Past Events

• 6:00pm - Local Potluck
• 7-9:00pm - Activities

Dates: All Wednesdays in January - January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
Cost: $5-$15 (money isn't our only form of currency)
Location: Fertile Ground Community Center
311 - 9th Ave. SE (behind Olympia Library)
Facilitated by:

• Susie Kyle (farmer & activist) &
• Marisha Auerbach (permaculture educator)

• Website: www.farmbankproject.com
• Email: mailto:info@winlockmeadowsfarm.com
• Contacts:
  • Susie 360-785-4927
  • Marisha 360-943-5262 -}

stay tuned for this invitation of embodiment...

For more information, check out http://www.bcollective.org/

Slides and more: Pattern Understanding lead by Marisha Auerbach,

7pm, Fertile Ground Community Center, 311 9th Ave. SE, Olympia, WA 98501,

360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

7pm, Fertile Ground Community Center, 311 9th Ave. SE, Olympia, WA 98501,

360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

11am - 6 pm, location announced upon registration, $75-$35, sliding scale,

For more information contact Marisha Auerbach 360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

Sunday October 14th -- 12pm to 4 PM
Meeting at the Evergreen Organic Farmhouse
Located at the Evergreen Organic Farm, 2712 Lewis Rd., Olympia, WA
Hands-on projects will take place at Demeter's Garden

Mushrooms are an integral part of the environment in the Pacific Northwest. They are rarely used in landscaping. Permaculture draws on examples from nature to create abundant landscapes based in ecological systems. We would like to invite our fungal allies to return to the garden and assist us in creating abundance through their relationships. During this workshop, we will discover the functions of mushrooms in an ecosystem and the different techniques for incorporating them in the home garden. Hands-on projects will include: establishment of outdoor mushroom beds, mycorrhizal inoculants, and other fun projects.

Please join us as we consciously welcome mushrooms into our landscapes and gardens.

Feel free to bring a dish to share.

Sponsored by:
Environmental Resource Center, Terra Commons, Olympia Mycelial Network, Center for Community-Based Learning and Action, Demeter's Garden, GRuB, and the Gleaners Coalition

For more information, feel free to contact:
Michael Kelly 360-866-1331 mailto:terracommons@riseup.net
Maya Elson mailto:maya@riseup.net

Now in it's 18th year, Bioneers brings together some of the world's most renowned and innovative people to present their ideas and experiences. They speak to a well educated, interested, and progressive audience willing to discuss solutions to current environmental and social justice issues. This conference features a live satellite downlink of the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, CA for each of the morning plenary sessions.

For details about this exciting local event including a complete list of local presenters please visit http://nweec.org/seattlebioneers/

For more general information about the Bioneers Conference and our partnership please visit the Bioneers website at http://bioneers.org/

"Above all, Bioneers represent a culture of solutions. Their stories demonstrate that just as people have created the environmental and social problem we face, people can solve them - through a reciprocal partnership with nature. Over and over, they show how great a difference the actions of one individual can make."
-- from the Bioneers Website

7 pm, Traditions Fair Trade, 300 5th Avenue SW, Olympia, WA 98501,

360-705-2819 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

with Mark S. McNutt

Interpreting the present trends thru an Astrological lens and almost 40 years of experience, Mark memorizes and works with the charts of those present to describe and resolve pathways for personal and planetary evolution. Together, we will demystify the transits or present planetary patterns and how they affect each individual present. Mark brings humor, insight, and personal interpretation to a group round table setting that explains and focalizes Now into useful and identifiable patterns/directions for daily living.

When: Monday, November 5th 7-9:30 pm
Where: Fertile Ground Guest House: 311 9th Ave Olympia, WA
Cost: $15-20 sliding
Registration and Information: 360-943-5262

A Permaculture Approach to Healing Urban Sprawl and Bringing Back the Village. Urban sprawl is the many-headed monster eroding the region's ecosystems and encouraging lifestyles of consumer apathy. What can be done? Join Kelda Miller, from nearby Puyallup, as she talks about her experiences as a sustainability activist in a city with no food co-op, bike lanes, or free-boxes.

For more information, contact Marisha Auerbach, 360-943-5262, mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

Integrating Sustainability for the Land, the Built Environment, and for Human Communities on the Village Scale and Beyond...

Learn solutions to environmental and social problems that you can implement in your own life, in your local community, and on larger scales. Develop skills that will help you foster communities that are more ecologically regenerative, socially cooperative, and personally satisfying.

