Reclaiming Domestic Skills at #PASA2012

In this week’s e-News, we highlighted the wealth of pre-conference tracks and main conference workshops that ask the question, “How do we best reclaim the skills of domesticity?” See below for a full list of workshops.

(If this is a question you often find yourself asking, you’ll want to learn more about PASA’s new “Sustainability Schools” initiative. Click here for more information.)

We also asked what domestic skills you find valuable, and we wondered how you would describe the joy you find in putting those skills into practice. Let us know in the comments section!

Workshops: Friday, February 3

GFN Series: Taking Back the Means of Beekeeping – An Introduction to Natural Beekeeping
Sam Comfort, Anarchy Apiaries

The Basics of Raising Healthy Chicks
Don Brubaker, The Fertrell Company

GFN Series: Cancer, Nutrition & Healing
Jerry Brunetti, Agri-Dynamics Inc

GFN Series: Harvesting, Preparing & Preserving Wild Edibles & Medicinals
Grace Lefever, Sonnewald Natural Foods
Faye Burtch, Burtch Body Work & Movement

GFN Series: Radical Homemakers
Shannon Hayes, PASA-bilities Plenary Main Speaker

Mushroom Cultivation for the Home & for Small Local Markets
Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

GFN Series: Baking with Heritage Grains
Mary-Howell Martens, Lakeview Organic Grain

Workshops: Saturday, February 4

GFN Series: The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: Holistic Poultry Husbandry for the Productive, Integrated Homestead
Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

GFN Series: Small-Scale Seed Saving for the Home & Farm
Tim Mountz, Happy Cat Farm

GFN Series: How to Salt & Dry Your Favorite Meats at Home the (Mostly) Traditional Way
Brooks Miller, North Mountain Pastures

Chickens in the Garden: Using a Garden Flock for Tillage, Insect Control & Making Compost
Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

GFN Series: Gardening Like the Forest, Part 1: Home-Scale Ecological Food Production
Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

GFN Series: Home Orchard Basics, Part 1
Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

GFN Series: Gardening Like the Forest, Part 2: The Ecology of Healthy Food Production Social Structure
Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

GFN Series: Home Orchard Basics, Part 2
Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

GFN Series: The Marvelous Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania
Bill Russell, BRMushrooms.com

Will your food quest lead you to #PASA2012?

In this week’s e-News message, we asked if you are on a food quest. Do you dream of growing the perfect tomato? Is there a dish you strive to make taste just like your mother’s or father’s? Let us know in the comments section!

If your food quest involves dairy, like mine, you’ll be interested in the following list of workshops on value-added dairy and cheesemaking at the upcoming conference. (Click here to see a full list of conference workshops.)

Workshops: Friday, February 3, 2012

Value-Added Dairy Series: Bottling Milk
Clare Seibert, Clear Spring Creamery

Raw or Pasteurized? Equipment, Regulations & Production Techniques
Roman Stoltzfoos, Spring Wood Farm
additional speakers TBD

Value-Added Dairy Series: Farmstead Ice Cream
Tom & Donna Perry, Perrydell Family Farm

Value-Added Dairy Series: Affinage: The Practical Art of Aging Cheese
Peter Dixon, Dairy Foods Consulting

Workshops: Saturday, February 4, 2012

Value-Added Dairy Series: Cheese Aging Caves, Rooms & Cellars
Peter Dixon, Dairy Foods Consulting

Value-Added Dairy Series: Farmstead Yogurt
Clare Seibert, Clear Spring Creamery

Marketing Farmstead Cheeses: Perspectives from Philadelphia to DC
Melanie Dietrich Cochran, Keswick Creamery
Susan Miller, Birchrun Hills Farm

The Silent Auction Will Sing at #PASA2012!

We are gearing up for the 10th Auction for PASA and generous friends and members have come through once again. Deans Hall will be filled with amazing donations to make the 2012 Auction really sing! Really!

Our Silent Auction will feature three beautiful musical instruments including a dulcimer, Celtic harp, and a Little Martin guitar.

The dulcimer and the harp were crafted by one of our own PASA members. They are truly beautiful! The Martin LX Realtree® Special Edition was donated C.F. Martin & Company in Nazareth, PA. It boasts the signature of Chris Martin IV, current CEO of the company and great-great-grandson of the company’s founder. That’s right–this company has been operating in Pennsylvania since 1839!

See these beautiful instruments below:

We will preview as many items as we can in the coming weeks. Feel free to share the previews with friends who might be interested. Although bids must be placed at the conference, you may appoint a proxy to bid in your stead. Email our Auction Associate, Jean Najjar, at jean@pasafarming.org for more details.

Live Auction to Feature Chef Dinners

The conference Live Auction is cooking up a delicious collection of five fabulous Chef Dinners. Each of these unique dining experiences features one or more professional chefs who are passionate about farm-fresh food and culinary excellence. Several of the chefs are partnering with PASA member farms for ingredients and venue. And one of the chefs is the farmer!

These amazing farm-to-fork experiences are valued upwards of $600. So gather your favorite dinner companions now to pool your bidding power and win one of these one-of a-kind dining experiences. Take a moment to peruse these delicious farm-to-fork experiences by clicking here.

Bobolinks and the Triple Bottom Line at #PASA2012

Hi folks,

In this week’s e-News, I implored fellow birders to leave comments here on the updates page. What kinds of birds do you see on your farm? What species do you get excited about? Let us know!

I got to thinking about birds as an indicator of land health after talking with Susan Beal, PASA’s resident DVM, about holistic management. We’re offering a two-day pre-conference track called Planning & Ensuring Your Financial Success Using Holistic Management™ that promises to be extremely valuable to all who are looking to articulate a triple bottom line of social, environmental, and financial sustainability. I’ll be posting more about that within the next few days. Stay tuned!

