Herbs are best at stacking functions, playing different roles in permaculture design. They provide us with amazing medicine, and a succession of flowering for the continual habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators. Some are dynamic accumulators, which pull up minerals for us and the soil. In this workshop, we will teach permaculture planting methods integrating medicinal herbs. We will then demonstrate ways to use the herbs with hands-on medicine making.

Presented By: Laura(Indigo) Donaldson  & Shea Smith & Raya Cole of School of Wholistic Permaculture

Josefina was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico during the 60’s. She became deaf during her first year of age, and maybe because of that she became an eager learner, a hard worker, and a worst fighter against injustice.

Josefina was raised to be both a lover for books, and a gardener lover. As early as 5 years old, while learning the basics in education, she was also practicing her gardening skills. She would lie down among my plants to daydream while leaving the air to comb her hair, the sun to kiss her skin, and her thoughts to fly high over to touch the sky. A year after she started writing stories for her grandfather’s newspaper. She was 15 years old majoring in Psychology at the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla when she traded gardening for newspapers writing. But after moving to the U. S., she immediately returned to gardening, studying, and writing.

While working in the fields, and attending Mendocino College and Sonoma State, She’s had the honor to be a writer/translator for “El Amanecer,” a writer for “El Planeta, and “El Sol,” and then the owner/writer/publisher for “El Sol Bilingue”, and “Dos Mundos/El Sol.”

“The importance of gardening in my life is that there is a similarity between cultivating a garden and cultivating our minds and souls. In order to be successful in those areas, one has to have an ideal, a hope, a dream about what we want to accomplish. Do I want to harvest the best colored and healthy red tomatoes? Do I want to polish a great prolific mind and a heart full of love towards the world? Then, I have to work hard on accomplishing those goals. There is not a limit of things to do, but rather many ways to learn how to get to. I believe that the world is full of colors, tastes, and shapes, so is the mind!” – Josefina Dueñas

2016 Convergence Workshop: Film Screening: Cómo Produce La Tierra – Followed by Q&A

Mario will introduce the Community Food Forestry Initiative (CFFI), a national initiative funded by USDA Forest Service Community & Urban Forestry grant. The initiative takes a unique and innovative approach to address the challenge of urban and community tree canopy loss due to re/development by providing planners, developers, policy-makers, designers and practitioners a comprehensive set of resources that integrate food-producing trees and plants into the urban landscape. In addition, it will help raise public and professional awareness around the issue of using urban places to grow food.

Presented By: Mario Yanez

Sunday, September 18th | 4:10 – 4:30 PM | Solar Panel: El Sol

Jan Spencer lives in Eugene, Oregon and has been a strong advocate for creating a green and resilient economy and culture for years. He has a degree in Geography and has traveled to over 35 countries on four continents. Jan has been transforming his 1/4 acre suburban property for 16 years where he grows food, produces passive solar energy, collects rain water and has hosted close to 2000 visitors. He has presented on the East and West Coasts and at many universities and conferences along with numerous radio interviews. Jan designed and coordinated the 2015 Northwest Permaculture Convergence in Eugene which was held in a suburban neighborhood recreation center. Jan is vegetarian and seldom drives, preferring a 20 year old Linear recumbent bike.

2016 RED Talk Presentation: Taking Permaculture to The Mainstream – Allies and Assets

Permaculture is “site specific”. Are the important characteristics of “a permaculture garden” circular lines, or things that might be more difficult to express in sound bites? We’ll take a participatory look at what are likely to be common characteristics for most permaculture gardens, no matter what the climate or resource base may be. We hope to help participants achieve clarity in how to take their garden to the next level, whether they are already gardening or planning their first.

A 20 minute intro: wild gardening defined, including ethnobotany and crop diversity, native allies, staple crops, hand tools, nitrogen and micronutrients, and compost, then ten minutes for feedback and questions, then the group will physically layout a small intensive garden using a proven fast, foolproof method. Then we’ll process the whole thing, taking the permaculture principles as a guide to review.

Presented By: Rick Valley

Matt Drewno, Green Belt Mini-Farm Manager: Matt is certified in permaculture, restoration of oak-savanna ecologies and biointensive food production. After a Bachelors of Architecture from Iowa State University, he founded RhythmicWater Ecological Design, a permaculture design business in the mid-western states. He has been working with Ecology Action since 2010 training individuals and communities in the principles of biologically intensive food production. His experience includes organic farm-scale food production, design and implementation of food forests, residential-scale food production and community gardens. In 2014, he started the RhythmicWater SeedBank in the town of Mendocino, CA. He serves on the board of Ecology Action and manages the Green Belt Mini-Farm, a research, education and demonstration mini-farm in Mendocino, California.

2016 Convergence Workshop: A Strategy for Growing More Food In Your Zone 1: GROW BIOINTENSIVE Method

The GROW BIOINTENSIVE method works to stabilize both current and future food systems by producing a complete diet and growing soil fertility 60x faster than nature with 90% fewer inputs, organic methodology, and appropriate technology. In doing so, we are able to inspire and empower communities to regain their food security; managing a strategy to grow more food in their Zone 1. This workshop will provide participants with the eight principles which guide immediate garden planning and implementation, as well as long-term sustainable food raising techniques. Through the use of our eight principles as presented in both a presentation and a hands-on activity, we hope to empower participants with the tools to create abundant, low-cost, low-tech, self-sustaining farm designs which feed both people and soil.

Presented By: Matt Drewno

Learn More About Matt Drewno