SCROLL DOWN -- new items are added regularly

NOTE: If you're looking for an event that's not in here yet, check the Workshops/ Events page!

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Dear Editor,

The Sustainable Living Project (SLP) and Local Living Festival would like to offer your readers an opportunity
to sponsor or volunteer for our year-round "Skills-Building Workshops for Resourceful Living", or the second annual Local Living Festival, September 24 and 25, at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm in Canton, NY.

Twelve hundred people attended the first Local Living Festival and our year-round programs reach thousands more through extensive media campaigns, bulk e-mailings, website and Facebook coverage. Our 2011 community presence is only growing!

There is a growing constituency for the SLP; the only educational program of its kind in the North Country. We promote environmental impact reduction through practical rural and simple living skills.

Programs include: Pumping Water Without Electricity, How We Saved 60% on our Energy Bills, Rainwater Catchment, Food Preservation, Raising Livestock and Poultry, Bicycle Repair, Orcharding, Forestry, Solar Greenhouse, Mowing with a Scythe, Beekeeping, and hundreds more.

Long-term goals include a Community Resource Center & Agricultural Depot plus an eventual Homesteading College in the St. Lawrence River Valley, with a core curriculum based on growing, eating and preserving food, renewable energy systems, and "green" building and traditional rural skills. See the Future Plans page of our website for details about these hugely exciting projects!

We sincerely hope you will join the 75+ volunteers supporting the SLP and Local Living Festival. Small gifts of your valuable time, in-kind donations, major donations -- every bit helps us achieve our goals! The SLP enjoys oversight by Seedcorn, Inc., a 501(c)3 educational organization.

With your help we can inspire awareness to reduce our local ecological footprint, one step at a time. Exhibitors and Workshop Presenters are also sought! Please contact SustLivingProject@gmail.com or 315-347-4223.

Sincerely,

Chelle Lindahl & Melinda Ely, Project Co-Coordinators
Rajiv Narula, Project Organizer
Paul Pickens, Major Donor Coordinator
Jacki DeGraw, Festival Exhibit Coordinator

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Nutritious ~ Delicious ~  & Cheap!  
Fun Ways to Eat Low on the Food Chain
3 - 5 pm, Saturday, March 12, 2011
Potsdam, NY ~ RSVP for venue
Presenter: Paula Youmell

A cooking class - and more!  The nuts and bolts of food preparation skills, creating delicious and healthful meals that are good for your "ecological footprint" as well as your wallet, how to make a pot of "rice-n-beans" a joy to eat to the last bite, fun condiments, herbs and spices, and many basic skills as well!
Attendees will learn the in's and out's of the mysterious and healthful legume (beans), various grains and inspired seasonal eating. 
MUST RSVP to reserve your space!  (email SustLivingProject@gmail.com)  Please include all participants names, phone numbers and email addy's.

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Bees and BeeKeeping Workshop
Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 7 pm
Canton Unitarian Universalist Church Sanctuary
Main Church Entrance, 3-1/2 Main Street, Canton, NY

Due to overflow capacity in February, this 2nd Workshop is now scheduled! 
Join us on March 2nd when Mark Berninghausen of Squeak Creek Apiaries will demonstrate with empty bee hive boxes and answer all of your questions about bees and beekeeping.  His background includes an AAS Degree in Commercial Beekeeping from Ohio State University's Agricultural Technical Institute, 20 years of seasonal work with the NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets, 20-plus years working with and for other beekeepers in Ohio and NY, Florida, and South Carolina, and much more.

RSVP appreciated but not necessary.  (SustLivingProject@gmail.com)  All are welcome. 
A donation of up to $10 is requested for the Workshop.

PLEASE NOTE: Unless you already have a source for purchasing a bee nucleus, you may not be able to do so this year (supply and demand - plus timing!)  Mark your calendar for no later than December to order them for the next Spring season.  If you can't find any, you can use this time to learn more about it through our:

NEW monthly Discussion Group on the fourth Wednesday of the month in Canton.  This is for Novice to Advanced levels and those wishing to go All Natural as well, but the March 2 Workshop is recommended first if you are a Novice!

(see also Bee Discussion Group February 23, below)

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Bees and BeeKeeping  Discussion Group
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
RSVP for location please.

A regular Discussion Group has formed and will meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month in Canton, NY.
Novice to Advanced levels are welcome but the March 2 Workshop is recommended first if you are a Novice! 

Three group discussion times:

• The Novice Discussion session is at 6:30 and will be moderated by an experienced beekeeper from Squeak Creek Apiaries or the Empire State Honey Producers Assn.  Attendees should know which end of the hive is which (so to speak).  If not, please inquire about one of our Workshops (see March 2, above).
• The Advanced Discussion is at 7:30.  Novices are welcome to sit in on this group for educational purposes but are asked not to disrupt with beginner questions.
• If there is interest, an "All Natural" group is at 8:30-ish for those who wish to raise chemical-free bees (though there is discussion that this is very difficult to accomplish for an extended period of time).
  

Email us (SustLivingProject@gmail.com) with your skill level(s), name(s), phone number(s), and email addresses if you would like to be included in the Discussion Group. 
A small donation per person is requested each month -- we'll pass the hat.

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Planning Gathering for Local Living Festival
& SLP Year-Round Programs


CANTON, NY -- The Sustainable Living Project (SLP) is holding their monthly gathering (on the second Wednesdays) to plan for the 2011 Local Living Festival, scheduled for September 24 & 25, as well as their many year-round workshops, home tours, and educational events. 

Interested members of the public are welcome to join in on Wednesday, February 9th at 7 PM  in the Canton Fire Department Community Room at 77 Riverside Drive, Canton. 
The gathering will last approximately 60 minutes, or 90 minutes if participants join the the break-out sessions to follow the meeting.  Those who are not familiar with the organization are asked to consider arriving 15 minutes early for a brief orientation and snacks.

The SLP believes that "Many Hands Make Light Work" and encourages people to check out the Be Involved page on their website: www.SustainableLivingProject.net to see where they could best fit in. 

Please RSVP to (315) 347-4223 or SustLivingProject@gmail.com.  The Sustainable Living Project is staffed entirely by dedicated volunteers and is part of Seedcorn, a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization in Potsdam, NY.

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BeeKeeping Workshop & Discussion
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Chelle Lindahl, 315.347.4223 or sustlivingproject@gmail.com
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POTSDAM, NY -- A workshop and discussion on Bees and BeeKeeping will feature local expert Mark Berninghausen of Squeak Creek Apiaries as the workshop presenter.  His background includes an AAS Degree in Commercial Beekeeping from Ohio State University's Agricultural Technical Institute, 20 years of seasonal work with the NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets, 20-plus years working with and for other beekeepers in Ohio and NY, Florida, and South Carolina, and much more.  Empty hives and other equipment will be shown and their uses discussed.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 3rd and is sponsored by the Sustainable Living Project (SLP), coordinator of the Local Living Festival in September.  It will be held in the comfortable parlor at the rear of Scoopuccino's Bakery & Cafe at 167 Market Street in Potsdam. 

