Biodynamic Restoration & Healing: Seeds, Soil & Water
~ Aaron Perry
Join author and impact entrepreneur, Aaron William Perry for a keynote presentation on the power of biodynamic land and water medicine in the context of restoration and healing of our ecosystems and communities. He will share and discuss the connections between soil, water, climate, ecosystem restoration, food security, and community resilience. Following the presentation he will host a special biodynamic soil and water activation ceremony in which all are invited to participate (Bring a mason jar or other 12-16 oz container with lid to carry some to your home garden, yard, and houseplants!)
Biodynamic Soil Activation Ceremony – participants will come together in fellowship in a special water stirring ceremony. Using potentized biodynamic preparations, we will activate the homeopathic, probiotic, herbal, and mineral land medicine together, and will share in the experience of spreading it around the Joyful Journey property. Participants will also be given ~ 8 ounces of land medicine for their own yards and gardens. Please bring an 8 – 16 oz mason jar and/or container with lid to carry yours home.
Aaron’s Bio – Y on Earth
Aaron William Perry is a writer, speaker, impact entrepreneur, consultant, artist and father. The author of Y on Earth: Get Smarter, Feel Better, Heal the Planet, and the Soil Stewardship Handbook, Aaron leads the Y on Earth Community’s global network of Ambassadors, catalyzing community mobilization, climate action, neighborhood resilience, and ecosystem restoration actions. A student and practitioner of Rudolf Steiner’s biodynamic land stewardship practices, Aaron curates special biodynamic soil activation and stir ceremonies throughout the Unites States.
Preserve & Store Your Garden Fruits & Vegetables
~ Melinda Bateman
Melinda will cover techniques for storing and preserving food, including root cellar variations that are affordable and easy to create, pickling, canning, fermenting and dehydrating food. As well as proper temperatures to keep commonly grown vegetables, like onions, potatoes and winter squash. If there is time and interest we can also talk about planning a garden for storage vegetables, what veggies to grow, when to plant and harvest them.
Melinda’s Bio – Morning Star Farm
Melinda has been farming for over 20 years near Taos, New Mexico. Since converting her organic farm to Rudolph Steiner’s biodynamic method (applying his ideal closed-system sustainable approach, integrating all forces on the land – animal, vegetable, mineral, astral/etheric) Melinda’s soil has improved, crop health has increased, reduced inputs and pest controls are used, and irrigation needs have been lowered by 2/3. For twenty years she has been harvesting, processing, storing and selling produce to the Taos community, as well as teaching this Biodynamic method around the world.
Seeds Are Our Past, Present and Future
~ Addelina Lucero
Addelina will talk about the importance of saving seeds as an act of revolution and necessity to continue our pathway of sustainable life and to keep our connections to Mother Earth and our ancestors. Seeds are our grandparents, our parents, our children, our grandchildren and future generations. We must take care of them.
Addelina’s Bio – SLV Local Foods Coalition
Addelina Lucero (Taos Pueblo/Yaqui/Chicana) is a mother, grandmother, traditional pueblo farmer, a seed keeper, educator and a community food systems advocate.
She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of New Mexico in Native American Studies and a minor in Political Science. Addelina has been working with Indigenous community food systems and food sovereignty for over 10 years now on the local and national levels. She has written curricula and created education programs for regenerative farming/agriculture, greenhouse technologies and social studies programs from an Indigenous perspective for 10 years. Addelina is the owner of Dancing Butterfly Naturals. She is a creator of natural and organic products and medicines that focus on her Pueblo roots, utilizing ingredients from her home and from other Indigenous sources.
Addelina is passionate about sustainability, her connection to plant relatives, her family, her community, and she is committed to being the change she wants to see in this world.
“Don’t just talk about it, Be about it!” – Addelina
Optimizing diversity on Small Farms
~ Chris Pieper
In his talk, Chris will cover the basics of starting and maintaining small scale and diversified farms. Some of the topics we will address include:
- How to effectively use no-till in the garden using diverse cover crop rotations
- Incorporating livestock
- Wood chip gardens
- Creating structural diversity and utilizing micro climates on the farm
- The concept of farm as ecosystem and rehydrating our land through regenerative land stewardship
Chris’s Bio
Chris and his wife Elena have been farming on just 2 acres in Taos County, NM for nearly 2 decades. They use regenerative agriculture as a way to restore soil health, support natural biodiversity and help the soil retain moisture. Chris employs his goats, chickens, geese, kitchen scraps and wood chips to build soil and increase biodiversity in the garden. They also own an outdoor gear store in downtown Taos, Mudd N Flood.
Food Sovereignty in the Rural SW
~ Micah Roseberry
Micah’s Bio – AIRE | Growing Community Now
Micah Roseberry has been an organic farmer and educator for over 25 years. Four years ago, while on a teaching assignment in Mexico, Micah saw that the future of food sovereignty, the health of the environment and the future of the children were deeply intertwined. After returning to the United States, she started the Farmhouse Café and Bakery as well as the Farmhouse School Lunch program with the intention of building a stronger local farming network that supports the bright potential of students by feeding them vital local foods.