Planting Seeds at #PASA2012

In this week’s e-News message, I wondered how you’re thinking about seeds at this time of year. Will start seeds indoors?  Do you have seeds you saved from last season? What are your favorite varieties? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

For those of you who are interested in gardening as part of a thriving homestead, be sure to check out the pre-conference track with Harvey Ussery (TheModernHomestead.us) and Kate Hunter (Living the Frugal Life). These two homesteaders are passionate about aligning their efforts to produce food with the natural systems that sustain them. They’ll spend a day discussing strategies for increasing fertility, maximizing harvests, and striking an ecological balance on the homestead.

The 2012 conference also offers a slew of workshops about home-scale food production and seed saving. See the list below.

A big thanks to all of the seed suppliers who sponsor the Farming for the Future Conference:  Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, King’s AgriSeeds Inc, Seed Savers Exchange, Seedway LLC, Tait Farm Foods, Harris Seeds and High Mowing Organic Seeds. Stop by their booths at the conference!

Pre-Conference Track: Maximizing Food Production on the Integrated Ecologically Balanced Homestead (Thursday, February 2, 2012)

Workshops: Friday, February 3, 2012

GFN Series: Harvesting, Preparing & Preserving Wild Edibles & Medicinals with Grace Lefever, Sonnewald Natural Foods Store & Faye Burtch, Burtch Body Work & Movement

Mushroom Cultivation for the Home & for Small Local Markets with Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

GFN Series: Radical Homemakers with Shannon Hayes, PASA-bilities Plenary Main Speaker

GFN Series: Baking with Heritage Grains with Mary-Howell Martens, Lakeview Organic Grain

Trash to Treasure: Bioconversion of Organic “Wastes” to Resource with Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

GFN Series: Cancer, Nutrition & Healing with Jerry Brunetti, Agri-Dynamics Inc

GFN Series: Taking Back the Means of Beekeeping – An Introduction to Natural Beekeeping with Sam Comfort, Anarchy Apiaries

Workshops: Saturday, February 4, 2012

GFN Series: Home Orchard Basics, Part 1 with Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

GFN Series: Home Orchard Basics, Part 2 with Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

GFN Series: How to Salt & Dry Your Favorite Meats at Home the (Mostly) Traditional Way with Brooks Miller, North Mountain Pastures

Gardening Like the Forest, Part 1: Home-Scale Ecological Food Production with Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

Chickens in the Garden: Using a Garden Flock for Tillage, Insect Control & Making Compost with Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

Advanced Seed Saving for Added Farm Profit with Tim Mountz, Happy Cat Farm

Grow Food Where You Live: Micro-Farms & How They Work with Tania Slawecki, Neo Terra; Chris Uhl, Penn Sate University; Warren Leitzel, Ecosophy Farm; Thom Marti, Broad Valley Orchard

GFN Series: The Marvelous Wild Mushrooms of Pennsylvania with Bill Russell, BRMushrooms.com

GFN Series: The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: Holistic Poultry Husbandry for the Productive, Integrated Homestead with Harvey Ussery, TheModernHomestead.us

GFN Series: Small-Scale Seed Saving for the Home & Farm with Tim Mountz, Happy Cat Farm

A full list of conference workshops can be viewed by clicking here.

What’s Your Language of Permanence? Permaculture & Orcharding at #PASA2012

In this week’s e-News message, I asked what a “language of permanence” sounds like to you. Be sure to let us know in the comments section below!

The speakers listed in this post are developing their own ways of talking about living and growing food sustainably. You can learn more by reading their published work. Check out Dave Jacke’s Edible Forest Gardens and Darrell Frey’s Bioshelter Market Garden: A Permaculture Farm for more information about the design science of permaculture. Michael Phillips’ The Apple Grower and The Holistic Orchard offer a wealth of knowledge about holistic orcharding.

Pre-Conference Track: Introduction to Permaculture Principles & Concepts (Wednesday, February 1, 2012)

Pre-Conference Track: Applying Permaculture Design to Urban & Rural Landscapes (Thursday, February 2, 2012)

Pre-Conference Track: Advanced Orchard Health for Sustainable Fruit Production (Thursday, February 2, 2012)

Workshops: Friday, February 3, 2012

Going Underground: Mycotechnology to Regenerate the Land, Improve Ecosystem Health & Increase Productivity with Melissa Miles, Permanent Future Institute & Eastern PA Permaculture Guild

The Art of Grafting Fruit Trees with Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

Forest Succession & Its Lessons for Ecological Design with Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

Soil Ecology & Self-Renewing Fertility with Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

Top 10 Pest Problems in Berry Crops with Kathy Demchak, Penn State University

Workshops: Saturday, February 4, 2012

Gardening Like the Forest, Part 1: Home-Scale Ecological Food Production with Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

Gardening Like the Forest, Part 2: The  Ecology of Healthy Food Production Social Structure with Dave Jacke, Dynamics Ecological Design

Creating an Urban Food Forest with Juliette Jones, Pittsburgh Permaculture & Phil Forsyth, Philadelphia Orchard Project

Designing a Sustainable Fruit Production System on Your Diversified Farm with Lou Lego, Elderberry Pond Farm

GFN Series: Home Orchard Basics, Part 1 with Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

GFN Series: Home Orchard Basics, Part 2 with Michael Phillips, Lost Nation Orchard

Incorporating Pollinator Habitat into Orchards & Farms with Jolie Goldenetz-Dollar, Xerces Society & Dave Biddinger, Penn State University

A full list of conference workshops can be viewed by clicking here.