Spring Workshops in New Vrindaban and Wheeling
New Vrindaban Food Independence Workshops
Spring 2013 Schedule of Events
*Ten workshops free and open to the public to explore the realm of self-sufficient living
-Saturday’s workshops are held at sites in Wheeling, beginning at 12:00 noon.
-Sunday’s workshops are conducted in New Vrindaban, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
For information contact The Small Farm Training Center. Email:info@farmeduction.org
Workshop Detailed Descriptions Below:
The Teaching Garden in New Vridaban
Raised Beds, Cold Frames and Square Food Gardening Basics
Date &Time: Saturday, May 18th , 12:00 noon
Where: Wheeling Island Garden Hub. Behind Madison School on Maryland St. (adjoining the Island Rats Community Garden)
Presenter: Robert Martin, Green Wheeling Initiative
Contact info: Email: ompottery108@ gmail.com
Workshop description: Turning a small space into a viable garden with optimal production, requires raised beds, easy-to-build cold frames and square foot gardening techniques. Robert Martin’s talk is full of pracrtical “show ‘n’ tell” advice. He’s designed and built raised bed gardens on several elementary and pre-school playgrounds in Ohio and Marshall Counties. His 2012 workshop attracted over 40 attendees who marveled at seeing tomato and basil plants growing out of hay bales used as cold frames. Robert is also a skilled composter and will answer questions regarding alternative composting techniques, where to locate a composting station and where or not to use an open bin.
Food Independence: The Early Early, Really Early Garden
Date & Time: Sunday, May 19th, 3:00 P.M.
Where: Small Farm Training Center, 3759 McCreary’s Ridge Rd, Moundsville, WV 26041. New Vrindaban Community, Marshall Co., WV.
Contact info: Email: info@farmeducation.org
Presenter: Terry Sheldon, Small Farm Training Center
Contact info: Email: info@farmeducation.org
Workshop description: Direct seeding peas, lettuce, spinach radish, mustard chard, fava beans, beets etc as early as March 1st? Impossible! Terry Sheldon, Director of the Small Farm Training Center, has done it for years. If you really want to break away from dependency on those expensive chemical veggies from California, here’s the workshop that demonstrates the materials, tools and tips that lead to and early and continuous harvest. Seeing is believing.
‘No Till’ Gardens: A Fit for City and Suburban Plots
Date & Time: Saturday, May 25th , 12:00 noon
Where: The 18th St. Overpass Garden, corner of Wood St. and 18th St. under the elevated highway in East Wheeling.
Presenter: Danny Swan, East Wheeling Community Gardens.
Contact info: Email: dannyswaninchina@ aol.com
Workshop description: Starting a city or suburban garden plot on poor soils is remedied by learning a few simple ‘no till’ perma-culture principles. “No till” garden sites in East Wheeling have produced thousands of pounds of organic produce without back breaking tillage—even on abandoned urban lots with virtually no topsoil. Danny Swan, co-founder of the Green Wheeling Initiative, explains the methods, tools and strategies behind “no dig” gardening. Learn how to convert garden problems into opportunities
Local Plant Identification and Making Potent Herbal Medicines
Date & Time: Sunday, May 26th, 3:00 P.M.
Where: Small Farm Training Center, 3759 McCreary’s Ridge Road, Moundsville, WV 26041, New Vrindaban Community, Marshall Co., WV.
Presenter: Dr. Nick Tsacrios
Workshop description: Eighty percent (80%) of the most valued medicinal herbs that inhabit the continental United States are found in the Northern Panhandle of
West Virginia. This is due to the region’s rugged terrain, a unique topography which
gives rise to a diversity of micro-climates. Hike the fields, woodlots and meadows with herbalist Nick Tsacrios, an MD graduate of the University of Florida. Nick has twenty years of experience applying the use or medicinal herbs in rural West Virginia. He presents a compelling case for the use of local medicines, their traditional uses and how to make tinctures, salves and tonics from wild crafted plants.
Compost Heaven: Transforming Bio-Waste into Black Gold
Date & Time: Saturday, June 1st, 12:00 noon.
Where: The 18th St. Overpass Garden, corner of Wood St. and 18th St. under the elevated highway in East Wheeling.
Presenters: Gary Perigo and Danny Swan
Contact info: Email: perigo449@comcast.net
Workshop Description: What we normally think of as waste—food scraps, discarded paper, yard waste etc—is the building block of healthy soil. Every garden site, big or small, needs a composting area to create a closed loop, no outside input nutrient stream. Gary Perigo, Marshall Co. Extension Master Gardener, and Danny Swam team up to take the mystery out of what to do with all that bio-mass “stuff.” They demonstrate various composting strategies—including vermiculture—for novices and veteran recyclers alike. Composting doesn’t have to be a smelly pile of rotting matter when you know how to transform it and nutrient dense black gold.
