Women's Environmental Institute 2020 Catalog

Course Listings CSA -Share Details Weddings & Retreat Rentals Volunteer Opportunities

women’s environmental institute w-e-i.org

GET INVOLVED IN ENVIRONMENTAL, FARMING, & JUSTICE

ECO-RETREAT & FARM STAYOVER CENTER FRIENDS OF WEI - MEMBERSHIP ORGANIC WEDDINGS

NEW IN 2020 the Eco-Retreat and Farm Become a FRIENDS OF WEI member and help Do you hear wedding bells? Select a wedding Stayover Center reopens with a newly support WEI’s mission of environmental, venue to fit your values - a beautiful, remodeled rental facility focused on providing farming, and food justice. With your annual sustainable organic farm and community an Eco-Friendly space for relaxing getaways in gathering space where all are welcome. the country. Seek out quiet personal time at membership fee of $50 you will receive: WEI with friends or family. Enjoy the farm setting with beautiful woodlands and many § Tax Deduction: all individual WEI rural amenities nearby – small town festivals, memberships are tax deductible. art tours, wineries, antique shops, state parks, § WEI Annual Newsletter hiking, fishing, snowshoeing and more. Just a § Rentals at the WEI Eco-Retreat Farm few miles from the St. Croix River and Taylors Stayover Center: only WEI members are Falls – an easy one-hour drive from the Twin entitled to rent space in the WEI facility for Cities. Environmental and Climate Justice organizers will find this an ideal place for personal or group meetings. meetings and retreats to inspire and mobilize § Special WEI member rates: receive select your efforts. Become a Friends of WEI member discounts on CSA shares and Down- to- Wedding rentals include full use the WEI and your membership fee goes towards your Earth classes. facilities along with expansive vistas of farm first Farm Stayover. § Special WEI member-only focus groups to fields, rolling apple , and lush forests. Open September – May, reserve your FARM help WEI staff and board with ideas for We can easily accommodate over 100 guests in STAYOVER online today at w-e-i.org. WEI an option for you might want to enjoy. an open field surrounded by orchards, suitable

§ Quarterly E-mail Updates for Friends of WEI for a reception tent. The WEI Eco-Retreat § Partner Organizational Memberships: for Center offers several overnight rooms for group membership details please visit our special family and friends and a wedding-suite website or contact [email protected]. complete with a wooded overlook and jacuzzi. Of course, we offer the option of fresh seasonal organic produce for your caterer. Call us to schedule a tour, 651-583-0705.

women’s environmental institute w-e-i.org

Community Supported Order your CSA at CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - amadorhillfarm.org Shareholders pay an annual subscription fee or call 651-583-0705 to pay by check and receive a weekly box of organically We make it easy to use EBT/SNAP benefits certified fruits, vegetables, and herbs grown for your CSA, call to set up a plan! on WEI’s Amador Hill Farm and in North Branch Minnesota. CSA shares are SPRING GREENS CSA……………………..$250 North Circle Online Farmers Market delivered to drop-site partners located 6 weeks – delivered every Friday throughout the Twin Cities Metro area and May 1 – June 5 In Chisago and Isanti Counties, residents can North Branch area. As shareholders, ¾ bushel box take advantage of the North Circle Online 7-10 produce varieties per box subscribers share with us the harvest, joys, Farmers Market by ordering from a group of rewards and inherent risks that are all a part PEAK-SUMMER GOURMET….…….…$300 East Central farmers committed to of farming. Visit amadorhillfarm.org for more 8 weeks – delivered every Friday sustainable and organic growing. WEI details including a list of our partner drop- July 10 – August 28 manages this program to help create a new ¾ bushel box sites. 7-10 produce varieties per box regional food system where local customers Workshare options available! can conveniently buy from local organic AUTUMN BOUNTY……………………….$250 farmers. Drop-sites for North Circle produce 6 weeks – delivered every Friday can be found in North Branch, Cambridge, September 18 – October 23 ¾ bushel box Isanti, Center City, Stark, Taylors Falls, 7-10 produce varieties per box Wyoming, and Almelund, MN. The food hub runs from the beginning of June to the end of October. Market Share………….……………..…….$300 Buy a $300 Market Share CSA and receive $350 worth of WEI produce at WEI’s booth at Mill City Farmers Market year- northcirclefoodhub.com round. open for business June 1, 2020

women’s environmental institute w-e-i.org

Down to Earth: Sustainability & Justice Education A Program of the Women’s Environmental Institute