A la carte dining and dessert will be available for those who wish to support the host venue, or who are just plain hungry.    http://www.scoopuccinos.com/index.html    Dinners range from $7-19 and includes local black angus and homemade gelato!  Please arrive 15 minutes early if you plan to order food, even if just from the bakery counter, in order to avoid disruption.

All beekeeping skill levels are welcome.  Space is limited, so an RSVP is necessary - especially since, if there is overflow or weather cancellation, a second date will be added.

Please contact the SLP at 315-347-4223 or SustLivingProject @ gmail .com for reservations or more information.  This event is a free-will donation basis to support the Festival and year-round Workshops. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.  The Sustainable Living Project is part of Seedcorn, a non-profit, 510(c)3 educational organization in St. Lawrence County, NY and can be viewed on the web at www. SustainableLivingProject .net.

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A la carte dining and dessert will be available for those who wish to support the host venue, or who are just plain hungry.    http://www.scoopuccinos.com/index.html    Dinners range from $7-19 and includes local black angus and homemade gelato!  Please arrive 15 minutes early if you plan to order food, even if just from the bakery counter, in order to avoid disruption.

Please RSVP as seating is limited.  A second event may be scheduled if there is overflow or a weather cancellation, so calling ahead is recommended: 315 347 4223 or SustLivingProject@gmail.com. 
Please Note the Workshop name, your cell or other best contact phone prior to the Workshop, and number in your party  - their names and contact info is helpful as well.
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Sustainable Living Project & Local Living Festival
Planning Get-Together

Where:  Canton Fire Dept. Community Room, 77 Riverside Dr., Canton
When:    7 PM, Wed., January 12, 2011
Contact:  Chelle or Melinda, 315.347.4223, www. SustainableLivingProject .net

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Low on your meal plan?
REGISTER TODAY - SPACE LIMITED!
Workshop date:  Sunday, Dec. 5,  2010 at 1:30 PM
St. Lawrence University students in the
Community-Based Learning Program present a
Nutritious, Delicious (and low on the food chain!)
Cooking Class -- a "Rice and Beans" Workshop!

Posted November 30th, 2010 by apveid08 Event Details Since many student's meal plans are likely running low, we are creating a workshop showing students how to cook cheap and delicious food; mainly, various grains and many different types of yummy beans!

The class will be run by a local expert on cooking, Paula Youmell, and is coordinated by five SLU students participating in a Community Based Learning course that works in collaboration with the Sustainable Living Project (SLP). The SLP is a local organization seeking to give people the knowledge to live more self-sufficiently and work towards a more connected and vibrant local community.

Save the date: this Sunday, December 5th at 1:30 pm. The class will be at the Presbyterian Church at the corner or Park St. and Park Place. Its about a ten minute walk for most students, but we'll be taking a van from the bookstore parking lot leaving at 1:15 for those who want a ride.  

SPACE IS LIMITED -- PLEASE PRE-REGISTER IN ORDER TO JOIN US.

You'll get to help cook, learn new easy and healthy recipes, and have some free grub.  Any questions, email:

sustlivingproject@gmail.com   or   apveid08@stlawu.edu

S.L.U. Center for Civic Engagement sponsorship is greatly appreciated and made this event possible.

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Preserves Swap
Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010 10:15 AM
Canton, NY (email for details - see link below)

Passing this notice of an interesting local event along - and we'll be there helping out.
Please be sure to review the guidelines if you plan to join in.  How do you get the Guidelines? 
Click here to email us and we'll send them to you as an attachment.
Hope to see you there!  Please see the notice below.
The Gang at the SLP

Hi there folks:


   I wanted to let you know about an event that is coming up in Canton on Dec. 4th in the spirit of community gatherings and potlucks.

   It's a barter fair for folks to trade their preserved foods and other homemade items.  A celebration of the whole range of tasty goods we eat to get us through the winter.  You can be creative about which foods you'd like to bring.  Just make sure they are labeled and put up this year. 

  No money exchange is allowed, just person to person swapping.  It's all voluntary.  You can make offers when you see someone has something you like, or wait until someone approaches you.

  I've attached two files.  One is the flyer for the event and the other is the general guidelines.  (Note email us above for these documents).

  We're excited about it, and it'll only be as interesting as the participants make it.

adios for now,
Flip
Little Grasse CSA, Canton

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NEWS IS SOMETIMES ADDED FREQUENTLY --
SCROLL DOWN TO FIND AN ITEM!

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October 8, 2010 - to all North Country media outlets

Dear Editor,

What a wonderful day!  The first ever Local Living Festival was a wonderful, gratifying and very fun educational event for over a thousand attendees.  We hope you were one of them!  Many, many thanks to the over 50 volunteers who helped us make this happen!  The Sustainable Living Project is staffed entirely by dedicated volunteers and is coordinated by the four of us, but the Local Living Festival itself came about because of the efforts of several other serious contributors for months in advance:  Bali MacKentley, Raamitha Pillay, Rajiv Narula, Jacob Reid, Patti Hogle, Audry Duncan and Betsy Hodge most notably.

Aside from those special people on the Coordinating Committee, Miles Manchester went above and beyond as did Jackie DeGraw, Jayne George, Dale Pondysh, and Laurie, Eric and son Leo who came down from Montreal -- they were all our top volunteers on Festival Day!  Eric Williams-Bergen had faith in us and put in a lot of effort to make things happen; and succeeded!  The crew of six students from the Community Based Learning program of the Center for Civic Engagement at St. Lawrence University also really came through for us in the final stretch, as did the whole troupe of students from the Little River Community School, plus the BOCES Community Connections Program and SUNY Canton Work Studies. 


Also, Shava Kendrick, Intern at the Office for the Aging who coordinated the wonderful free shuttle bus service through St. Lawrence County Public Transportation, was stellar -- they are lucky to have her!   And special thanks to Farm Manager Charlie Hitchman, with the help of Ron Rogers, for all they did to prepare and oversee the Learning Farm site for the Festival.  Patricia Greene, former Sustainable Energy Fair coordinator stepped in and helped with some key items in timely fashion as well.  We appreciate them and ALL of the wonderful volunteers, too numerous to mention by name.

Do you know, not one of our Workshop Presenters was paid to be there?  For many, it cost them for the privilege.  We presented 49 diverse Workshops on topics that ran the gamut from simple living skills to high-tech.  That is amazing and wonderful that they did that for you.  We appreciate them tremendously!  See who they are and what they talked about at our website, www. SustainableLivingProject. net.  And while you're there, drop us a line about future Workshops you'd like to attend!   We  have already begun the Autumnal Wonders series (see the Year Round Events webpage) with Sandstone Laying and Honey Harvesting.

