The schedule for the 2017 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence has been posted. You can view all of the sessions and times on the schedule page of the website. We are hoping to add some additional sessions as we get closer. Click on the link below to start planning your weekend!
The Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence is a yearly event that brings people together to network, build community, skill share and celebrate life.
We are are currently accepting session proposals for this years convergence. If you are interesting in leading a session please read and fill out the google form found at the link below.
Each year we strive to make the convergence a low-cost event in order to make it accessible to as many people as possible. We offer scholarships and partial work trades for attendees. Financial sponsorship and donations are greatly appreciated. If you are interested in sponsoring or donating to the convergence please click on the links below.
Date: Wednesday, August 3, 9am – 5pm
Instructor: Wayne Weiseman, Permaculture designer, consultant and author
Cost: $40 with Convergence Registration or $50 for non-Convergence attendees, lunch included
Description: In this one-day immersion class, take a walk on the wild side! Learn about extending your food sources by harvesting from the wild spaces in your yard, in your neighborhood and beyond. Some basic techniques to help you identify trees and plants will be presented. Ways to use wild plants in your daily lives will be discussed. We’ll then walk the land. The focus will be on identifying, finding, harvesting and using common Wisconsin wild plants for food, medicine and utility. This will be fun and informative! Bring your hiking boots as we will be out exploring the local plant ecosystems of field, prairie and woodland here in the Driftless region of Wisconsin.
Date: Thursday, August 4, 9am – 5pm
Instructor: Wayne Weiseman, Permaculture designer, consultant and author
Cost: $40 with Convergence Registration or $50 for non-Convergence attendees, lunch included
Description: Plant guilds are the building blocks of healthy landscapes. They are indicators of soil health. Plants that work together make your own tasks more manageable! Come and learn about putting together plants guilds that are nourishing for the land and for you. In this one-day immersion course, you will define and review plant guilds, food forests, basic plant biology, basic botany, effects of weather and interactions with animals. We will explore local plant ecosystems (e.g. prairie, woodland, savanna, riparian zones, pastures, gardens, farm fields, etc) and identify existing plant guilds. We will create plans for useful plant guilds that can be established in your own yard in this cold temperate climate of Wisconsin. Wayne Wiseman is a co-author of the book Integrated Forest Gardening, a book about plants, plant guilds and polycultures. We’ll have the book available for purchase and he will sign them if requested.
The seventh video installment from the 2015 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence is a clip from Adrian Lee's presentation where he talks about his experience living in intentional communities. In this clip Little John covers fruit tree grafting basics. Adian Lee owns and runs Eldeflower Community Orchard with his partner Nicole Kloss, where they provide a valuable source of trees and shrubs used in regenerative land design projects .
Please check out our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more session recordings!
If you like the video and the others we have released, come join us for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence to experience community, networking and skill sharing! You can pick up tickets here.
The video was recorded by Rick and Mary Larson.
The schedule for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence has been posted and it is stacked with great sessions. We are pleased to be bringing such a wonderful group of session leaders to this year's convergence. The diversity of topics is great and we know you will walk away feeling connected, energized and intrigued.
The schedule for the convergence can be found on the "Schedule" page.
For information on the specific sessions and the bio of the session leaders check out the "Sessions" page.
To reserve your spot for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence, pick up your ticket HERE.
The sixth video installment from the 2015 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence is a clip from Little John's presentation that covered fruit tree grafting. In this clip Little John covers fruit tree grafting basics. Little John owns and runs Plant Based Services, LLC, where he provides a community resource committed to sharing earth centered services and products. These services or products include handmade brooms, beekeeping, fruit tree grafting and orchard maintenance.
Please check out our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more session recordings!
If you like the video and the others we have released, come join us for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence to experience community, networking and skill sharing! You can pick up tickets here.
The fifth video installment from the 2015 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence is a clip from Laura Poe's presentation that covered the Ins & Outs of Fermentation. In this clip Laura covers the basics of fermenting fresh cabbage. Laura owns and runs Viroqua Nutrition Counseling, where she provides integrative, holistic medical nutrition therapy for a wide variety of needs.
Please check out our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more session recordings!
If you like the video and the others we have released, come join us for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence to experience community, networking and skill sharing! You can pick up tickets here.
The fourth video installment is the second half of a presentation covering Farmscale Permaculture led by Grant Schultz of Versaland.
Please check out our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more session recordings!
If you like the video and the others that we will be releasing in the coming months come join us for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence to experience community, networking and skill sharing! You can pick up tickets here.
The third video installment is the first half of a presentation covering Farmscale Permaculture led by Grant Schultz of Versaland. Check back soon for Part 2.
Please check out our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more session recordings!
If you like the video and the others that we will be releasing in the coming months come join us for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence to experience community, networking and skill sharing! You can pick up tickets here.
Thanks to permie Rick Larsen and his wife, we will be releasing video of sessions recorded at the 2015 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence. These videos will give you an idea of what to expect at the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence. These videos will be uploaded to our YouTube Channel over the coming months.
