This year’s Northwoods location at Holiday Acres Resort offers many new conveniences for convergence attendees.
This weeks 2018 session leader feature is on Johnathan Dodd. Johnathan resides with his family at New Earth Farm & Goods, a 5 acre polyculture farm that boasts diversified perenials, fungi, and multi-species grazing. He has taken root and planted in Papillion, NE for the past 6 years, alongside his spouse and three children.
When I was five years old, in 1976, my parents moved our family of five from our safe, stable and economically viable lives just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to a 140 acre farm overlooking the rolling hills of Western Wisconsin's Driftless region where we threw safety, stability and economic viability out the barn door. What I got in return was a tremendous sense of self reliance, which is not self-sufficiency, a conversation we could have at the convergence coming up in September. My family also got to meet and learn from our new neighbors and others who recently moved to the area, because in those days, and in those parts, there was no Amazon and no one had every piece of equipment or every bit of knowledge required to cultivate the land and care for livestock. This is a long way to say that little did I know our move introduced me to my first permacuture community and principles and I didn't even know it.
As we plan for the fifth Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence, I’ve also enjoyed thinking about the previous four. I love that the convergence offers many different types of activities; homesteading workshops such as how to make yogurt or raise chickens; construction skills such as how to make your own cooking gas or build a rocket stove; or social skills such as how to conduct a World Café.
For this blog post, I’ll share highlights from the last four years. The first year the convergence was held at the same location we’re holding the 2018 event, near Rio, Wisconsin. That year we organized several earthworks projects. The first was digging a pond by hand, lining it and getting it ready to add aquatic plants. The other earthwork project was on a much larger scale. Convergence participants used both a water level and laser level to identify keylines, after which we hired an excavator to create a water catchment system. It was great to turn ideas into an actual permaculture design.
The second permaculture convergence was held at Bur Oak Farm near West Bend in Eastern Wisconsin. The highlight for me that year was our main speaker, Pandora Thomas. Pandora co-founded the Black Permaculture Network, and spoke about the importance of diversity in and around permaculture.
The third convergence was held at Kinstone Megalith Garden, in Wisconsin’s driftless region on the west side of the state. While I didn’t stay for the whole thing, I think the coolest workshop was learning how to butcher a hog. People got to see many of the steps and techniques to prepare a pig for consumption and freezer storage.
Hello and welcome... my name is Effie and I have volunteered for the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence for the past three years and am entering my fourth. If you have attended the event, we probably met at the welcome tent for event registration. I have had a great experience meeting so many different people interested in and purveying permaculture. It is inspiring to listen to and learn of your stories and adventures.
It is a gift to converge with others in our local region and I find experiencing this event completing fulfilling. It renews me to be around so much good energy working towards the common goal of creating and building sustainable environments. The event itself continues to fuel my passion for permaculture and the planning helps me stay connected with my permaculture peers.
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.
