Boston HOMEGROWNers

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Comment by Cornelia on May 5, 2010 at 9:13am

Skillshare Days coming up:
This Saturday:
The First UHL Community Skillshare Day
http://www.meetup.com/Urban-Homesteaders-League/calendar/13230036/

Saturday, May 8th
2-5pm, followed by socializing over snacks and drinks (please bring something for the "snack-luck" table! Plus a potluck kit of a plate/bowl, utensil, cup...)

$5 Donation (No one will be turned away for lack of funds.)

The Democracy Center
45 Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, MA 02138


Come on out for the first UHL Community Skillshare Day! The afternoon will feature skillshares by UHL members. See below for more details.

This is a great opportunity to learn some skills and to socialize with fellow members of the UHL!

Skillshare Topics:

Boabom:
We'll begin the day with a little movement. Abraham Dorantes will be leading a short session on Boabom (pronounced bo-ha-bom, ryhmes with rome), a system of Meditation in Movement developing Self-healing, Self-Defense(internal-external) and Self-Awareness(your body, your thoughts and the space around you). Abraham is a Student/Assistant Teacher of the Boston School of Boabom in Brookline.

Making Self-watering garden containers:
Self-watering garden containers (aka: Sub-irrigated Planters) are a terrific way to produce huge amounts of food in small urban spaces. Most vegetable plants are happiest when they are able to “drink” whenever they are “thirsty”. A constant source of appropriate moisture is the secret to the self-watering container’s success. Learn how to make your own containers using inexpensive and readily available materials. Presented by Cornelia Hoskin, HOMEGROWN Shepherdess at www.HOMEGROWN.org – an online community of cooks, growers and do-it-yourselfers celebrating the “culture” in agriculture.

Making Beef Jerky:
Chris Tolles will be demonstrating a foolproof, bootleg, almost-totally sanitary way to transform cheaper cuts of beef into delicious beef jerky with only a box fan and two furnace filters! Due to the length of time required, it won't be possible to demo the entire process, but Chris will have some of his own finished product on hand for sampling.

Kombucha Making:
Rachel and Austin Ritter will demonstrate how to make Kombucha. More details TBA.

Making Cordials:
Jaime Alberts will demonstrate how to make cordials. More details TBA.

Converting a car to run on straight vegetable oil:
Pat Keaney, the proprietor of Green Grease Monkey, will be discussing how to convert a diesel vehicle to run on vegetable oil. More details TBA.
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***BOSTON SKILLSHARE 2010!***

Sat & Sun, May 29th and 30th, 2010
10 am - 7 pm
at Simmons College (300 Fenway, Boston, MA)
$3-10 sliding scale donation

It's finally here! From pilates to storytelling, carpentry to hula
hooping, bike repair to home brewing...

Come find your newest and most useful skill yet at Boston Skillshare 2010!

The Boston Skillshare is an annual weekend event seeking to create a
temporary space for sharing practical skills to live more happy, creative,
and sustainable lives. We believe learning is plentiful, everywhere, and
need not come with price tags or expert degrees. The $3-10 donation covers
entrance to all workshops both days, materials, breakfast and lunch.

Sign up to facilitate a workshop or to volunteer at:
http://bostonskillshare.org/2010/info

Workshop submission deadline is Wednesday, May 12th!

Comment by Cornelia on March 16, 2010 at 11:52am

Farm Manager position in Providence:
Searching for a live-in farm steward at Urban Edge Farm in Cranston, RI (a farmer program run by Southside Community Land Trust). Person must be well organized; have good interpersonal skills, with a strong ability to communicate to farmers and people of different cultural backgrounds; have experience with meeting facilitation, and a sense ofhumor. Farming and tractor experience a plus.

This position requires approximately 200 hours of work annually. Duties include: assisting farmers in collaborative management; security for the premises; tractor mowing; organizing volunteer groups, being a community representative and liaison to the SCLT Executive Director and Board.

Farm Steward will live in the farmhouse year round beginning May 1, 2010. Compensation: subsidized rent of $600 per month; utilities not included (electricity, propane cooking gas, phone/internet).