For anyone interested there is a list, including websites, of the 63 exhibitors who graced the Festival with their demonstrations, products and services (not to mention some darn good food -- all locally sourced!).  You will find that on our website on the Local Living Festival page.  Last, but certainly not least -- our sponsors, who had faith in us to do this thing and put up the funding to allow it to happen!  Many thanks to:  the Maple Ridge Charitable Fund, generous benefactors Liam Hunt and Kathleen Stein, ADKGreenCircle.org, St. Lawrence County Public Transportation at www. CommuterBusInfo .com, the Potsdam Food Coop, the Potsdam Farmer's Market, Great Northern Printing, North Country Savings Bank, The Institute for a Sustainable Environment at Clarkson University, and North Lawrence Dairy, Inc.-- local manufacturers of Breyers Yogurt, sourced  from local dairy farms!  St. Lawrence University sponsored our Featured Speakers with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Environmental Education Initiative For Active Learning, Research, and Advocacy Grant. 

Many thanks also for in-kind support from Media Sponsor NCPR.org as well as the Unitarian Universalist Church, Northern Regional Center for Independent Living, the Rossie Community Center, and to the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm for the use of their beautiful facilities!  The Sweetgrass Foundation has been kind enough to provide funding going forward into 2011 as well.

If you weren't able to be at the Local Living Festival this year, please join us next year -- or sooner, for one of our ongoing Workshops and events.  The Sustainable Living Project facilitates skills-building for self-reliance, appropriate technology,  environmental awareness, energy independence and small scale local agriculture.  We do this by sharing low-impact and low-cost solutions people can incorporate into their lives to reduce their ecological footprint.  And we do it with your help.  Thanks to all who contributed and attended the first ever Local Living Festival!

The Sustainable Living Project Team
Chelle Lindahl, Melinda Ely, Vanessa Bittner and Rosalind Ilett
Sharing Knowledge from the Past ~ Building Skills for the Future

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To sign up for these limited-attendance Workshops or see future topics as well, please go to www.SustainableLivingProject.net <http://www.sustainablelivingproject.net/> or call (315) 347-4223.  There is no set fee for the Workshops but a donation is requested of those who are able -- though no one will be turned away for lack of funds.  The Sustainable Living Project is a part of Seedcorn, a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization in Potsdam, NY, and works to both inspire and enable people to adopt more healthy, local and sustainable ways of living.

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September 27, 2010

St. Lawrence County Public Transportation provided two free shuttle buses all day at the Local Living Festival!
How wonderful is that!  Please consider taking the bus sometimes instead of doing all the driving alone!  It can be very worthwhile and neighborly too!  Here are the  totals sent to us by the lovely Intern who coordinated this for us:

Chelle,

The tally is as follows:

Both buses totaled 2013 riders and 226 miles.

Thank you for the information it will be helpful, I believe.

Shava

Intern

Office of the Aging

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Watertown Daily Times and Daily Courier Observer

Tradition Meets Technology

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http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100919/ADV01/309199892/0/ogd01

North Country Sustainable Living Festival Sept. 25-26By MARTHA ELLEN

JOHNSON NEWS SERVICE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2010
The cultivating tractor modified by St. Lawrence Nurseries owner William L. MacKentley starts up with more of a purr than a roar.
That's because the batteries are charged by the same solar panels - not by a gas-powered engine - that provide his Potsdam home's energy and hot water.
In time, the single solar panel mounted on the back of the Allis-Chalmers Model G tractor will be more than a sun screen for the driver. After Mr. MacKentley finishes his modifications, the energy collected by the solar panel also will plug into the home's energy grid once the tractor is parked.
"I'll be charging the house off the tractor," Mr. MacKentley said. "These are the kinds of things we all need to be doing. It's all part and parcel of how we're going to live."
Mr. MacKentley's tractor, along with other demonstrations, will be part of the first North Country Sustainable Living Festival Sept. 25 and 26 at Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm on Route 68 in Canton. The festival will focus on self-reliance through appropriate technology, environmental awareness, and energy independence.
"I think the main thing is to create community," said Mr. MacKentley, who runs a nursery specializing in winter-hardy fruits. "I see this as a venue of new and old technology to go into the future. It's about a lifestyle."
Most of the events at the Local Living Festival will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 25.
Organizers have lined up over 50 workshops, including eight for children.
"There's still more coming in," said Chelle S. Lindahl, administrative co-coordinator. "The mix is going to be very diverse. It's all about skills building."
There will be workshops on cooking and food preservation, transportation, gardening and farming, forestry, green building, earth friendly technology, simple living, animals for milk, meat and fiber, pellet production, demonstrators of various crafts and skills, and health and wellness.
Speakers include Alex Lee, director of Project Laundry List in Concord, N.H., and promoter of the Right to Dry Clothesline Initiative; author Shannon Hayes, West Fulton, on reclaiming domesticity from consumer culture; and James S. Juczak, Adams Center, on demystifying sustainable practices. Mr. Juczak recently took a position with Cooperative Extension as a regional energy program coordinator over a 10-county area in the north country.
There will be a farmers market and several food vendors.
"We're having all locally sourced food," Ms. Lindahl said.
St. Lawrence County Commuter Bus will provide free shuttle service from the parking lots to the farm.
"What could be more fitting with our mission?" Ms. Lindahl said.
On Sept. 26, there will be several home tours and more intensive workshops.
On the Net
Sustainable Living Project: www.sustainablelivingproject.net

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TOUR   FIVE  LOCATIONS 
ON  SUNDAY,  SEPT 26
>>  1pm to 4 pm  <<
except Adams Center 10am to 4pm

SWEETCORE FARM  *  RICE FAMILY HOMESTEAD
near Canton / Russell / Pyrites






September 24, 2010 - to mailing list

Hello Friends!

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September 22, 2010 - submitted to http://ncenergyclearinghouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/energy-related-workshops-at-local.html

Local  Living Festival
Saturday September 25, 2010  9am -5pm  $5 admission donation
Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm, Rt. 68,
2.3 miles South of Canton, NY.

SATURDAY WORKSHOPS - Energy Related

Earth-Friendly / Appropriate Technology

FEATURED SPEAKER 1pm
“Laundry: An Inconvenient Chore?“ -Alex Lee

”Totally Doable: How We Cut our Energy Use by over 60% and Why”
-STOREY WELCH, Doug and Ginger  9AM

“Creative Off-grid Retrofit Systems” -BARTLETT, Jerry ("Crazy") 4PM

"Harvesting Rainwater in the North Country" -BOSWORTH, John 2PM

“Are Wood-based Fuels the Way to Combat Global Warming?” -HOPKE, Philip 10AM

"An Introduction to Small Wind Turbine Technology" -Ken Visser 11AM

PANEL:  “Locating & Pumping Water for a Beginning Homesteader (With & Without Electricity)”
-Jim Juczak, Luke Martin, Rich Douglass & John Chiaramella 10AM

PANEL DISCUSSION:  “Flush Busters: Simple & Cheap Humanure Composting -- How to Save Money, Resources, and Frozen Pipes While Enriching Your Soil” -Richard Grover, Chelle Lindahl, Mike Corse 3PM
 
 Transportation

“Wood Gasification - An Alternative to Fossil Fuels” -OLSEN, Bill 1PM

A veggie-oil bus, biodeisel ambulance, a home-conversion Allis-Chalmers G electric tractor with solar panel shade roof & other alternative fuel vehicles on hand + bicycling, horse & buggy.
 
