way be sure to incorporate them well into the soil.
• The amount of grounds you would want to add to a compost pile is dependent on how many you may have available to you. If you were just using the amount that an average household might generate you should have no concerns. But some of you may have access to larger volumes and in that case you should limit the percentage to no more than 25% of the volume of the pile.
• There are many sources for grounds. Place a can by the office coffee machine and collect those. If you make a daily stop at a diner or donut shop for your morning fix they may save their grounds for you if you leave them an empty container of some sort. You can get a simple 5 gal bucket with a lid for very little or even free in some cases. Get two and just swap them out daily.The paper filters are also easily digested by decomposer organisms so you needn’t bother to remove them.
• A favorite location for gathering large amounts of grounds is Starbucks. They have a corporate policy of trying to reduce waste and will, at most locations, provide grounds for the asking. You may need to gently “remind” the staff of the policy but usually they will be glad to comply. You can go to the Starbucks website and find a page of info on this policy that you can take with you to help.
• Another option is to just grab the bags from their dumpster.* The grounds are generally segregated from other trash in dedicated containers under the brewing machines and will be, by far, the heaviest bags you will come across.

Pasted from http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/soil/2002015354019975.html.

Happy Composting!

Nicole