Permaculture Design Certification

The 2 week Permaculture Design Course provides a holistic overview of the concepts and practices of permaculture. Topics include:
• organic gardening • forest gardening •
• natural building • eco-forestry •
• appropriate technology • renewable energy •
• social sustainability • urban applications •

For more information, or to register, check out http://www.lostvalley.org/

6 pm: potluck & seed exchange *
Begin the evening by meeting local farmers and other food producers. Learn how you can support local economy and food security in your area. 7 pm - 9 pm: How to grow an edible garden – slide presentation by Marisha Auerbach of Herb'n Wisdom. Marisha will share how you can convert your yard into an edible garden.

"In the Maritime Northwest, it is possible to grow all of your own food year-round with limited time to establish a system and limited effort. As petroleum becomes more expensive, local food gardens will help to support sustainable communities." – Marisha Auerbach

There will be time to ask Marisha questions and discuss how our community can work together to grow more food locally.

This workshop will provide an opportunity to explore solutions to global and local issues affecting sustainability. We will be engaging in the ethics and principles of permaculture as a framework for response to troublesome situations such as climate change, peak oil, political apathy, loss of diversity and classism. After acknowledging the issues of concern, we will develop simple solutions on the local and global level that each of us can engage in to influence positive futures.

This workshop will offer interactive creative processes to share our concerns and make resolutions for adapting change. This workshop is suitable for folks interested in an introduction to permaculture as well as an opportunity for those familiar with permaculture concepts to deepend their understanding. Please join us.

For more information, or to register, contact, Marisha Auerbach 360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

Set Intentions for the Year with Flower and Gem Essences
a workshop with Marisha Auerbach of Queen Bee Flower Essences

Friday, January 25
Fertile Ground Community Center
311 9th Ave SE, downtown Olympia
7 - 9pm, $15

Flower and Gem Essences can help support our intentions for the coming year. In this class, each participant will make a customized aromamist blend with flower and gem essences and essential oils. We will discuss the uses of these products and how they can be used as support for manifesting our dreams and releasing blocks that may be inhibiting our growth. This year, Activate and Potentize Your Dreams with flower and gem essences!

To register, contact Marisha Auerbach at mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com or (360)943-5262

A two-week, immersion course: Creating sustainable food systems for the Pacific Northwest at the individual, neighborhood and city level Instructors are Michael Pilarski, Laura Sweany and many guest presenters including Marisha Auerbach and John Henrikson of the Wild Thyme Farm.

The course fee is $1,095.

For more information, visit http://www.friendsofthetrees.net or contact Michael Pilarski at (509)997-3809

click for details Permaculture 2008, Brochure http://www.friendsofthetrees.net/images/Permaculture2008Brochure.pdf

• 10 am - ?, potluck lunch, sauna in evening
• for more information, please contact Shari Trnka 360-951-1318, after March 4

• 11 am - 4 pm
• Please call for directions 360-789-0799

• 7 pm - 9 pm
• Traditions Fair Trade 300 5th Avenue SW, Olympia, WA 98501
• $10 - $7, sliding scale suggested donation
• Call 360-705-2819 for more information

This presentation is an invitation for you to visit Marisha's garden through slides and philosophy. She will be discussing how you can work towards self-reliance in produce if you have property to work with as well as guerrilla tactics to grow more food and flowers in the greater Olympia area. As petroleum becomes more expensive, fruits, vegetables, and other goods will become increasingly more expensive to transport into residential areas. This workshop offers an opportunity to create cultural change through gardening.

• 11 am - 4 pm
• Please call for directions 360-789-0799

• 10 am - ?, potluck lunch, sauna in evening
• Wild Thyme Farm, Oakville, WA
• for more information, please contact Shari Trnka 360-951-1318

• 2 pm - 5:30 pm
• Havurat Ee Shalom, 15401 Westside Highway, Vashon Island, WA
• FREE of charge - donations welcome
• call Marcus Berg at 206-567-4765 or email mailto:mysticgathering@gmail.com

• 6:30-8:30pm
• Radiance Herbs and Massage, 113 5th Ave Se, Olympia, WA 98501
• $10

"What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet. For a truly sustainable future, we need options – experimenting in all kinds of ways. Permaculturists are one of the critical gangs that are doing that." - David Suzuki

For more information, or to register, contact Marisha Auerbach at 360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

Friday Evening, April 11: Permaculture ~ Positive Approaches to Environmental Ethics

Permaculture is an exploration of sustainable human settlements. It presents a framework which can be applied on many levels in many cultures. We look at how humans can work with nature to meet our needs and those of other beings on this planet. Please join us to learn about how permaculture ethics and principles can help guide us towards clarity on sustainable lifestyle choices. Marisha Auerbach has been sharing about permaculture for the past ten years in Cascadia and has studied permaculture concepts in Vietnam, Canada, Nicaragua, Belize, Israel, & Mexico.

