Backyards, Lots, and Small Plots

Workshop Session I: 9:15-10:30 a.m.

Getting Started with Organic Beekeeping

Ross Conrad, Dancing Bee Gardens

Hear an overview of what to know and consider in order to start beekeeping in a natural and organic manner. Explore choosing an apiary site, sourcing bees, equipment and tools requirements, and tips and suggestions for the rank beginner.

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Workshop Session III: 1:30-2:45 p.m. 

Freeze Drying Fundamentals

Shari Gallup and Candace Heer, OSU

Freeze drying has become popular, but there is limited education-based information available. Explore the fundamentals of freeze drying, including the basics, best practices, cost comparisons, and supplies. There will also be taste testing of freeze dried products.

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Workshop Session IV: 3-4:15 p.m

Solar Applications for the Home or Farm

Tom Rapini and Valerie Garrett, A’s and O’s Farm

From lighting a path to powering your entire house, there are many ways you can bring solar-generated electricity into your life. Learn how you can apply to energy-demanding tasks around your home or farm, such as lighting a shed or operating a fan on a hot greenhouse. There will also be a hands-on opportunity to wire solar components yourself so you can tackle a do-it-yourself solar project.

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Workshop Session V: 10:45-Noon

Seed Library Starters

Donnetta Boykin, Endigo’s Herbals & Organics, Florentina Rodriguez, Miami Valley Seed Commons

There’s more than one way to start a seed library. If you’re interested in helping your community enjoy the benefits of growing healthy foods and resilient ecosystems, learn creative ways to begin sharing seeds! Seed education and sharing is an accessible entry point for new growers, and preserving and passing down seed stories is a powerful tool for intergenerational learning. This session offers examples of how to start and manage a seed library from pitching a partnership with your local library to setting up your independent traveling version.

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Workshop Session VI: 1:30-2:45 p.m.

Creating Ecology-Based Food Communities

Debra Knapke, The Garden Sage

Imagine creating a functional food garden designed to model a forest ecology. It would have a diverse, yet complementary, palette of trees, shrubs, perennials, and vines that offer food and nutrition to each other, their associated fauna, and to us. A food forest or forest garden is the practical application of regenerative practices for the gardener who wants to work with nature and put healthy food on the table.

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Workshop Session VII: 3-4:15 p.m.

C A N C E L L E D

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