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2012-2013 Home-Scale
Permaculture Design Course
Starts Saturday, Sept. 15 through Sunday, Sept. 16
(first of six weekends)
Cromwell Valley Park, Towson, MD
Learn ethical principles and practical skills for producing your own needs from local natural resources by mimicking natural ecosystems.
Topics include energy efficient site planning for house, gardens, orchard, woodlot and wildlife habitat; farm animal forage systems; beneficial microclimate; urban strategies for food and energy production; sustainable community economics and food security. Visit our calendar for a full listing of information.
Earn your Permaculture Design Apprentice Certificate.
Six Weekends.
Sliding scale $1,000 - $1,200.
Register by August 15 to get the $100 early bird discount!
Group discount available.
Click here for details and to
register online.
For more information, call 410-357-9523 or email education@heathcote.org.
Co-sponsored by Heathcote Community, School of Living, and Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society (CHEARS).
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Ayurveda and Yoga Retreat at
Wild Meadows Farm
September 28-30  Ayurveda, the sister science of Yoga, was developed in India and has beencontinuously practiced for more than 5,000 years. The word itself means "knowledge of life." Its healing methods are basic, simple and natural: they rely enormously on your own wisdom. Ayurveda views each human being as unique and recommends diet and lifestyle changes that lead towards health and away from disease. Its enduring appeal rests on the premise that the natural state of the body/ mind is one of well-being and balance.
The workshop will focus on:
- Identification of your unique constitution
- The Ayurvedic approach to food for creating health
- The Ayurvedic approach to food for creating health
- The benefits of following the rhythms of nature
- The role of gentle yoga in fostering health and well-being
- The relaxing and rejuvenating effects of Ayurvedic bodywork
Click here for more info!
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Featured Video
 | | "A Permaculture Food Forest" |
Featured Image
| Chesapeake Watershed's dendritic river patterns with state boundaries |
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Greetings!
We are moving into the trend of viewing holistic systems as an essential part of our everyday lives, affecting lifestyle choices related to our own health and the health of our communities. As you view the featured video of a "Permaculture Food Forest", or come to the FREE workshop on Introduction to Permaculture or even sign up for the Permaculture Design Certificate Course, an understanding will be expanded upon learning that we are all interconnected and interdependent. We invite you to partake in a retreat at Wild Meadows Farm with Yoga and Ayurvedic practices and learn about Courageous Schools in Southern Maryland. As CHEARS collaborates with other agencies (both organizational and individual) of eco-social change, we are reminded of these words from Wendell Berry:  "The real work of planet-saving will be small, humble, and humbling, and (insofar as it involves love), pleasing and rewarding. Its jobs will be too many to count, too many to report, too many to be publicly noticed or rewarded, too small to make anyone rich or famous." For the Earth,
Kim Walsh
Executive Director
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Greenbelt Food Forest
Phase II begins
This past month, the GFF partnered with the TapRoots project during the Youth Ecological Stewards (YES!) Program to teach water quality monitoring methods. Students from Camp Fire USA joined us, working with Cary Coppack from USDA and other experts, to study the health of our local Indian Creek. A special thanks goes out to our partner Citizens to Conserve and Restore Indian Creek (CCRIC) for co-hosting this workshop event.
Food forests put permaculture principles into action for our environment. Interested in learning more about permaculture? Attend our free Introduction to Permaculture Design workshop in Greenbelt!
WHEN: Saturday, September 8, 9:00am-12:00pm
WHERE: Greenbelt Community Center, room 202
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 TapRoots in Greenbelt Middle SchoolSaying YES! to ecological stewardship this summer
Kids from Greenbelt have been coming every Wednesday to learn and play with TapRoots at the Young Ecological Stewards (YES!) program at the Springhill Lake Garden Outdoor Classroom, a Three Sisters Demonstration Gardens site. Our last day is August 15, when we will be able to reflect on our experience creatively through eco-art. Our Young Ecological Stewards are also keeping us updated on their fun by blogging and storytelling on their website! Read more at the YES Blog
Fall program planning will begin this month. Keep up with all of our activities: Follow us on Twitter @TapRoots, Like us on Facebook, and visit our website for updates.
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GCAN: Greenbelt Climate Action Network
NEWS
- no GCAN this month (no meetings until Sept 12)
- GCAN Program Planning Committee will be meeting in August. Email Lore if you have suggestions for future program topics.