Green Building

"Affordable Solar Strategies"-ANTHONY, Dean 10AM

"The Art of Stone Masonry I&II" -HUBER, Tom  11AM & 2PM

"Making a Concrete Counter-Top with Simple Tools" -LEE, Bryan 9AM

“A Case Study of How to Design a Zero-Carbon, Net-Zero-Energy Home: A Vision for a Sustainable Future” -TYREE, Mel 2PM

Grass Energy Pellets will be made on site
plus a demonstration of solar hot water heating, and more!   

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September 18, 2010 - submitted to North Country Media outlets

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chelle Lindahl 315.347.4223 chellel@usa.net



50+ Workshops Announced at Local Living Festival

CANTON -- The Local Living Festival, coming up this weekend, has announced it’s roster of over 50 Skills-Building Workshops, including hourly children’s programs on Saturday plus loads of farm animals and fun activities.
 
Featured Speakers include Alex Lee, Shannon Hayes and Jim Juczak on Saturday.  Extended workshops and the Green Home & Garden Tours of local "green" homes will occur on Sunday, Sept. 26, pre-registered only.
 
The Workshops and presenters are categorized by theme.  A full description of the Workshop and a brief bio of the presenters can be found on the Sustainable Living Project website. All times shown are for Saturday, September 25.  
 
Gardening / Farming
"Growing Berries, Grapes & Fruits in Northern Climates” - MacKENTLEY, Bill 9 AM
“Saving Seeds”  -CATEFORIS, Mary-Ann 1PM
"Small-Scale Orcharding in the North Country -MacKENTLEY, Bill 2PM
"Open Forum for Questions on Growing Organic Vegetables and Herbs" -TENGELER, Dulli 3PM
 
 Transportation
“Wood Gasification - An Alternative to Fossil Fuels” -OLSEN, Bill 1PM
A veggie-oil bus, a home-conversion Allis-Chalmers G electric tractor with solar panel shade roof & other alternative fuel vehicles on hand + bicycling, horse & buggy.
 
Forestry / Woodlot / Healthy Hearth
"Dancing with a  Crosscut Saw: The Art and Pleasure of Sawing Logs to the Rhythm of Your Body " -GOLDSTEIN, Eddie 11AM
"I Think I Can, I Know I Can, Split That Piece of Wood!" or “Wood-Splitting 101, No Prerequisite Required” -BRANT, Joseph 10AM
 
Green Building
"Affordable Solar Strategies"-ANTHONY, Dean 10AM
"The Art of Stone Masonry I&II" -HUBER, Tom  11AM & 2PM
 "Making a Concrete Counter-Top with Simple Tools" -LEE, Bryan 9AM
“A Case Study of How to Design a Zero-Carbon, Net-Zero-Energy Home: A Vision for a Sustainable Future” -TYREE, Mel 2PM
 
Earth-Friendly / Appropriate Technology
“Creative Off-grid Retrofit Systems” -BARTLETT, Jerry ("Crazy") 4PM
"Harvesting Rainwater in the North Country" -BOSWORTH, John 2PM
“Are Wood-based Fuels the Way to Combat Global Warming?” -HOPKE, Philip 10AM
"An Introduction to Small Wind Turbine Technology" -Ken Visser 11AM
PANEL:  “Locating & Pumping Water for a Beginning Homesteader (With & Without Electricity)” -Jim Juczak, Luke Martin, Rich Douglass & John Charamella 10AM
PANEL DISCUSSION:  “Flush Busters: Simple & Cheap Humanure Composting -- How to Save Money, Resources, and Frozen Pipes While Enriching Your Soil” -Richard Grover, Chelle Lindahl, Mike Corse 3PM
 
Children & Young at Heart
Children's Activity Tent will be humming all day!  A different activity every hour -- loads of fun!  LUNCH-TIME:  Hula Hoops, Sack Race, don't miss the Butter Dance!!
 
Living Simply
FEATURED SPEAKER 3pm
"Demystifying Green" or  "Simply Green:  Demystifying Sustainable Practices for Ordinary People" - JUCZAK, Jim
"A Low-Tech Lifestyle: High Living, Low on the Hog” -DOUGLASS, Rich 9AM
“Scrounging a Home and Life's Necessities” - JUCZAK, Jim 4PM
"One Lazy & Broke Person's Guide to Food Self-Sufficiency" -COLBERT, Diane 4PM
 
Animals / for Milk, Meat and Fiber
“The Family Cow” - MacKENTLEY, Bali 1PM
"Backyard Sheep" -HODGE, Betsy 9AM
“Raw Milk” -PICKARD PALMER, Martha 4PM
"Got Goat?” -SACHNO, Rob & Winny 11AM
PANEL:   "Cheese-Making" Diana & Bali MacKentley, Larisa Martin, Shirley & Don Hitchman 2PM
"Fur-bearer Trapping" -TUTHILL, Rex 9AM
PANEL:   "Basics of Backyard Poultry" -Ann & Brian Bennett and Brad Clements 1PM
 
Dirty Work
Grass Energy Pellets will be made on site and a demonstration of solar hot water heating, and more!
 
Lost Arts / Forgotten Skills
FEATURED SPEAKER 11am
"Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from Consumer Culture" -HAYES, Shannon
“The Gleaners and Us: Living Well on the Garbage of Society” -MACHIDA, Carol & Brian 3PM
“Introductory Beekeeping” -McDERMOTT, Whitney 1PM
 
Cooking / Food Preservation
"Get Cultured:  Cultured Food & Drinks" -HOHMEYER, Cathy 2PM
“Speedy Bread-Making”  -JUCZAK, Jim 9AM
“Basic Food Preservation: Save Your Harvest!” -LANG, Katherine 4PM
“Homegrown Tempeh: A Unique Treat from Seed to Belly” -WASHO, Bob  &  FILIPPI, Flip 10AM
"Simple Solar Cooking!" -COLLINS, Caron 3PM
 
