Woodmore WI Food Security Initiative - Upcoming Events

1. Our Annual Food Garden Tour is coming up quickly ... July 17, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. We will begin at 6:30 pm, at Matt & Susi Teichrob's place. (Directions will be given when you register). Their orchard and garden is ever expanding, including trying a technique called Hügelkultur - where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable, biomass plant materials is later planted as a fertile hilly bed. Next (7:30) we will visit

Click to read more ...

Natural Systems Agriculture

Although most of us are not farmers, all of us eat. Many of us are gardeners. If we pause to think, we all recognize the importance of food production, and by implication should have an interest in how the food we eat is produced. We all ought to think more critically about how the food we eat is produced , and to that end I want to draw attention to the field tours planned by the Natural Systems Agriculture program at the U of M this summer. The tours, of course, are intended primarily for food producers, but consumers who have an interest in how the food they consume is produced should also be interested.

Click to read more ...

Blackout Vulnerability

The lead off news story last Sunday evening was the power blackout covering all of Argentina as well as significant parts of Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile. Nearly 50 million people were without power. At the time of the news story no one knew when power would be restored. As it turned out, the blackout lasted seven hours. Apparently a transmission system at Yacyretá Dam -- on the Paraná River near Ayolas, Paraguay -- failed "without human intervention," forcing an automatic shutdown.

Click to read more ...

The Benefit of Weeds

I was cursing quack grass the other day. I had been on my knees in my garden for what seemed like hours: pulling, twisting, prying, teasing, and inevitably hacking at this invincible perennial. And I thought to myself, “Why bother? Why do I wage this (losing) battle year after blessed year?”

Click to read more ...

DIY Homesteader Festival Saturday Aug 10-11

If you haven't heard of the annual DIY Homesteader Festival in Thalburg MB, we think you should check it out. Here's the impressive 2019 workshop lineup:

Permaculture Farm Design, Sourdough Breadmaking, Heating the Homestead, Wool Processing, Natural Building, Canning, Wine Cap Mushroom Beds, Urban Farming, Wild Plant Walk & Basketmaking Harvest, Pastured Broilers, Cheesemaking, Urban Chickens, Hugelkultur Guilds, Beekeeping, Hide Tanning, Tree Tapping, Cast Iron, Fire Cider, Community Indigo Vat Fermented Salsa, Bone Broth & Liver Paté, Flower Farming, Sourdough Bread-Making, Oyster Mushroom Pails, Fermentation, Hempcrete, Raising Alpacas, Natural Dyeing, Humanure Compost Toilets, Pastured Layers, Sheep School, Permabed Design, Permaculture Water Management, Natural Basket-Making, Tree Tapping, Cast Iron, Kombucha, Canning, Blacksmithing, Community Mend-In

One SETI member describes it as "super well organized, interesting and relevant to the reskilling and homesteading community".