- We got wonderful coverage on the June 16 Reskill Workshop (on "Solar Gadgets") through the News Review (pictures by Eric Zhang)
- Workshop Committee will reconvene in Aug/Sept to plan another
- Greenbelt Barter Network met twice on June 6 and June 27. Next meeting will be Tues, July 31 at 7 pm. We are studying more about Time Bank USA
- Initial meetings to investigate a green, worker-owned cooperative. We have met twice so far on June 17 and July 15. Next meeting will be Sept 9 or 30 (tbd) 4-6 pm.
- GCAN has voted to sign on to the Food & Water Watch Maryland campaign (and the CCAN-MD Campaign) to Ban Fracking. More info
GREENBELT LABOR DAY FESTIVAL
GCAN is still debating whether to have a table at the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival Info day . . .or to support the efforts of Green ACES, by recruiting volunteers to teach people which of their festival trash is recylable. Please contact Lore to vote whether GCAN should have our own table and *what* we should emphasize as our "pitch"!
GCAN "ACTIVISTS"
Carpool with Greenbelters to Stop the Frack Attack Rally in DC on Saturday, July 28. Rally starts at 2 pm. Pre-rally gathering for Maryland Residents (to support the MD Ban Fracking campaign) at 1 pm. RSVP for 1 pm MD Rally or for the 2 pm main rally by clicking.
DISCUSSION CIRCLES
If you are interested in either, contact Lore with the nights of the week that would work best for you.
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Three Sisters Demonstration Gardens
Gardening techniques, growing healthy food, and more
 Although Schrom Hills may have attracted more deer than volunteers and other human visitors during the very hot spell, Springhill Lake and the Center Garden were ripe with friends!  Though the deer did some minor damage to some tomatoes and mammoth zucchini, there were plenty of healthy snacks available for our work-and-play Wednesdays and to make solar cooked meals on Thursdays.
Visit our website for more information about us. Come out this month to meet Lucy, Maggie, Tony, and other Greenbelt friends for relaxing, fun activities outside. There are also a variety of special events and workshops planned each month, so keep up with the Gardens Calendar for updates. Cleaning out your garage? Do you have extra garden tools? Contact Lucy, 301-577-2350 to donate your old or unused equipment!
Saturday, August 7 (6:00-8:00 PM) ~ Potluck, conversation, and planting!
Potluck, including a stew of our own produce, plus conversation about the super-efficient biointensive crops of the "One Circle" whole diet, this year's main demo theme. Details...
Community Center Garden ~ 15 Crescent Road
Thursday, August 23 (6:30 PM-8:30 PM) ~ Thursday Dinner and Dessert
Too hot to cook? Tired after work? Exercise and rejuvenate together with free shared solar cooked veggie burgers, corn, and fresh fruit and salad for volunteers at the garden! Cool off by watering the garden - and yourself!
Join us or contact Maggie for more information. Details...
Springhill Lake Community Center ~ 6101 Cherrywood Lane
Wednesdays in July (7:00 PM- 8:00 PM) ~ Work-and-Play Garden Days! Volunteers of all ages are welcome to tend to the beds, finish placing mulch for pathways, and pick some healthy snacks each Wednesday this summer. Join us or contact Tony for more information. Details...
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Creating fun ways to learn about ecology and the environment
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, our agendas for our two Chesapeake Classrooms teacher workshops I gave a fairly good overview of your work with CHEARS and the Virtual Archive, and we visited both websites for the teachers to explore. We also showed the video of Tom from the Smithsonian Folkways website so they could hear his philosophy of education first-hand. We had several Social Studies teachers in the group who were particularly interested in your work. There were also a couple of teachers who participated in our Chesapeake Connections workshop years ago and remembered Tom's performances at Arlington Echo. As an added bonus, I taught the group "Dredgin' is my Drudgery" and we sang with great enthusiasm while dredging oysters out in the Bay near Annapolis.
The Chestory Legacy Group meets twice yearly to continue Tom Wisner's legacy. The Chestory Archive, located at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, MD, has much of Tom's writings, art work and educational materials. These materials are now also available on the Chesapeake Environmental Literacy website. This resource will assist teachers in meeting Maryland's new environmental literacy standards....Read more
Bay Babies, a delightful children's book about the Bay written by Cathy Green and illustrated by the late Mary Beth Harry, is still available. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the Mary Beth Harry Student Scholarship through the Arts Council of Calvert County. Keep an eye out for Singing the Chesapeake children's song book and accompanying CD with songs by Tom, his son Mark Wisner, and Teresa Whitaker, scheduled to be completed this year. We are planning events this fall in various schools to celebrate this long awaited publication.
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