Health & Wellness
“Sustainable Earth Begins at Birth” -BERNECKI DeJOY, Sharon 10AM
"Pollutant Carcinogen Exposure Reduction Education"  (Part I & II) - HASSIG, Don 2PM
“Herbal Medicine in the Home” -PICKENS, Rebecca 3PM
“Folkloric Herbal Tincture Making” -ROSENBARKER, Dawn 11AM
“Whole Foods for the Whole Body” -YOUMELL, Paula 1PM
 
College & Dorm
Town & Apartment Dwellers (applicable to the countryside too!)
FEATURED SPEAKER 1pm
“Laundry: An Inconvenient Chore?“ -Alex Lee
”Totally Doable: How We Cut our Energy Use by over 60% and Why” -STOREY WELCH, Doug and Ginger
 
Local & Sustainable Business
“Developing Your Home Based Business" -MAINE, Sandy 4PM

Sponsors of the Local Living Festival are the Maple Ridge Charitable Fund, Liam Hunt and Kathleen Stein, North Country Savings Bank, Adirondack Green Circle, North Lawrence Dairy, Inc./ Breyers Yogurt, Potsdam Farmer's Market, Potsdam Food CoOp, Great Northern Printing, St.  Lawrence University, The Institute for a Sustainable Environment at Clarkson University, NCPR Media Sponsors and St. Lawrence County Public Transportation -- providing FREE shuttle bus service all day at the Local Living Festival.

The Local Living Festival is from 9am to 5pm on Saturday Sept. 25 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm on Rt. 68, 2.3 miles south of Canton.  Admission is $5 adults, free if arriving by non-gasoline-powered transportation. Call 315.347.4223 or www.SustainableLivingProject.net/local-living-festival

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September 10, 2010 - submitted to North Country Media outlets

Press Release

Canton, NY --The Local Living Festival is taking place on September 25th from 9 am to 5 pm at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm in Canton.  With the help of St. Lawrence University and St. Lawrence Nurseries, the Festival has secured two wonderful speakers with national reputations to appear at this dynamic event.  Both speakers are consummate professionals who wish to share with audiences their lively and humorous, yet vitally important messages about how to more easily live sustainable and ecological lives.

Alexander P. Lee of laundrylist.org has appeared in numerous national venues, including the Colbert Report in May 2010, and has been featured in Time Magazine, Grist, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. He is currently writing a book, More Time to Hang: Greening America’s Dirty Laundry.

Alex Lee is the founder and Executive Director of Project Laundry List, which leads the air-drying clothesline and cold-water washing revolution, providing the premier online source for information about simple, effective ways to save energy and money through the simple task of washing one's clothes.  The Board of Advisors of Project Laundry List includes such luminaries as Helen Caldicott, M.D., David Suzuki, Ph.D., Sen. Dick McCormack (VT) and acclaimed author Bill McKibben.  Mr. Lee is currently running for office as State Representative in New Hampshire.

Mr. Lee's presentation is entitled "Laundry: An Inconvenient Chore" and is engaging and humorous, yet fact-filled and down-to-earth, with anecdotes and helpful ideas for the average audience about how to save both money and the environment by such simple actions as letting it all hang out on the clothesline.  In addition, Alex plans to ride his bicycle to the North Country from New Hampshire for this event; just a warm-up for next year's cross-country book tour on two wheels!

Shannon Hayes of shannonhayes.info and her family are grass-fed beef farmers on Sap Bush Hollow Farm in Scoharie County, NY.  She is the host of grassfedcooking.com, and the author of two previous books, The Farmer and the Grill and The Grassfed Gourmet.  Her most recent book is entitled Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from Consumer Culture.  The book looks at men and women across the United States who have opted to focus their lives on home and hearth as a political and ecological act; who have chosen to center their lives around family and community not only for personal fulfillment, but as a way to bring about cultural change.
The first annual Local Living Festival is a celebration of simple living skills and rural life -- in town, dorm-room or countryside. Watch this news site next week for an announcement of the complete listing of the Workshops to be offered at the Local Living Festival on Saturday, September 25th.  Sunday, September 26th will feature a guided tour of three local green homesteads.

Workshop topics include green building techniques, growing food and raising animals, renewable energy and energy efficiency, simple living, lost arts and forgotten skills, food preservation, alternative transportation, kitchen and solid waste composting, living electricity free, scrounging, and living mortgage free.  
The Dear Alpaca Farm will show their handsome animals and it is hoped that a pair of baby oxen in training may also be on hand, as well as wagon rides from the St. Lawrence County Draft Horse Association members.  Also visit with the sheep, pigs and chickens that normally reside at the Learning Farm.
For more information, contact the Local Living Festival organizers at 315.347.4223, P.O. Box 736, Canton, NY  13617, SustLivingProject@gmail.com, or www.SustainableLivingProject.net. Sponsorship or assistance for the Festival, a Seedcorn event,  has been provided by St. Lawrence County Public Transportation, St. Lawrence Nurseries, Maple Ridge Charitable Fund, Liam Hunt & Kathleen Stein, North Country Savings Bank, www.ADKGreenCircle.org, the Potsdam Food Coop, North Lawrence Dairy (Breyer's), St. Lawrence University, the Institute for the Environment at Clarkson University, and Media Sponsor: NCPR.org.


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September 2, 2010 - submitted to North Country Media outlets

News Release   AND  Community Calendar Listing
For Immediate Release

Contact:  Chelle Lindahl, Co-Coordinator
Sustainable Living Project & Local Living Festival
sustlivingproject@gmail.com and chellel@usa.net
315.347.4223


Community Calendar   (also see Press Release below)
Sept 10
Pre-registration date for volunteers at Local Living Festival, Canton, NY, for  9/23 to 9/26
SustLivingProject@gmail.com or 315-347-4223  www.SustainableLivingProject.net

  
100+ Volunteers Sought
 
Canton, NY -- Seedcorn's Sustainable Living Project (SLP) seeks over 100 volunteers for the Local Living Festival, to be held on September 25 and 26, 2010 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm near Canton, NY.

The SLP invites the community to be a volunteer as part of the dynamic movement toward simple living skills and self-reliant local communities.  There will be dozens of exhibitors and many workshops on simple living skills at the Festival.  Workshops range from renewable energy to making kim chee and kombucha, from green building techniques to gardening, composing toilets, using less energy in your home and appropriate technology.  A satellite of the Potsdam Farmer’s Market and the Dear Alpacas, as well as wagon rides and critters, will be on hand. There are pre-registered “Green Homestead and Garden/Farm Tours on Sunday. 

The Festival is managed entirely by experienced and dedicated volunteers and a massive influx of volunteers is needed to staff the event. Perquisites for volunteering for at least two hours include free Festival admission (a $5 savings), being part of the Festival Community, refreshments, and meeting the speakers and workshop presenters involved!
 
Help is needed prior to the Festival with hanging posters in store windows & community bulletin boards, placing lawn signs in strategic locations throughout the county, cleaning up the facility (a converted barn, overgrown greenhouse, grounds), creating displays and visual motifs, helping to cover the greenhouse, paint curbs and interior space, etc.)  There will be a group clean-up date but solo efforts also welcome.