Cows Are Cool
Date & Time: Sunday, June 2nd. 3:00 P.M.
Where: Small Farm Training Center, Temple Dairy Barn, 3759 McCreary’s Ridge Rd, Moundsville, WV, 2604,New Vrindaban Community.
Presenter: George Connor
Workshop description: Not so long ago, Ohio and Marshall Co.’s were dotted with hundreds of independent family run dairy farms. Local dairy farming has since been replaced by a beef cattle monoculture. Is there a future for dairy? Why are cows integral to sustainability? Hear why cows are unique amongst domesticated farm animals. It may look like mother cow doesn’t have a care in the world, but there’s a lot more going on behind those big brown eyes. Visit a functioning diary barn and meet the cow herdsmen (and women) who milk, feed, groom and raise these gentle ladies. Taste fresh (pasteurized) cows milk and see a demonstration on how to make quick curd (cottage cheese).
Starting A Community Garden from Scratch
Date & Time: Saturday, June 8th, 12:00 noon
Where: Pulaski Community Garden site, Jacob St. across from Pulaski Park in South Wheeling.
Presenters: Connie Hoge, Brother John, Ginger Kabala and Marty Wach
Contact info: Email: choge4@yahoo.com
Workshop description: Meet some of the core members of the Green Wheeling Initiative as they showcase the Pulaski Community Garden project in South Wheeling. This is a real success story about a team of South Wheeling residents from the South Wheeling Preservation Alliance. With the guidance of veteran gardener Marty Wach, they’ve created a gardening gem worth touring. Here’s practical advice on how to take a weed infested private lot and turn it into a cooperatively run productive growing site. Hear about their trials, tribulations and victories and how they’re marketing fresh produce at Center Market.
Using Plastic Ground Covers in Gardens: The Pros and Cons:
Date &Time: Sunday, June 9th, 3:00 P.M.
Where: The Small Farm Training Center, 3759 McCreary’s Ridge Rd, Moundsville, WV 26041. New Vrindaban Community, Marshall Co., WV.
Presenter: Terry Sheldon
Contact info: Email: info@farmeducation.org.
Workshop description: This is a highly instructive workshop for seeing the benefits of using woven plastic ground covers and translucent insect barriers on small and large scale growing sites. When properly installed, ground covers cut weeding chores to almost nil Floating row cover thwarts insects and stymie ground hog invasions. What’s the difference between opaque plastic cover and woven ground cover? How do you anchor it down? How long does it last? How do you cut holes for vegetable transplants without ruining the fabric? Take a walking tour and observe how ground covers are being effectively used in the ½ acre Teaching Garden and the 6.5 acre mini-farm called the Garden of Seven Gates.
Growing and Protecting Vegetables When the Weather Turns Crazy
Date & Time: Saturday, June 15th, 12:00 noon.
Where: Wheeling Island Garden Hub. Behind Madison School on Maryland St. (adjoining the Island Rats Community Garden).
Presenter: Andy Reed
Contact info: Email: a1reed@sbcglobal.net
Workshop description: As weather patterns become more unpredictable, knowing how to protect your food supply is becoming critically important. Andy Reed, the owner operator of Apogee Botanical Gardens, grows a wide variety of perennial and annual fruits, brambles and vegetables on a steep hillside in Brigdeport, Ohio. He discusses and displays his experience in season extension to devise winning strategies for plant protection from the elements. Attendees are welcome to visit Andy’s botanical growing site after the workshop ends.
Comfrey: Miracle Herb for Healing, Nutrition and Farming
Date & Time: Sunday, June 16th, 3:00 P.M.
Where: The Small Farm Training Center, 3759 McCreary’s Ridge Rd, Moundsville, WV 26041. New Vrindaban Community, Marshall Co., WV.
Presenter, Nick Tsacrios Master Herbalist, physician and
Contact info: (304) 845-7239
Workshop description: Back by popular demand from the 2012 workshop series is the seminar on how to utilize the roots and leaves of comfrey—aka “knit bone.” Comfrey is a key component to nutrition, healing and farming practice, and is the only land plant containing Vitamin B-12. Comfrey’s ability to heal fractures, wounds and broken bones is universally recognized. An easy to propagate perennial, comfrey salve is a must for every medicine cabinet. Nick walks us through the methods and materials needed to harvest, dry, formulate and use this gift of nature.