Email cover letter , resume and references to: sclt@southsideclt.org. No calls please. Deadline for applying is March 26, 2010.

Comment by Lisa on February 1, 2010 at 2:35pm

Toby will also be teaching a daylong workshop. Here's the info:

Sunday, February 28th, 10-3pm
Sliding Scale: $40-$80 (A number of full and partial scholarships are available.)
A Workshop with Toby Hemenway: Permaculture Solutions for City and Suburb
Sponsored by the Urban Homesteaders' League

Reserve a space here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/98307

Location: The Democracy Center
45 Mt. Auburn, Cambridge, MA 02138

How does permaculture work in urban and suburban places? Though land may be limited, cities are rich in other resources, especially social capital. This workshop will show how to find, harvest, and integrate the many resources in our cities in sustainable ways, including getting access to land for gardening, creating business guilds and networks, learning the pattern language of the city, creating public space in neighborhoods, and building urban ecovillages. We'll learn how permaculture's principles and design methods apply to the dense, rich environments of our cities, and how to leverage the special opportunities that cities provide.

Bio:
Toby Hemenway is a writer, university professor, and freelance educator based in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of "Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture", which for the past seven years has been the world’s best-selling book on permaculture. Toby is an adjunct professor in the School of Graduate Education at Portland State University, and Scholar-in-Residence at Pacific University. His writing has appeared in publications such as Natural Home, Whole Earth Review, and WorldWatch, and he has taught workshops all over the continent and in many countries.

Comment by Cornelia on February 1, 2010 at 2:14pm

Saturday, February 27th 7-9pm
A Presentation by Toby Hemenway: What Does Permaculture Look Like?
Sponsored by the Urban Homesteaders' League, the Tufts Food Systems Planning Coalition, and Tufts Slow Food

Sliding Scale: $15-25 (Tufts students are free.)
Buy tickets here:http://www.eventsbot.com/events/eb651647603

Location: Tufts University/Pearson Hall RM 104
62 Talbot Avenue Ave, Medford, MA 02155

Permaculture is an increasingly popular set of solutions for sustainable living that is based on ecology. This presentation will show how permaculture works, and will give examples and images of permaculture in practice around North America. Whether you are new to permaculture or an experienced practitioner, this lively evening with one of the world's best-known permaculture teachers will offer both principles and practical steps you can take toward living more sustainably.

Comment by Cornelia on February 1, 2010 at 2:13pm

From the DIO Skillshare:

We're announcing three upcoming events for DIO Skillshare:
*Introduction to Carpentry Tools for Women - March 13
*Sprouting and Microgreens - May 16
*Raw Food - sometime this spring
Introduction to Carpentry Tools for Women: learn how to use basic tools in a supportive atmosphere with hands-on practice.  For absolute beginners.  Limited to 5 women.  Call 617-492-2340 to register or for more info.
Saturday, March 13, 11am-2pm
Cambridge Women's Center
46 Pleasant Street (near Central Square)
Sprouting and Microgreens: Benefits, Techniques, Glitches
Saturday, May 16, 1:30 - 3:30
Friends Meeting House
5 Longfellow Park, off Brattle Street near Harvard Square
Call 617-492-2340 for info
Our Experiences with the Raw Food Diet
at the Boston Skillshare
date and location to be determined, but probably this April

Comment by Cornelia on January 6, 2010 at 12:23pm

"3rd Annual Film Series - HomeGrown
Location: Boston University GSU Conference Auditorium 775 Commonwealth Avenue
Cost: $5
When: Sunday, 01/17/2010 3:30PM

Click here to reserve your spaces!

Details:
Join us for the kick-off for our 3rd Annual Winter Film Series!

We start the year with an extremely timely film; HomeGrown, from director Robert McFalls. It's the story about the Dervaes family, who, while living in downtown Pasadena, grow over 6,000 lbs (yup, you read it right!) of produce. OK, so that seems amazing in and of itself. But consider this: they do it on less than a 1/4 acre, AND manage to live almost completely 'off the grid' at the same time. Wow. Kind of makes our efforts at backyard tomatoes and window box herbs seem inconsequential, huh?