Jobs during the Festival include staffing the Festival Welcome booth, assisting in the Hospitality Area,  being a general "gopher", assisting exhibitors load in and out as well as relieve them for breaks, assisting speakers and workshop presenters (technology issues, distribute evaluation forms), staffing the parking lot (directing vehicles, collecting payments), assisting at the Children’s Tent or with set-up and clean-up (which allows maximum free time during Festival.)

Local Living Festival organizers are signing up volunteers in two hours shifts for Thursday (set up), September 23, between 4 to7 pm, for Friday, September 24, (set-up) also between 4 to 7 pm, for Saturday, September 25, from 8 am to 6 pm and for Sunday, September 26, 9 am to 4:30 pm.  Registering by September 10th would be helpful to plan Festival staffing.

For a sign-up sheet to complete and return, please go to www.SustainableLivingProject.net/get-involved or call or write to Melinda at 315-778-6506 or SustLivingProject@gmail.com, stating your name, mailing address, phone(s), and email.

The Local Living Festival is sponsored or assisted by St. Lawrence County Public Transportation, North Country Savings Bank, Liam Hunt & Kathleen Stein, the Maple Ridge Charitable Foundation, Adirondack Green Circle, the Potsdam Farmer's Market and the Potsdam Food CoOp & Carriage House Bakery.  North Country Public Radio is a Media Sponsor for this event.

The Sustainable Living Project (SLP) is entirely staffed by dedicated volunteers and is a project of Seedcorn, a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization based in Potsdam, NY.  Through it's many year-round activities, and the annual Local Living Festival, the SLP focuses on rural skills and practical low-cost household systems to help people reduce their environmental "footprint", whether in town or the countryside.

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CALL FOR LOCAL LIVING FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS
(please excuse cross-postings)
 
Mark your calendars – we need you! The Local Living Festival of Seedcorn's Sustainable Living Project will take place September 25th (and 26th) at the  Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm just south of Canton on Route 68. 

We need volunteers BEFORE the event and DURING the Local Living Festival. 
Please see the sign up below.

Nationally known authors Shannon Hayes, author of "Radical Homemakers:  Reclaiming Domesticity from Consumer Culture", and Alex Lee, Director of the  "Right to Dry" Clothesline Project, will be featured speakers at the Festival this year, as well as our own Jim Jucszak on "Demystifying Green Practices".

There will be workshops on everything from alternative energy, green building,  gardening, appropriate technology, and small-scale agriculture to a sustainable  art contest, a satellite of the Potsdam Farmer’s Market, and so much more. We will have pre-registered “hands-on” longer workshops and homestead tours on Sunday.  There will also be dozens of exhibitors at the Fair. You can find out all about it at www.SustainableLivingProject.net.    Don't miss it!

The Festival is run entirely by volunteers. Will you give us a couple of hours beforehand or on the Saturday or Sunday?

You'll be joining a crew of amazing and dedicated people.  Perks for volunteering  at least two hours include free Festival admission, being part of the Festival Community, refreshments, and meeting the speakers and workshop presenters involved!  Did we mention our undying thanks?

Please note that volunteers are needed both for the Festival and for our year-round programs.  From a one-hour task that would be helpful to us to taking  on a job as one of our co-coordinators -- you are welcome to join our team now, later, or for the Festival!  For year-round participation: www.SustainableLivingProject.net/get-involved

It would also be extremely appreciated if you were to forward this email to anyone you feel might like to become involved in our  project.
   
Please email or call Melinda Ely to volunteer at 778-6506 or lindy38348@aol.com, as SOON as possible. 
Below is a form detailing the different volunteer tasks BEFORE and DURING the festival; please fill it out and send it back to me at lindy38348@aol.com.


Many thanks,
Melinda Ely
 
Volunteer Coordinator
Sustainable Living Project
PO Box 736 Canton, NY 13617
315.347.4223 (main)
SustLivingProject@gmail.com
www.SustainableLivingProject.net

Sharing Knowledge from the Past ~ Building Skills for the Future
The Sustainable Living Project is entirely staffed by dedicated volunteers.
  
   
  
    Volunteer Sign Up Sheet
  
   
  
   Name(s):
  
   Address:
  
   Phone(s) - please include home and cell #s if applicable:
   
   Email(s):
  

I am available to help BEFORE the Festival with:
(feel free to check or initial more than one!)
  
   ___ Hanging Posters -- store windows & community bulletin boards - now to 9/20/2010.

   ___ Placing lawn signs in strategic locations (& collecting them again -- they  are quite expensive) now to 9/15/2010.

   ___ Cleaning up the facility (barn, greenhouse, grounds) and helping to cover a greenhouse, paint curbs and interior space, etc.)  group clean-up date TBD based on availability -- solo efforts also welcome

   ___ Other (please list what your interests are and check our website -- last item on "Get Involved" page.
                                  www.SustainableLivingProject.net/get-involved


Jobs AT THE FESTIVAL I would do (feel free to check more than one task!):
  
   ___ staff the Sustainable Living Project booth/greet people/staff the One Sustainable Thing or Home Tour or Workshop sign-ups, etc.
  
   ___ work in the Hospitality Area (where volunteers & exhibitors get food & drink)
  
   ___ be a general "gopher" (very important!)
  
   ___ assist exhibitors (watch their booth while they take a short break, etc.)
  
   ___ assist presenters (technology issues, distribute evaluation forms)
  
   ___ staff parking lot (direct vehicles, collect parking payments)
  
   ___ assist with set-up and clean-up (allows you maximum free time during Festival)

    ___ assist at Children’s Tent

    ___ any of the above (note any exceptions)
 
  
I am available to work at the Festival these days/times:
(feel free to check more than one shift!)
  
   ___ Thursday, September 23, set-up, 5-7 pm

  
   ___ Friday, September 24, set-up, 5-7 pm


   ___ Saturday, September 25, set-up, 6-8 am

   ___ Saturday, September 25, set-up, 7-9 am

   ___ Saturday, September 25, set-up, 8-10 am
  
   ___ Saturday, September 25, 9-11 am
  
   ___ Saturday, September 25, 11 am – 1 pm
  
   ___ Saturday, September 25, 1-3 pm
  
   ___ Saturday, September 25, 3-5 pm
  
   ___ Saturday, September 25, clean-up, 5-6 pm

  
   ___ Sunday, September 26, 9-11 am
  
   ___ Sunday, September 26, 11 am – 1 pm
  
   ___ Sunday, September 26, 1-3 pm
  
   ___ Sunday, September 26, clean-up, 3-4:30 pm


Thank you SO much!  Please reply to Melinda at lindy38348@aol.com.