The first video is from MIEKAL AND and covers his experience in growing underutilized plants.
Please check out our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more session recordings!
If you like the video and the others that we will be releasing in the coming months come join us for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence to experience community, networking and skill sharing! You can pick up tickets here.
The location and dates have been set for the 2016 Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence. This year the convergence will be August 5th - 7th and will be held at Kinstone, a land restoration and human rejuvenation education project that sits on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Kinstone focuses on developing a landscape rich in interdependence of all elements and provides wonderful examples of regenerative building, landscape design and social design. For more details on Kinstone please visit their website HERE.
Kinstone will be offering two pre-convergence workshops that will be happening on Wednesday August 3rd and Thursday August 4th. Immediately following the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence, Kinstone will be hold their annual summer Permaculture Design Certificate course so do not miss out on the opportunity to further your personal education by attending this 10 day course. More details about the pre-convergence workshops and PDC offered by Kinstone can be found HERE.
We are pleased to announce that there will be eight scholarships available thanks to a donation from the Madison Area Permaculture Guild. You can apply for one of the scholarships through the link below. Scholarships will be filled on a first come first basis and the planning team will review your application and then contact you within a week of submission to notify you if you were selected.
Episode 2 of the Wisconsin Permaculture Podcast is up and ready for you to listen. In this episode I interview Gretchen Mead, Director of the Victory Garden Initiative. We cover her background, the Victory Garden Initiative she started in 2009 and the story telling technique she uses in her work to engage and empower stakeholders. All episodes can be listened to on the "Podcast" page of the website.
This is just a quick post to let everyone know that I have added some pictures of Peg Cadigan and Wes Weinhold's property to the "Location & Contact" webpage on the website. The pictures show you the wonderful scenery you will experience while attending the convergence.
The first episode of the Wisconsin Permaculture Podcast is ready to go! In this episode I interview John "Little John" Holzwart. We discuss the sessions he will be leading at the convergence, workshops that he offers through out the year and the small business Moonwise Herbs which he and his partner Linda Conroy run.
If you are looking for an excellent podcast covering topics in the Permaculture world you need to check out the Permaculture Voices Podcast. Diego Footer has done an outstanding job with this podcast which accompanies you on a journey to dig deep into Permaculture and the people making it happen.
This podcast is associated with the Permaculture Voices Conference that has been held each of the past two years. I (Drew Carlson) attended the conference in February and besides being a much appreciated warm spell (San Diego), it was one of the most powerful events I have experienced.
At times it was overwhelming as I had choose between four or more excellent sessions. The sessions I attended opened my eyes, reinforced my ideas and deepened my understanding of what needs to be done. During the sessions, presentations and activities, I was surrounded by 500 other people who share a deep passion for Permaculture and being the change they wish to see in the world. At night we would share our experiences, visions and discuss strategies on how to move forward.
Start with water, your most valuable form of capital, and retain as much of it as possible on the property in order to rehydrate the landscape. We can use efficient landscape design to control the flow of water to slow it, spread it, and sink it allowing the water to infiltrate into the soil, giving the plants water to do their work. Then nature will start building soil and creating microclimates and shade. But none of that will happen without water. Zach Weiss an ecological landscape designer from Montana and a student of Sepp Holzer joins me to talk about creating a water retention landscape. In this episode we will talk more about what he has learned from Sepp and get more into his own ideas on how water retention can have a dramatic effect on the landscape. We touch on everything from building ponds and sealing ponds to catchment used to feed dams to the three zones of any body of water. An episode for designers and homesteaders alike. See videos and other content related to this episode at permaculturevoices.com/109
Zach Weiss of Elemental Ecosystems and Holzer Permaculture was at the conference and I had the pleasure of getting to know him better. Zach gets it. He shows a passion for all aspects of Permaculture: earth care, people care and fair share.
I will be organizing workshops at Strause Family Farm moving forward into the future and I am honored to have Zach leading the first of many. In this first workshop, Sepp Holzer style Earth Stable, participants will learn how to build a Sepp Holzer style earth stable.
The workshop will be $250/person and is happening on August 8th and 9th prior to the convergence. Lunch and dinner will be provided on Saturday and lunch will be provided on Sunday. There will be space available for camping on site and some rooms are available at a local residence (only a few) for those unable to camp. There are also motels and hotels within 15-20 miles from the farm.
For more information regarding the workshop please visit the webpage.
We will be offering a pre-convergence Sepp Holzer Earth Stable workshop on August 8th-9th. Zach Weiss from Elemental Ecosystems will be leading the workshop. We will build an earth stable from start to finish using boulder, locust trees and an EPDM liner. It looks like cost will be in the $250 dollar range and if enough people sign up we will have a couple of scholarships available. There will be a limited number of spots open so keep an eye out for more information as I get it together. Stay Tuned!
Photo Source: permies.com