The Dervaes call their urban homestead 'Path To Freedom', and continue to work toward complete self-sufficiency while providing guidance and a model of sustainable living for the rest of us. Check out their informative & educational website.

As we have in previous years, our screening will be followed by a speakers panel addressing topics raised in the film. We're riffing off the urban agriculture theme here, and have invited a few Boston area folks (including Lisa Gross, founder of the Urban Homesteaders' League and Jess Liborio from the Food Project) to speak about ways in which to incorporate sustainable, self-sufficient practices in our lives - even while residing in a concrete jungle (Boston) or a little less of a concrete jungle (Cambridge!).

Cost for the afternoon is only a $5 donation to Slow Food, payable by cash or check at the door.

Directions:
Boston University's George Sherman Union is located at 775 Commonwealth Avenue beyond Kenmore Square, just before the BU Bridge. The film will be shown in the Conference Auditorium.

The closest T stop is Boston University Central on the 'B' line, and there is street parking up & down Commonwealth Avenue. A Google map of the area is HERE.

Comment by Cornelia on October 30, 2009 at 1:56pm

Novella Carpenter is coming to Boston!!!
'Farm City' Author Novella Carpenter
Location: Fort Point Artists Community store, 12 Farnsworth St, Boston
Cost: $10
When: Friday, 11/13/2009 5:30PM

Click here to reserve your spaces! http://www.slowfoodboston.com/reserve.cfm?eno=480

Details:
Novella Carpenter lives in Oakland. I mean, really IN Oakland. As in downtown. But that certainly hasn't stopped her from farming - and she has now written a memoir chronicling the transformation of her backyard from bare land to full-blown animal & veggie paradise!

The book, Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, is newly released, and we've coaxed Novella out of sunny California to cool New England to read from it and talk more about her experiences. By doing so, we hope to be inspired to make a little more out of our available space on rooftops, outside windowsills or in yards.

In order to tie Novella's work back to local issues, we've invited Belmont resident (& resident chicken expert) Joan Teebagy to join us. More people are opting to raise their own hens for eggs, and Joan teaches classes on the subject at Codman Farms in Lincoln. But be sure to check your town laws! As many of you may have read, there is an on-going battle in Arlington about residents rights to keep backyard chickens.

So join us right after work on Friday, November 13th at 5:30pm. We'll have some light nibbles, a little cider, and enjoy the reading & discussions that commence. RSVPs and a $10 donation to the Slow Food fund that supports local agriculture are duly requested.

Directions:
Made in Fort Point, the FPAC Store is located at 12 Farnsworth St, just off Congress Street and next to the new Flour Bakery.

The gallery space is a 5 to 10 minute walk from the South Station Red Line T, or the Court House stop on the Silver Line. There is also street parking in the area.

Comment by Cornelia on June 17, 2009 at 2:00pm

NOFA Mass has a list of terrific Practical Skills Workshops here. Composting toilets! Medicinal herbs! Canning! Advanced cheesemaking!

Comment by Lisa on June 16, 2009 at 3:40pm

Hi Everyone! The Urban Homesteaders Meet-up group I started (http://www.meetup.com/Urban-Homesteaders/) has exploded! We have 55 members and 22-32 planning to come to our first meeting on Saturday. I hope some of you will consider joining!

Comment by Cornelia on April 14, 2009 at 11:17am

Cool story about local grower-entrepreneurs "Green City Growers" in the Somerville News

Ten Reasons to Own a Backyard Farm:

1. Locally grown food tastes better

2. Fresh produce is better for you

3. Backyard farms can cost up to 20 percent less than the local market

4. You know exactly where your food is coming from

5. Reduces energy use

6. Local foods have more variety

7. Guaranteed 100 percent natural

8. Support your local farmer!

9. Backyard farms build community

10. It is in investment in your future

Source: Green City Growers

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