Down to Earth provides curriculum to broadly encompass WEI’s mission of environmental, farming and food justice. It provides an affordable and accessible interdisciplinary education taught by qualified teachers from different walks of life: farmers, herbalists, artists, writers, therapists, folk school artisans, cooks, activists, thinkers, and professors representing diverse social and ethnic communities. To register for classes or to read full course descriptions, instructor bios, & scholarship opportunities, visit EVENTS & CLASSES at w-e-i.org/event/.

A Full Weekend of Herbalism A Mother’s Day Weekend Special Friday, April 3 – Sunday, April 5 Friday, May 8 – Sunday, May 10 Overnight accommodations available at Overnight accommodations available at WEI’s Eco-Retreat Farm Stayover Center. WEI’s Eco-Retreat Farm Stayover Center.

-All classes listed are eligible for FRIENDS OF WEI Natural Approaches to Lyme Disease Botanical Medicine for Environmental Health member discount except for 101. Friday, April 3, 3:30 – 6:00 p.m. Illnesses -All classes listed are held at WEI's Amador Hill Farm, Instructor: Gigi Stafne MH, ND, Green Wisdom Friday, May 8, 3:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. 15715 River Road, North Branch, MN. School of Natural & Botanical Medicine Instructor: Gigi Stafne MH, ND, Green Wisdom Herb Farming A to Z Registration Fee: $40 School of Natural & Botanical Medicine Registration Fee: $40 Saturday, February 15, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Are you a nature lover who spends much time Instructor: Nancy Graden, Red Clover Herbal outside? Tick bites bothering you? Concerned about Apothecary Farm Lyme Disease and Co-infections? Learn how to , Insecticides, Preservatives, Poisons. Toxins are irritating, intense and injurious to the Registration Fee: $75 support your body naturally from prevention to This is an in-depth class on growing your own medicinal herbs for short- and long-term care if you're worried human body and earth. What are some of these herbs that will follow the whole process through from about Lyme Disease or have been impacted by this common exposures? What can you do to minimize their impacts? There are at least one dozen herbs germination to harvest, storing and using for your own condition. well-being. Sample herbal teas and take home seeds and to help cleanse and support yourself you will stratify in class to get a heads up on the Environmental Health & Herbalism Program - Level I naturally. Boost your health with Herbalism!

planting season. A weekend intensive course Saturday, April 4 – Sunday, April 5, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Women's Health Naturally and Grafting Apple Trees Instructor: Gigi Stafne MH, ND, Green Wisdom Saturday, May 9, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Saturday, February 22, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Instructor: Gigi Stafne MH, ND, Green Wisdom School of Natural & Botanical Medicine Instructors: Eric Gustafson, Branch Landscape Nursery Registration Fee: $295 School of Natural & Botanical Medicine & Jim Birkholz, Pleasant Valley Orchard Registration Fee: $40 Registration Fee: $65 Are you seeking a relevant, progressive educational This class will provide an overview of fruit tree growing experience that provides a strong basis in Herbalism, What are the top herbs and natural remedies for habits and the reasons why we prune, along with an Holistic Medicine and Environmental Health? women for health, happiness, and wellness? introduction to pruning techniques and principles, From stress to cardiovascular health, there are Botanical medicine basics, naturopathic principles, followed by an actual demonstration of pruning on the and ecological health are at the core of this botanicals to help boost you optimally in life. WEI Amador Hill Orchard. In the afternoon, you will foundational level certificate course. Deepen Women in all stages of life will benefit from this fun, learn how to create your own orchard through the inspiring Mother's Day weekend workshop. wisdom, sharpen skills and improve upon personal techniques of grafting.

