Increase your household resilience by learning how to raise small livestock, garden, cook with the harvest, and improve your infrastructure. Socialise and share with others who have similar goals, and get inspired by those who are already doing what you want to do!
This full weekend of workshops, classes and field trips will take your urban homesteading to the next level, whether you’re just starting or have been doing it for years. Many sessions are hands-on and all are taught by local experts. Field trips allow you to see the ideas and principles put into practice right here on small lots in Powell River.
Schedule
Here’s the schedule as we know it so far: there may be some changes before the actual bootcamp. See below for more details of the individual sessions.
| Saturday | ||
| 9:00 – 9:30 am | Check-in and coffee | |
| 9:30 – 11 am | Building Great Soil – Erin Innes | Energy Conservation – Kevin Wilson |
| 11:15 – 12:45 | Raising Rabbits – Jacqueline Huddleston | Intro to Home Canning – Katie McLean |
| 1:30 – 3pm | Sprouts and ferments – Ionatan Waisgluss | Baking Bread – Fran Cudworth |
| 3:15 – 4:45 | Herb blending basics for teas and more – Mara Jones | Baking Bread continued – Fran |
| Sunday | ||
| 10:00 – 10:45 | Field Trip – Rabbits (Wildwood) | |
| 10 – 12:30 | Field Trip – Food forest in the heart of town – (Westview) |
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| 10 – 12:30 | Field Trip – Permaculture principles and small-scale production – (Wildwood) |
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| 10 – 12:30 | Field Trip – Solar thermal greenhouse (Townsite) |
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| 1:30 – 3pm | Bokashi composting – Rob Hughes | Tanning Rabbit Hides – Hana-Louise Braun |
| 3:15 – 4:45 | Make your own Biochar – Ron Berezan | Tanning Rabbit Hides (cont) |
Building Great Soil
Growing great food starts with great soil, and keeping your garden going depends on keeping your soil healthy and happy. Learn the foundation of what soil is and how it forms, how to analyze your soil, talk about its characteristics, and create a management plan for its long-term health.
Instructor: Erin Innes
Energy Conservation – the first step to producing your own energy
Any realistic information on home energy production (whether solar, wind or other) tells you to begin by reducing your use of energy as far as possible. We’ll talk about home energy conservation applied to heating and electricity, including instructions on how to build your own easy interior storm windows that enormously reduce heat loss and condensation problems.
Instructor: Kevin Wilson of Fiddlers Farm
Raising rabbits for meat and manure
How to raise rabbits on any sized lot for a healthy source of lean protein and the added benefits of “black gold” the best manure for your garden! Topics will include: Breeds, housing requirements, natural and preventative care, supplies, costs, processing, composting and hide tanning.
Instructor: Jacqueline Huddleston of Serendipity Rabbitry
Rabbit workshop handout
Herb Blending Basics for Teas and More
How to use herbs from the garden and the wild to make teas, spice blends and more. The focus will be on dried herb preparations. Topics will include:
– Harvesting, drying and storing herbs
– Basic blending principles (how to select your ingredients, how to know how much of each ingredient to use, how to get great tasting blends)
– recipe ideas
– hands on blending and taste testing
Instructor: Mara Jones of Urban Earth Teas
Sprouts and ferments – Nutrient-dense foods on a budget
Introduction to a world of do-it-yourself food possibilities: growing your own sprouts and microgreens and making fermented foods!
Instructor: Ionatan Waisgluss
Make Your Own Biochar!
Biochar is a form of charcoal created with high heat in a very low oxygen environment. It has been used for centuries as one of the most effective soil amendments known (ie Terra Preta soils in the Amazon) and is currently being explored around the world as a carbon sequestration strategy. This workshop will lead you through the simple steps of creating your own DIY small scale biochar cooker made from a paint can, a coffee can and a few other items. Materials fee: $10
Instructor: Ron Berezan of The Urban Farmer
Bread Baking For The Urban Homestead
Come and learn to make simple but tasty bread from start to finish. We will bake 3 types of bread using a variety of fresh ground organic flours. Materials fee: $5
Instructor: Fran Cudworth of Periwinkle Granary
Tanning Rabbit Hides
Each person will go home with a rabbit hide to finish and an understanding of the tanning process. This hands on experience is designed for rabbit hides, but the method is also used for larger hides like goats and sheep. Instructor will bring samples of finished hides and product. The hides are from Jacqueline’s rabbitry and we will be using a salt and alum tanning process. Bring rubber gloves, an old medium sized towel, and scissors if possible. Max class size: 10. Materials fee: $15
Instructor: Hana-Louise Braun
DIY Bokashi Composting
Bokashi means fermented organic matter in Japanese. Bokashi composting uses a selected group of microorganisms to anaerobically ferment organic waste. All the kitchen scraps you can’t put in the backyard composter. Meat, dairy, cooked food, oils. Learn how the simple process works and how to make your own system with almost no energy or cost.
Instructor: Rob Hughes of Routes to Roots Edibles
Intro to Home Canning
Have a fruit tree in your yard? A garden full of produce to do something with? Come learn how to create delicious canned goods for your later enjoyment! Today we’ll be creating a fruity chutney, but the basic techniques can be used for jams, jellies, sauces, compotes, salsas, or pickles. We’ll go over how to can with pretty basic kitchen equipment, and what you need to do to make sure that your creations are safe to eat. Note: this class demonstrates how to can using a water bath, not pressure canning. So this is only for high acid foods, like things made with fruits, or vegetables that have added acid such as pickles.
Instructor: Katie McLean
Event Logistics
Walk the Talk: this weekend aims to be zero waste and support local producers. Please help us reduce our carbon footprint by carpooling, biking, walking or using the bus to get to and from the site!
Date: Sat and Sun Oct 25 and 26
Location: Sycamore Commons at the Townsite Anglican Church, 6310 Sycamore St. Enter through the basement door at the rear of the church.
Bus route 1 stops right by the church. On Saturday and Sunday, it leaves the Town Centre Mall at 8:40 and passes the church just before 9. It leaves Wildwood just after 9, and passes the church about 9:15.
Cost:
Standard: $119 + GST
Up to 20% accepted in Powell River Dollars PR$!
NEW special deal: 15-18 year olds get in for only $40!
Work trades available – contact Kevin directly
Cancellation policy
50% refund up to 2 weeks before
No refund after that but you are welcome to send a substitute
