Program
Schedule | Tracks | Presenters | Pre/Post Conferences | Partner Events | Special EventsEarth Magic
Location: Harlequin Gardens, Map
Bees for fun and profit Julie Finlay is Garden Manager with the Cultiva Youth Project and she runs the Beekeeping Project. She has ten years of experience with bees and she says, “Beekeeping offers a glimpse into a beautiful example of cooperation, organization, and the harvest of sunlight.” It is magical, both how honey is made and how humans and bees can have a mutually beneficial relationship.
Julie will be discussing a Top Bar Hive which was derived from the Kenya Top Bar Hive design. Top Bar beekeeping offers a less restrictive wax construction than a conventional hive. It doesn't require a large capital investment and is easy to construct, making it a sustainable option. Weather permitting, Julie will open the box of a working bee hive to view the construction.
"Home Grown Fertilizer" There has been a lot of talk recently about compost tea and its benefits. Roland Evans will demonstrate one method called Alaska Bountea. This system cultivates the magic of beneficial fungi and bacteria to create a nutritional and vitalizing tea that can result in much stronger, faster-growing and healthier plants. These plants are also more resistant to pests and diseases and environmental stress. This is a grow-your-own fertilizer that is not dependent on petroleum, and is therefore a good sustainable solution.
Roland Evans is a gardener, psychotherapist and teacher at Naropa University. He is also Administrative Director of Alaska Bounty, a company that makes natural soil-vitalizing products. |
Often the word “magic” brings to mind “sleight of hand” or some other kind of a trick. But the earth's magic is genuine and profound, like an oak tree from an acorn. It is also often accessible to the ordinary citizen and even to children. In this pre-conference field day, we will be guided to view and comprehend several examples of Earth Magic that can support sustainability. Solar Greenhouses Mikl Brawner has been operating Harlequin's Gardens, a commercial plant nursery for 13 years on a site so dry, the neighbors said there wasn't enough water for a lawn. He does this by growing natives and other drought-adapted plants that are sustainable in Colorado's semi-arid climate, by formulating his own potting mixes, by building shade structures and by watering by hand. How nature has adapted to these dry conditions is truly magical. Mikl also uses a series of low-tech, low-energy-use greenhouse structures to help get plants started. This is solar magic: simple, cheap, clean and powerful. Watermatics Dick Chapin has been designing drip irrigation systems for 40 years. He has used sophisticated technology to produce watering systems that can be used in the most remote areas. With his Bucket Drip System, a 5 gallon bucket on a two foot stand is filled by hand twice a day to water 4, 25' long rows. This allows food to be produced in areas with little water or no wells to supply the water. The life-giving magic of water is delivered more efficiently than if it were applied with a sprinkling can. With these systems, food can be produced where it has been previously impossible. Feeding the poor around the world is Dick Chapin's goal. Vermiculture John Anderson, The Worm Man, from Ft. Collins, Colorado raises worms and sells the castings and the worms. This is both his business and his passion. He will be giving an introduction to worm composting, worm management and harvesting, and the uses of worm castings and worm-compost tea for the benefit of plants.
Few people appreciate the profound effect of earthworms in the soil. Charles Darwin, however, devoted a thick book to the subject. Recently, experiments have shown the beneficial effects of worm castings and worm-compost tea on pests and diseases of plants. John will give us much more insight into worm magic.
Planned Schedule9-9:45 Mikl Brawner 10-10:45 Dick Chapin 11-11:45 John Anderson 12-1(1:30) Lunch 1-1:45 (1:30-2:15) Roland Evans 2-2:45 (2:30-3:15) Julie Finlay 4-5 Community Gardens $65 (includes a simple lunch) |
Site Visit
Ramona Clark, Growing
Gardens: Urban Agricultural Site Visit
At the end of the day, a visit to Growing Gardens - an 11 acre
organic demonstration in the heart of the City of Boulder. This site is
the last agriculturally zoned piece of land within city limits and has
been in agricultural use for the past 100 years. Home to the Neighborhood
Compost Project, the Cultiva! Youth Project, the Community Gardens, the
Able Garden and our Children’s Peace Garden, this site has 300 plots,
600 gardens, and provides opportunities for over 2,000 people to create
a sustainable way of life that benefits the community and the environment.
1-1.5 hour tour via a biodiesel powered bus.
Sustainable Resources • 717 Poplar Avenue • Boulder, CO 80304, USA
303-998-1323 • 888-317-1600 • Fax: 303-449-1348 • info@sustainableresources.org