Women and Chainsaws health and wellness, as well as offering Herbal Help for Humanity: Adaptogens and Saturday, February 29, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. compassionate care to family and friends. Alteratives Instructor: Louise Levy & Emily Ford from Levy Tree Care Participants learn to apply Herbalism to real-life Saturday, May 9, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Registration Fee: $75 scenarios from basic health ailments to everyday Instructor: Gigi Stafne MH, ND, Green Wisdom If you don’t already love your chainsaw, you will after environmental toxins and exposures. Examine School of Natural & Botanical Medicine this class about CHAINSAW LOVE! Students gain diverse philosophies and practices within Herbalism, Registration Fee: $40 confidence in using a chainsaw with their new skills in ranging from the radical herbalism of Street Medic chainsaw safety, maintenance, and operation. Students It is essential to engage in self-care whether that is work to clinical herbalism within CAM Integrative will have a hands-on lesson in chainsaw maintenance, yoga, mindfulness or even activities such as Medicine Centers from rural to urban centers. and watch a live demonstration in chainsaw operations. kayaking. Alongside such self-care are Herbal Beginner Herbalism & Environmental Health is a Adaptogens and Alteratives, two categories of herbal must for those who have a passion for , people A Year in the Life of Honeybees allies well suited to help cope with daily life and this precious planet, Earth. The follow up Level II An 8-month certificate training course stressors. course is offered in August. 4th Sunday of each month, March – October

12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Lingering with Nature: Charcoal Drawing with the Organic Herb Farming: Start Date: Sunday, March 22 Untapped Mind Cultivation, Foraging, Harvesting and Making Use of Instructors: Sunday, April 19, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Medicinal & Culinary Herbs Mike Mackiewicz, Bone Lake Meadows Apiary Instructor: Emma Schurink A 6-month certificate training course Registration Fee: $250 Registration Fee: $ 45.00 2nd Sunday of each month, May – October *Class meets requirements for Urban Honeybee The secret to learning how to draw is learning how to 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Permit see. Look closely at lines, shapes, and textures, and (May 17*, June 14, July 12, Aug 9, Sept 13, Oct 11)

observe how light creates shadow. Draw what your eyes *Start date delayed one week due to Mother’s Day This experiential class will cover the art and science Instructor: Carolyn Smith, Herbalist, discover using the simple and versatile medium of of keeping bees in northern climates. The eight- carolynherbs.com charcoal. Charcoal drawing supplies will be included in session class is designed for beginning beekeepers Registration Fee: $250 registration fee. Take home and continue your work. and will provide hands-on experience at each In this class we will meet monthly over 6 months of turning point of the season. Each session will focus Ecopoetics: A Writing Workshop at the Farm the growing season to learn organic cultivation of on the changing tasks that are involved with keeping Saturday, May 2, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. medicinal and culinary herb varieties and foraging of bees and will include one-on-one time with the Instructor: Angela Hume, Assistant Professor of English, hives, guided by Mike Mackiewicz from Bone Lake Creative Writing, and Environmental Literature, UMN, Morris medicinal/culinary species that grow in the Midwest. We will also learn basic medicinal preparation Meadows Apiary and co-founder of the Amador Hill Registration Fee: $75 techniques and cover medicinal and culinary uses of Bee Club. This workshop will introduce participants to “ecopoetic,” or ecological poetry and prose writing. We a variety of plants. Students are required to complete a 32-hour practicum during the course The Sun Hive: A Sustainable Approach to Living with Bees will explore ecopoetic through site-specific writing period to help take care of the herb farm when class Saturday, March 28 , 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.ml exercises that challenge us to ask: What role can is not in session. Instructor: Kelsey Love, Heirloomista creative writing play in shaping our perceptions of the Registration Fee: $90 natural world? We will take our practices beyond the Foraging at Amador Hill Farm Interested in helping the bees and changing the page through engagement with the local environment. Saturday, May 30, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. conversation around pollinator health? The Sun Hive is Instructor: Maria Wesserle an alternative beehive that allows honeybees to live in a Registration Fee: $50 more natural way according to their own innate criteria. Climate Activism Retreat at WEI Join Maria Wesserle of Four Season Foraging as we hike Join Kelsey Love from Heirloomista to learn how to Saturday, March 21, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. the woods and fields of Amador Hill Farm in search of make The Sun Hive, a biodynamic beehive, featured in Registration Fee: $50 late springtime foragables. We will harvest and cook the the film Queen of the Sun. wild bounty together, collectively creating a memorable meal. women’s environmental institute w-e-i.org

