News Archives: Homesteading in the 21st Century Conference
Tuesday, March 17th, 2015
Spaces are filling quickly for the first ever permaculture conference held in our region. Grande Prairie Regional College is hosting the one-day event on April 1st at GPRC Fairview, and well over 50 registrants have already signed up for the workshops and sessions with prominent speakers on the various principles of permaculture.
Permaculture is a system of working with nature to resolve issues with soil, water management, plants and animals on a small farm, acreage or in an urban setting. The sessions offered at the 21st Century Homesteading Conference include everything from watershed conservation to how to make hand cream using beeswax.
The lineup of presenters includes a keynote address by urban homesteader and video producer Kevin Kossowan of Edmonton. His presentation “From the Wild – Cuisine du Terroir by way of Native Species” looks at the often-overlooked wild species of our food supply.
Claudia Bolli of Wild Green Gardening will share her passion for growing food and creating healthy, edible landscapes through permaculture design. Her session will provide an overview of permaculture ethics and principles, sector and zone analysis and design principles. Joining Claudia for this session, Joanne Kemp of Wembley will add her personal experience as an example of practical permaculture.
Harvesting wild mushrooms is the passion and specialty of Ken Dies, Peace Region coordinator for the Alberta Mycological Society, who will take participants through a pictorial guide to wild mushrooms in the prairie provinces. Wendy Smith of Heritage Farms will provide a hands-on session on heirloom seed starting. Catherine Newhook of Beaverlodge will discuss the importance of water management on a small farm or acreage, and beekeeper and instructor Eric Stromgren will offer a hands-on session demonstrating how to make your own hand cream from beeswax.
The 21st Century Homesteading Conference is funded in part by the Walter Paszkowski Agriculture Legacy Fund at GPRC, the GPRC Centre for Research & Innovation, and the Peace Applied Research Network. To register please contact GPRC Continuing Education at 780-539-2975.
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