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August 27, 2010 - submitted to North Country Media outlets

Local Living Festival & Green Homestead & Garden Tours

CANTON, NY -- The first annual Local Living Festival, a grassroots community celebration of local rural life skills, focuses on self-reliance through appropriate technology, environmental awareness, energy independence, small-scale local agriculture, and a vibrant local community.  This two-day event, organized by the Sustainable Living Project (a project of Seedcorn) will focus on simple living skills and rural life, in town and in the countryside.

Featured Speakers at the Local Living Festival include nationally-recognized environmental activist Alex Lee of the Right to Dry Clothesline Project (www. laundrylist .org) and Shannon Hayes, Scoharie grass-fed beef farmer and author of several books; most recently of "Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from Consumer Culture" (www. shannonhayes .info).  For a growing list of speakers, workshops and demonstrations you may check the website at www. SustainableLivingProject. org for near daily updates.  Topics will include gardening, food-waste composting, food preservation, green building, small scale farming, fiber arts, homesteading skills, veggie oil vehicles, peak oil, alternative transportation, off and on grid solar PV and hot water, wind, composting toilets, living mortgage free, scrounging, living electricity-free, and energy efficiency in town or in the dorm room.

Saturday the 25th will feature skill-sharing demonstrations, numerous workshops, nationally-known speakers, exhibits and vendors, children's activities, local traditional craft demo's, art, music, dancing, and good local food.  Most activities occur on Saturday.  Sunday will feature the more intensive, hands-on workshops and a guided tour of three green homesteads.  Events on Sunday are "by appointment" -- sign up by phone, email or in person at the Festival the day before.   Additional "self-guided" tours will also take place the following weekend, October 2nd.  Through this educational and fun experience, Festival attendees will learn about low-impact methods and practical low-cost solutions they can incorporate into their own lives which will allow them to both live more simply with the environment and more cheaply as well.  Workshop presenters and skills demonstrators are still sought, as are vendors of local, ecological products.

A locally-made community dinner with local music and dancing on Saturday night is planned to raise funds for the cost of the Festival.   Also included will be a Farmers Market and possibly a Sustainable Art Show with prizes.  The more volunteers helping in advance, the more things can happen at the Local Living Festival!  Volunteers and Interns are sought for various positions, from one hour, one time only, all the way to full-blown project coordination. The Sustainable Living Project and Local Living Festival is staffed entirely by dedicated volunteers.

The Festival will be at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm, 2.3 miles south of Canton on Rt. 68. Cost of entry will be $5 (under 18 and over 80 free), free for volunteers (arrangements in advance) and anyone arriving in an alternatively-powered method (bicycle, on foot, bio-deisel, solar electric vehicle, unicycle, etc. ).

Because sustainability isn't only one day a year, the Sustainable Living Project has a Year-Round program of workshops, events and happenings that you can tap into.  We hope you will.  Please join us at the Learning Farm on Saturday September 25th from 9-5!  For more information:  Local Living Festival,  315.347.4223,  PO Box 736  Canton, NY 13617, SustLivingProject @ gmail com, www. SustainableLivingProject .net.

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submitted to the CoOp Newsletter August 22, 2010
Compost Break Down
Janet Lomastro, SLP Workshop Presenter

.“A place for everything and everything in its place“; the old saying brings back memories of a time when others tried hard to impose on me a host of personal habits that fit well into their prescription for the way to live a proper life.  For them the concept didn’t include one significant application that has had deep meaning for me, that is:  kitchen scraps and yard waste of any kind or size don’t belong in our landfills.  In fact one very good and proper place for them is in a big heap in one’s own back yard.

Over the last 20 years I have developed a composting system that is adapted to my own large garden landscape.  Every bit of kitchen scrape and yard waste that I generate is turned into the invaluable soil amendment we call compost.  This year the Sustainable Living Project has given me the opportunity to share details of my own composting method with people who attend one of the Saturday morning compost workshops.  But more importantly the workshops have led me to think hard about and learn how the composting method that works so well for me can be adapted to the yards of people who garden on a much smaller scale.

Each compost workshop begins with an opportunity for participants to talk about their own composting experience and identify the problems and concerns they encounter.  The two that come up most often are:

“I have a pile for kitchen scraps and yard waste but it never turns into compost.”  
“I never know what to put in and what to keep out because I am concerned about creating odor and attracting skunks and dogs.“

An understanding of how composting works will help to resolve both of these barriers to effective back yard composting.   

A variety of microbes including bacteria, fungi, insects and worms do the work of composting.  As they consume what we provide in the pile these materials are broken down to the final compost product.  The skill of the compost-builder is to provide the microbes with everything they need to thrive and do their work.  The microbes need a balance of carbon, nitrogen, water and oxygen. If the pile has a good balance of these four components the bacteria will thrive, their metabolic activity will give off heat and, within a few days the temperature of the pile will climb to between 130 and 160 degrees Fahrenheit.  The heat is significant in several ways as it:

    kills weed seeds and plant pathogens

    Contributes to the breakdown of materials in the pile.  

    Provides information to the compost builder about the amount of activity that is going on in the pile.

Getting a good balance of carbon and nitrogen
All organic material is largely composed of carbon and nitrogen in varying amounts.  As a general guide, materials which are higher in carbon are dryer, more brown and further away in time from the “living state“.  Conversely, materials higher in nitrogen tend to be wetter, more colorful and closer to the “living state“.  Our compost microbes need to have about 30 times more carbon than nitrogen yet a fairly wide range in the carbon to nitrogen balance will still work.  As you practice building active compost piles you will quickly develop a knack for getting a good balance of carbon to nitrogen.   If your pile has too much carbon it will not heat up -- and you can turn in more of high nitrogen material to fix this.   If your pile has too much nitrogen it will have an unpleasant odor. 

Getting the right amount of oxygen
Adding a variety of materials of different size and shape will help to create air pockets that supply oxygen to the microbes.  A large mass of any one material will compact and exclude air spaces.  Shrub branches and large vegetable stalks don’t break down quickly but they do help to create air pockets that are needed throughout the pile.  Items that haven’t broken down after your pile has heated up and then cooled can be taken out in the sifting process and added to your next pile.

Getting the Right Amount of Water
A fine misting of water throughout the pile will provide just the right amount.  An intermittent addition of water poured from a watering can or garden hose will also work.  When the pile has the right amount of moisture it will feel like a well wrung-out sponge.  Too little water and the microbes won’t have enough to thrive; too much and the water droplets will fill the spaces that would otherwise be filled with air.  In either case the pile won’t heat up, so you can add water or turn in some dry materials as needed to correct this.

Compost Happens
Until you have enough organic material to build a large (about 3’x3’) balanced pile just keep adding to your low activity pile and don’t worry about the balance of materials just yet.  To keep the nuisance animals away keep a supply of non-palatable (from their perspective) compost-able material near your pile.  Each time you add a bucket of kitchen scraps cover it with a layer of the non-palatable material.  Your non-palatable might include chopped up leaves, shrub branches, or weeds pulled from the garden. 