th Environmental Health & Herbalism Program - Level II WEI’s 11 Annual A weekend intensive course Will Allen Farmer Training Weekend Saturday, Aug. 22 – Sunday, Aug. 23, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Saturday, September 26 – Sunday, September 27 Instructor: Gigi Stafne MH, ND, Green Wisdom School Instructor: Will Allen, world-renowned urban farmer

of Natural & Botanical Medicine Registration Fee: $285 (two-day), $400 (*three day) Registration Fee: $295 Environmental Justice: Map It / Fight for It A full weekend of hands-on workshops in sustainable Saturday, June 6, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. A weekend intensive in natural and botanical farming methods and strategies. Learn how to build Instructor: Karen Joy Clark, retired MN legislator, WEI medicine, as well as holistic health principles, weaving and operate what you need for small-scale farming. Activist Executive Director together help for individuals and communities coping Building a passive solar hoop-house, growing Registration Fee: $45 with emotional toxins and contemporary stressors industrial hemp, growing microgreens, cultivating What is environmental justice? Explore this question and from ongoing bombardment of daily mushrooms, herb farming, herbalism, building soil with WEI's Activist Executive Director, Karen Joy Clark environmental toxins to community violence. An through composting and vermiculture, caring for and her 40+ years of experience on this issue. If you are engaging course that builds upon Level 1 Honeybees and pollinators, growing fish and greens a climate activist or social activist or want to know more Environmental Health & Herbalism. together through , introduction to small about environmental justice, you won't want to miss a scale farming equipment, and farm planning. Small is day with Karen and her legacy work. Readings and guest Take the next nourishing step in naturopathic beautiful and affordable. speakers included. principles, environmental health, and herbalism in this Level Two, Intermediate foundational course. In *Three-day option – includes a three-day workshop Fly Fishing for Women this class, natural and botanical medicine, as well as on winter farming and hoop house construction that Saturday, June 13, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. holistic health principles, are woven together to assist starts Friday, September 25. Instructor: Monta Hayner, Fly Fishing Women of MN in the healing we need from emotional toxins and Registration Fee: $75 contemporary stressors and the ongoing Have you ever wanted to learn to fly fish? Now is your bombardment of daily environmental toxins and chance! Come learn in a supportive community of Kombucha Brewing community violence. Problems will be assessed, Saturday, October 10, 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. women. This introductory class will cover what you addressed and creative, holistic and herbalist need to get started: equipment and jargon, casting Instructor: Susie Danielowski solutions applied to case scenarios. Students will Registration Fee: $45 instruction and practice, knot tying, fish and insect learn how to work on individual patient identification, fishing etiquette and safety. Learn about the many health benefits of drinking environmental health case scenarios and more kombucha and how to brew your own. This class is a complex community health eco-threats. Graduates of Organic IPM for Apple Orchards good supplement to the morning Sauerkraut class. this Level 2 course will successfully integrate concepts Saturday, June 27, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. and skills derived from personal approaches, as well Instructor: Jacquelyn Zita, Amador Hill Farm Manager Death, Dying, and Green Burials as strategies from public health to the CAM, Saturday, November 7, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Registration Fee: $40 Complementary Alternative Medicine professions. Learn about Integrated Pest Management (IMP) for Instructor: Carol Geisler, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Organic Orchards - how to manage an apple orchard Holistic Health Studies, St. Catherine University without using petrochemical sprays or Registration Fee: $75 synthetic . Learn about the typical pests that PIZZA ON THE ORCHARD In this workshop we will collaboratively examine the visit our orchard, how to understand their life cycles, growing trend of reclaiming the naturalness of our WEDNESDAYS IN AUGUST death processes including embracing the dying journey, and organically certified methods for minimizing or more info at w-e-i.org balancing their populations. Learn about apple ranking home vigils, family directed rituals and funerals, and in the Dirty Dozen. options for green / environmentally friendly burials.

