Coming to Saskatoon as a live stream workshop March 20, 21 & 22.
This workshop is presented in live stream format by Verge Permaculture of Calgary and hosted in Saskatoon by the Permaculture Research Institute of Saskatchewan.
When: March 20-22, 2013 8:30 am to 4:30 pm each day
Where: “The Den” at the Two Twenty, 220 – 20th St West, Saskatoon
Cost: $20 per day (PRI Sask members)/$25 per day (non-members)
Please bring your own lunch. Coffee and tea will be available for purchase at Collective Coffee.
Joel Salatin, of Polyface Farm, is an entrepreneurial farmer and author of several books including Folks, This Ain’t Normal and Salad Bar Beef. Polyface, Inc. is a family owned, multi-generational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach. http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
To Register: download the registration form (see link below), complete the form and mail your cheque to: PRI Sask, 22-1001 12th St E, Saskatoon, SK, S7H 0C9.
WHO IS THIS FOR:
At its roots, this isn’t just a course about farming…or even about building a business! Joel Salatin has a much bigger agenda than that…..
This course is about creating a life…a community…and a society based on respecting the egg-ness of eggs, the chicken-ness of chickens, the cow-ness of cattle. It’s about appreciating and working with the essence of plants, animals, and nature as a whole, rather than producing bigger, fatter, cheaper products in factory farms.
And it’s about building a life based on your own essential beliefs, values and dreams! building coalitions with other impassioned dreamers…creating empowered, informed and active communities…and changing the world in the process!
So whether you’re an aspiring or established farmer – a public policy maker or community organizer – a green entrepreneur or holistic manager – or a cubicle-dweller in need of a bigger vision – you’re sure to find life-changing insights in Joel’s high-energy, information-packed talks.
Join us for one, two or three days . . .
What we’ll cover each day
March 20 – You Can Farm
No vague theorizing here –you’ll get a full toolbox of practical how-to’s, ranging from urban farming and creative land acquisition to permaculture-based production principles – for example, mutually supportive plant and animal relationships (e.g., chickens and rabbits? Who knew?) and effective composting for sustainably fertile soil. We’ll talk about farming like an entrepreneur, becoming your own middleman, and marketing to a diverse audience. And finally, we’ll take a look at what happens once your farm is solidly on its feet: how to build a trained team of employees, and how to create a lasting, profitable legacy for your children and grandchildren.
March 21 – Pastured Poultry Profits
Joel shows us how to build a thriving poultry farm from – as you might say – scratch: how to build a portable shelter for your chosen bird(s), how to pick the breed you need, and how to create safe environments in the brood-box and outside. We’ll talk about economics – profit and loss for chickens versus turkeys, egg-layers versus broilers, parts versus whole birds – and how to figure price margins. And you’ll learn how to keep your birds healthy, happy, well-fed and well-protected from the egg to the end.
March 22 – Salad Bar Beef
We’ll talk about landscape design, managing water and placing roads, and working with rough, wet, or rolling terrain. You’ll learn about permanent versus portable fencing, corrals and enclosures, herding and movement between pastures, winter housing and feeding, and grass-finishing before slaughter.You’ll even get tips on enhancing the salad bar and ensuring soil fertility with composting, manure management, and pigaerating. And yes, Joel looks at the practicalities of transforming beeves from live animals to gourmet meat -from grass-finishing to assuring comfort to dealing with adrenaline and enzymes after death – even tips for cooking (because Salad Bar Beef is what beef should be, say gourmet chefs – and unlike any beef you’ve had before)!