Greenhorns Summer Camp and Workshops

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Taylor in Community Development, Farming Practices, Farming Resources, First Generation Farmers, Homesteading, Small Farms, Sustainable Agriculture, Workshops, Young Farmers // 0 Comments

Greenhorns Summer Camp and Workshops for 2019 – Maine

For more information and to RSVP for any of the Greenhorns Summer Camp and Workshops events, contact office@greenhorns.org

June 8, 6 pm: Farmer’s Literary Circle
Halycon Grange | Blue Hill Library | Blue Hill Books | The Greenhorns
Join us as we enter a space to celebrate voices in agriculture and landscape writing. We will read our favorite agricultural passages and poems, potluck style with neighbors. Tea and Algae snacks for all! At the Grange, Blue Hill, Maine. $5 donation to Grange requested.

June 9- 22: Bill Copertwaite Yurt Camp
Bill Copertwaite was a legendary yurt builder, thinker and educator based in Machiasport, ME. He lived off-grid, and in circular dwellings of his own design, instructing young people in craftsmanship and the art of living. Join as we build a replica of one Bill’s ” Family Yurt” -a two storied multi-use building to support the educational mission of Greenhorns and Smithereen Farm, giving us an indoor classroom/ workshop, and a residence for campers, farmers and visiting teachers. In raising the yurt we will be led by Michael Iancona, a trainee of Bill’s, using locally milled Pottle’s lumber and all natural building materials and techniques. It is a rare opportunity to participate in crafting our agrarian campus. This is a 2 week long session and we ask that work-traders commit to at least 1 full week. We provide tent platforms, outdoor kitchen, outdoor toilet, produce and grocery staples for cooperative meal-making. For more information email Michael at michaelpiacona@gmail.com.

June 20- 21: Seaweed Symposium
We welcome all those who care about the seashore and want to learn more deeply about the ecology, politics and governance of inter-tidal resources to attend this 2 day session. What kind of algae-economy will be evolving here in Maine and how do Mainers have a role in shaping this? We will look across sectors to learn from other fisheries, we will meet the new algae-oriented Sea-grant extension personnel, we’ll learn about an educational pathway into aquaculture, we’ll hear from international experts, decades-long seaweed harvesters and passionate conservationists. We will deepen our learning of history, and strengthen our community of practice when it comes to participation in the governance, observation, transparency and accountability to the marine resources we share. The seaweed is a commons, let us all learn what we can to use and share it wisely. Two Days of seminars, field trips to the shore, boat trip in Cobscook Bay, farm-grown lunches- Visitors are welcome to come a few days early to help with SEAWEED HARVEST/LEARNING for the SUPERTIDES on the 19th. Low tide is early in the morning so please arrive the evening before you plan to join us. Those attending the Seaweed Symposium should arrive the evening of the 19th. You will need a wetsuit, booties, LOTS OF warm clothes and camping gear. RSVP mandatory! Requested donation of $250 from away, $50 from the county, no one turned away for lack of funds. We belong to this coastline.

July 27 – 28: Halls Away
‘Halls Away’, a bus tour of Downeast Maine, highlights civic and architectural structures while unearthing economic history, cultural identity and signs of community re-invention. From Ellsworth to Eastport we will experience architectural treasures, learn the history of resource extraction, and explore current efforts at resource management and revitalization. Along our route we will visit sites and speakers in Ellsworth, Cherryfield, Columbia Falls, Machiasport, Machias, Edmunds, Pembroke, Pleasant Point, and Eastport. This is a wonderful way to learn the territory, all while enjoying farm-to-table dinners of locally grown food and locally smoked fish.

July 31: Sardine Camp in Lubec
Join for an adventure in sardine-land. This is a camp all about fish. We will learn to pickle and smoke, we will learn about the canneries that used to dot the shores, we will visit the old smoke-house and museum, we will listen to a lecture on the ecological significance of this fishery to migrating birds as well as early economy of downeast Maine. This is an all-day exploration, and a great beginning to a weekend downeast. www.discoverboldcoast.com will help you navigate onward possibilities in camping, boating, biking and natural adventure.