Learn More
So even to those who would think it distain-able, I love to say it:  “Yup I do, I throw all of my kitchen scraps into a pile in my back yard!”  Fortunately today most people want to take steps toward sustainability.  Composting skills come quickly with a little knowledge and some practice.  As a community we can make back yard composting the norm.

To get inspired, learn more and take part in the building of an active pile -- come to a Sustainable Living Project composting work shop. For scheduling and sign-up information contact:

SustLivingProject@gmail.com    *    www.SustainableLivingProject.net
315.347.4223   *   PO Box 736    Canton, NY   13617

All workshops of the Sustainable Living Project are free (donations appreciated) and open to all.
More information will be presented at the Local Living Festival on Saturday, September 25th,
Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm near Canton, NY...

After learning about the details of composting workshop participants build an active pile that will turn into usable compost within a few weeks

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    Sustainable Living Project
                                         in the Media        

The Garden Plot

One of the participants in the August 14th Sustainable Living Project Workshop entitled

        "Home Food-Waste Composting
                            for the Creative Garden"

was also on duty for the Garden Plot blog project of
North Country Public Radio (NCPR) and
Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY).
 
She did a terrific job of reporting on this workshop,
as I'm sure you'll agree when you check it out here:

   http://blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org/gardenplot/

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Cooking in a (Fair Trade & Green Power!) Sun Oven

posted Aug 12, 2010 4:51 PM by Chelle Lindhal

SOLAR COOKING WORKSHOP

Saturday, August 21 from Noon to 1:30 PM.   Rain date Sat., 8/28 Noon.
Limited to 10 participants.  Donation Appreciated.  Potsdam, NY.
RSVP by Friday 8/20 to SustLivingProject@gmail.com or 315-347-4223 - after Thursday, by phone please.



SIGN-UPS FOR A SOLAR COOKING WORKSHOP

POTSDAM -- The Sustainable Living Project (SLP) of Seedcorn has been touring North Country events this summer with their Pledge Program called One Sustainable Thing, encouraging the citizenry to choose from lists of dozens of sustainable practices that they could adopt, joining a hoped-for 1,000 Pledges this year.  One topic surprised the organizers when it was chosen by several participants -- to use a solar cooker for cooking their meals.  It seems there is an organic uptick of interest in the topic in these times of high energy costs.
All are invited to attend this most informative, hands-on workshop to be held in Potsdam in conjunction with the Farmer's Market, at the rear of the municipal parking lot across from the Roxy Theater.   RSVP's are encouraged, though there may be room for walk-ins to meet the group at the Market at Noon that day.  A presentation will take place nearby and demonstrations of the Sun Oven will take place all morning at the Market (opens 10 AM). 

Reservations after Thursday, August 19 must be by phone, not online, to verify there is space availability.  This workshop is presented free of charge, though a donation of any size to benefit the upcoming Local Living Festival is requested.  No one will be turned away for lack of funds.  To RSVP contact the SLP at 315-347-4223, SustLivingProject@gmail.com or www.SustainableLivingProject.net.

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RSVP by Friday 8/20 to SustLivingProject@gmail.com or 315-347-4223 - after Thursday, by phone please.

ANNOUNCING:

Home Food-Waste "Composting for the Creative Garden" Workshop
Saturday, August 14 from 10a.m. to Noon.   Potsdam, NY.
Limited to 10 participants.  Donation Appreciated.  (TWO SPOTS LEFT!  5 PM Aug 12)
Rain date Sun., 8/15 10 a.m. - Noon.

RSVP by Friday 8/13 to Chelle at Seedcorn's SLP
Please review the announcement carefully and see the RSVP section in BOLD at the bottom of this announcement
NOTE: Last-minute RSVP's, after 6 PM Thursday, by phone only please.



Home Composting for the Creative Garden Workshop

POTSDAM -- One of numerous workshops focusing on rural skills and practical low-cost household systems to reduce the "environmental footprint" in both town and countryside, Seedcorn's Sustainable Living Project (SLP) has announced another in its series of Summer of Sustainability events, to take place Saturday, August 14 from 10AM to Noon in Potsdam. 

The Workshop, Home Food-Waste Composting for the Creative Garden will feature construction of a working compost pile with long-time doyenne of decomposition, Janet Lomastro of Potsdam.  A compost pile will be built from scratch by attendees and various options, including some unconventional ideas, will be discussed.  In addition, Ms. Lomastro will present a guided tour of her river-side gardens and discuss her transition from pure "permaculture" principles to a version of the natural gardening practice suitable to her space and place. 

The workshop is primarily on backyard composting but is in the setting of Janet's unique style of landscape gardening dedicated to organic gardening principles and motivated by visual interest and creativity. It includes growing a wide variety of ornamental and medicinal plants, vegetables and herbs.  If you are interested in developing a similar style or are interested in incorporating some of this aspect into your garden work you may get inspiration from her 15-plus-year work-in-progress.  Sustainability comes in many forms -- and if going a little in the "artsy" direction in the garden motivates you to get in there  growing your own food and processing your kitchen and yard waste into beautiful, healthy soil then it’s a good thing, as you shall see in Janet's lovely riverside grotto!   

One added feature to the workshop and tour MAY be a canoe paddle to and from the garden locale if enough attendees are interested.  The event organizers plan to arrange a reduced boat rental rate for those who do not have access to a canoe.  Canoeing groups will meet at 9 a.m. and need to RSVP by 8 PM Thursday August 12 if they do not have a boat of their own.

The Composting Workshop is only one of a series of 'open learning events' where the public is invited to share their knowledge and skills with their neighbors in the tradition of skills-sharing and cooperation -- all of which culminates in a harvest-time Local Living Festival and Green Homes & Gardens Tours -- to be held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm on September 25 and 26, 2010.  Anyone willing to share their knowledge or skills is encouraged to contact the SLP.  The Sustainable Living Project is a project of Seedcorn, a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit organization. 

Attendance at the Composting workshop on Saturday, August 14 at 10 a.m. is  limited to ten participants, with a Rain Date of Sunday, August 15th, 10 a.m.    A donation of any size to the Project is appreciated, though no one will be turned away for lack of funds.  Well behaved, helpful children are very welcome.  For more information and to RSVP by email please go to www.SustainableLivingProject.net and click on Contact Us. 

HOW TO RSVP
This popular Workshop filled up in June so RSVP soon! 

The exact Workshop address will be included in an RSVP confirmation notice. 

Contact Chelle Lindahl at 315.347.4223 or sustlivingproject@gmail.com with the
* names of each person in your party,
* phone number(s) that are best to reach you at the morning of the event (in case of rain), and
* email address(es).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Last-minute RSVP's, after 6 PM Thursday, by phone only please.