|
Greetings!
This newsletter comes a bit late as we've been busy with many projects. The weather is still a bit cold and wet but we have seeds popping up in our solar green house and a cover crop of field peas planted in the garden. The fall planted cover crops are emerging and we are excited for spring to really burst any day now. We had a great week with students from Virginia Tech helping and learning about our farm operation. Many of our projects are progressing nicely including black walnut syrup production, shiitake mushroom log innoculation, greenhouse preparations and a tiny house. The recent arrival of three wwoofers and one of our seasonal interns has greatly improved our ability to get things done and we are very grateful to have them.
We are excited to announce a community herbalism certificate course taught by Mimi Hernandez MS, RH(AHG) coming up in June and want to let you know there are only a few spots left in the Forest Garden Design Intensive with Dave Jacke and friends.
We hope you are enjoying the end of winter and our thoughts are with the people of Japan as they deal with an epic disaster unfolding. Unfortunately, extreme events like this seem to be coming more regularly and we anticipate more in the future as we deal with the consequences of human driven climate disruption among other things. Part of the solution is in supporting local economies and building community resilience.
In Solidarity,
Joel Cahalan & Kim Walsh
Wild Meadows Farm Manager & Education Coordinator
|
|
Virginia Tech visits the farm...
We had a great week with students from Virginia Tech YMCA spending their spring break helping and learning about sustainable farming. We visited several other local farms as well and spent a day doing some work at Shoestring Acres. Students were integrated into the farm, helping with various farm work activities and eating most meals together. We hoped to create a learning experience that will stay with these young folks as they travel through life.
 | | working in the greenhouse with snow on the roof |
 | | Touring Shoestring Acres |
We hope to see them back again next year!
|
Introduction to Community Herbalism
"Certificate Course" June 3-5th
Learn from clinical herbalist, Mimi Hernandez, MS, RH(AHG) about how to apply herbs in various situations for men, women, and children. Topics include hands on herbal medicine making, herbal first aid, herbal taste and understand, spices for health, weeds as medicine, topical herbs, and herb walks! Prepare to be your family and community herbalist! Participants receive a certificate upon completion.
Discover the lore, tradition, and science behind Appalachia's most popular and native medicinal roots, from the well known and economically exalted roots of the culture like Ginseng and Black Cohosh to the local secret favorites like Yellowroot and Stoneroot and many more! In this 3-day intensive certificate course, you will:
- Receive a certificate of community herbalism;
- Make salves, tinctures and other medicinal applications to bring home;
- Learn and expand your knowledge about regional medicinal plants.
For more information & to register, click here
|
|
Black Walnut Syrup Production Update
 | | full bag of sap on our only maple tree tap |
We boiled our first batch of syrup this month. We are fortunate that some earlier resident planted or let grow a number of black walnut trees and we have tapped them for syrup. Their convenient location close to the homestead and the fact that we don't have any sugar maples on the property convinced us to give it a try. Sap production is highly weather dependent and this year has been excellent for producing lots of sap.
Our friend Wayne uses carved elderberry stems as secondary taps but we are only using one per tree and it seems to be working okay. We had to buy some equipment but were able to borrow an evaporator from some fellow homesteaders and away we went. We anticipate having one more batch to boil down sometime this weekend. Give us a call if you are interested in checking it out!
 | | Tending the Evaporator |
|