Month of August: Blueberry Camp
August is wild blueberry month in downeast Maine–and a time not to be missed. The black flies have gone and the weather is breezy- its the ideal time to escape the traffic of Mid-coast Maine for the rural coastlines east of Ellsworth. Come on down for the blueberry picking– and stay for the indie bands, local beer, fried clams and world class kayaking… Every weekend in August Greenhorns will be hosting music, movies, conversations and workshops at the Reversing Hall in Pembroke Maine, Smithereen Farm has an U-Pick organic blueberries, campsites and Tipis for rent. Check out www.discoverboldcoast.com for more activities suggestions, hotels, campsites, restaurants, cultural offerings. Check out the Artsipelago for events in Cobscook region and into Passamaquoddy and Canada. Visit www.artsipelago.net and check out New Brunswick destinations too at www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca

August 1, 9 am: Worksongs with Bennett Konesni
Bennett Konesni is known throughout Maine and around the country for his work collecting, teaching and sharing work songs– particularly with working young farmers and sailors whose bodies move in time to these historic rhythms. What came first, the work or the song? We will learn and sing together in a beautifully acoustic space, and then bring our songs out to the fields while we pick blueberries. Attendees will be served a beautiful farm lunch and can take home blueberries and a songbook to keep the music flowing.

August 31: Milk and Honey Rebellion
Come out to Reversing Hall and celebrate the end of blueberry month with a concert by Milk and Honey Rebellion. Watch the video now and see them LIVE in August!
https://vimeo.com/159689668

August 31: Land-Based Reparations and Indigenous Land Return with Douglass DeCandia
A call for reparations has been made by Black, Indigenous and People of Color, for the redistribution of land, wealth and resources. Five hundred years of colonialism and white supremacy on Turtle Island (aka “North America”) have concentrated power in the hands of those considered white, disrupting the interconnections between, and natural flowing of life within, human and more-than-human communities. Reparations are a framework for balancing what has been taken out of balance; an on-going act of solidarity toward the liberation of all living beings. Please join us and Douglass DeCandia for a gathering to deeply analyze the complex of white supremacy, to “map” the resources we each have access to (resources, time, land, money, social capital, technical skills, etc.) and to mobilize these resources toward Black, Indigenous and People of Color led organizing for self-determination and sovereignty on land

September 6-7: Insect Life
MOFGA | The Greenhorns
Hovering and whirring insects, life-giving to birds and invertebrates, are pollinating! Join to learn more about insect habitat and behavior, their ecology, reproduction, population dynamics and impact on agricultural production. Our teachers will cover landscape-design, natural beekeeping, learning how to mitigate pesticide impacts and create sanctuaries for these critical creatures on our farms and on our landscapes. You don’t have to own land to learn how to help the insects. We will specifically talk about how to create plantings on common lands (church, school, playground, cemetery etc.) that benefits the native bees, butterflies, moths and other insects we share the flowers with. This session is compatible with attending the international beekeeping conference “Apimondia” in Montreal, and is conveniently enroute from many parts of the country via scenic Rt. One highway.

September 14-15: Cider Camp
MOFGA | The Greenhorns
Once again we will make hard cider, but this time on a much grander scale. Come for the day or come for the week to gather and press apples with our home-built hydraulic cider press– good for vinegar, good for sweet and good for a hard New England treat! We will have visiting cider-expertise on hand, and can give you a map of nearby orchards to explore and pick from– or bring your own apples and jars. Our press is a ‘ community facility’ for making liquid the abundance of feral pomological specimens in these beautiful fields, hedges and forest-edges. Washington County comes alive– a family-friendly program that you can combine with other adventures downeast.

TBD: ReWilding Nutrient Cycles with Nik Bertulis
For millennia millions of spawning Atlantic Salmon brought untold tonnages of sea born minerals deep into north eastern watersheds. Lynx, wolf, bear, a myriad of meso-predators and carnivorous birds subsequently feasted on this seasonal banquet which in turn became fecal depositions scattered far and wide across the landscape. Berries, nuts and innumerable flowers relied on this nutrient cycling for their fecundity. It may take centuries before we reverse these trends of collapsing ecosystems but within a regenerative framework we can mimic these cycles and bring back semblances of former glories. In this workshop we will forage, prepare food, observe nature, interpret natural history, learn about and practice cutting edge infrastructure retrofits that mimic natural nutrient flows. Get ready to feast.

RSVPs required for all workshops, family-friendly camping is available at Smithereen Farm all summer long. For more information and to RSVP for any of the Greenhorns Summer Camp and Workshops events, contact office@greenhorns.org