Dianne’s Country Kitchen: AQUAPONIC FARMING Walking with Poets in the Woods A Tradition of Putting-Up-Food An 8-month certificate training course Saturday, November 21, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. This four-part series in food preservation is an 2nd Sun of each month, September 2020 – April 2021 Instructor: Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, Ph.D Religion, important component of sustainability and a way to 1:30 – 4:00 p.m. University Chaplain, Hamline University extend your local food consumption into winter Start Date: Sunday, September 13 Registration Fee: $65 Poetry has the power to restore and heal, both within months. Students will take home jars of what they Instructor: Chad Hebert, The Urban Farm Project prepare in each class. Registration Fee: $250 our lives, and in our relations with land and neighbors. In this one-day workshop, we will reflect on a series of *Take individual classes or the whole series. Aquaponic Farming is the art and science for the poems by Mary Oliver, Joy Harjo, Wendell Berry and Registration Fee: $45 per class cultivation of fish and plants together in a Alice Walker. Their wise words invite us to see anew our Instructor: Dianne Patras; Master Gardener, Food constructed, re-circulating closed-loop ecosystem place in Earth-community, a place of humility, gratitude, Preservationist utilizing natural bacterial cycles to convert fish wastes wonder and dare. to nutrients. This course will begin with the Berries, Jellies, and Jams basics of aquaponics and . The topics will Winter Solstice Saturday, June 27, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. range from aquaponic water chemistry and fish Saturday, Dec. 19, 4:30 p.m. - Sunday, Dec. 20, noon , design and equipment for aquaponic tubs, Instructor: Kaia Svien, M.S., Spiritual Guide, Program Making Pickles fish and plant health, planting techniques for growing Designer Mindfulness - Changing Times and Saturday, July 25, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. aquaponic vegetables, system maintenance and Performance Artist, Doe Hoyer equilibrium, equipment resources, lighting/energy Registration Fee: $100 Canning Tomatoes and Salsa efficiency, spawning and fish ribbons, harvesting and An intimate soul-searching night of Awakening. During Saturday, Aug 29, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. market planning, and regulations for aquaponic the Longest Night of the year, nestled into deep winter, farming in Minnesota. Graduates of this course will we'll look into the emotional burdens we've each been Fermentation – Sauerkraut and more earn a Certificate in Aquaponic Farming. carrying this year and invoke transformation and Saturday, Oct 10, 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. release from them as the Sun begins its return.

Organic Farming 101

A Certificate Class designed for students who plan to become organic farmers or work with organic farmers in the local and sustainable food system. Students will live, work, and learn on WEI’s Amador Hill Farm Session One: is a 3.5-month certificate course that introduces students to all basic systems of an Organically Certified farm Dates: May 16 - August 28, 2020 Tuition: $2,500, includes room and partial board Session Two: is a 1.5-month course which introduces students to management level skills in running a fall / winter Organically Certified farm Dates: September 13 - October 30, 2020 Tuition: $2,500, includes room and partial board *Tuition for both sessions: $3000, includes room and partial board In Session One all the basics in organic farming are covered and put into daily farming practices. Over the course of several months of study and training, students will learn different aspects of growing organically with hands-on work at the scale and the tractor-cultivated work at the field scale. Students will also become familiar with different kinds of farm plans: growing for a small CSA, for farm stands/farmers market and for wholesale and/or restaurants. Successful graduates from Session One will be eligible to continue with Session Two which starts in early September. In Session-Two students will advance to the knowledge and managerial skills needed to run an organically certified farm in the autumn and early winter. This will include management and field responsibilities for fall harvesting and marketing, winterization of the farm, winter farming startup, and 2020 farm review for next year’s farm plan. Graduating students will be awarded WEI’s Organic Farming Certificate of Completion. Learn more at w-e-i.org under Down-to-Earth, Certificate Programs.

*(this course is not eligible for Friends of WEI discount)* MORE INFO AT w-e-i.org/events/