Saturday, April 12: An Introduction to Permaculture

This workshop provides an opportunity to engage with the ethics and principles of permaculture introduced during the slideshow on Friday evening. Through interactive discussion and activities, we will delve into permaculture theory to examine how humans can make healthy decisions in our livelihoods that have a positive impact on the planet and all species.

Sunday, April 13: Permaculture Design Charette

Today, we will explore the permaculture design process in games and activities to help us envision what sustainable possibilities we can create for our home sites. Using Crow's Daughter's gardens as a template, we will engage in the framework presented on Saturday to identify the how to meet on site needs. By connecting elements together, we can minimize work and maximize efficency.

• Friday
  • Community Potluck & Slideshow
  • 6-9 pm
  • $20 - $10, sliding scale
• Saturday
  • 10am - 5pm
  • $80 to attend Saturday only
• Sunday
  • 10am - 5pm
  • $80 to attend Sunday only
• $145 for entire weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
• Whidbey Island, WA
• For more information
  • Call 360-579-2319
  • or email mailto:julie@crowsdaughter.com

Friday, April 18
presented by Rick Valley
Vashon Co-Housing
7pm - 9pm

Join experienced permaculture designer Rick Valley on a journey through permaculture projects mostly in the northwest and witness non-standard garden methods that have been proven successful. Tonight's event will include: mound beds, hot hoop houses, compost tractors, compost hot-beds, sheet mulching, garden composting, brush drains, swales. He will also be discussing extending the garden season for your winter food supply! A seed swap will follow this event. Bring your seeds to share! Enhance your garden and your diet by joining us this evening.

Introduction to Permaculture & Home Gardens
Saturday, April 19
The Kelly House: 3725 36th Loop NW, Olympia WA
10am - 5pm, potluck lunch
$50-$40 sliding scale
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Introduction to Permaculture & Home Gardens
Sunday, April 20
The Dolstad Family Farm: 12108 SW 148th, Vashon Island, WA
10am - 5pm, brown bag lunch
$50-$40 sliding scale
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Permaculture is a design system that aids us in identifying our resources and needs to create abundant landscapes. This workshop will feature several techniques to create no dig garden beds using waste resources. We will highlight simple ways to increase nutrient availability in your garden as well as methods for minimizing water usage. This workshop will feature several underutilized specialty food crops to diverisify one's locally grown diet. Handouts and links to further resources will be provided. Please join us.

Rick Valley is Lost Valley Educational Center's land steward, a Permaculture teacher in the Northwest & British Columbia since 1987.

A graduate of the Evergreen State College, Marisha Auerbach has been studying, practicing, and teaching permaculture in Western Washington for over ten years with particular emphasis on local economics and perennial forage systems for local foodsheds.

For more information or to register, contact Marisha Auerbach 360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

• 7pm - 9pm
• Vashon Co-Housing
• $10 - $7, sliding scale suggested donation
• Call 360-943-5262 for more information
• flyer

This presentation is an invitation for you to visit Marisha's garden through slides and philosophy. She will be discussing how you can work towards self-reliance in produce if you have property to work with as well as guerrilla tactics to grow more food and flowers in the greater Olympia area. As petroleum becomes more expensive, fruits, vegetables, and other goods will become increasingly more expensive to transport into residential areas. This workshop offers an opportunity to create cultural change through gardening.

• 10 am – 2 pm
• Marlene's Market & Deli, Federal Way, WA
• $20 - $10, sliding scale
• Call 253-839-0933 for more information

In the Maritime Northwest, even with limited time and effort, it is possible to establish a system for growing all your own food year-round. Our current system for transporting food causes food prices to increase with the distance they travel. As the cost of petroleum rises, perennial foraging and permaculture systems can provide ways to support an evolution toward a more sustainable society. Marisha Auerbach specializes in converting properties to perennial forage systems, where food needs are met simply and locally. A perennial forage system functions much like a natural ecological system, and produces year-round yields with minimal work. Marisha derives most of her diet and income from her garden and has surplus produce, herbal products, and crafts to give away and trade for other supplies.

As part of her presentation, Marisha will present slides of some of her gardening projects and discuss how individuals and groups can work toward self-reliance, as well as some simple tactics to grow more food and flowers in your urban environment. If you're ready to learn about opportunities for creating cultural change through gardening, and how permaculture ethics and principles can help guide us towards clarity on sustainable lifestyle choices, don't miss this special event.

"What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet. For a truly sustainable future, we need options - experimenting in all kinds of ways. Permaculturists are one of the critical gangs that are doing that." - David Suzuki, Environmentalist, Educator & Author of The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature and many others

• 6:30-8:30pm
• Radiance Herbs and Massage, 113 5th Ave Se, Olympia, WA 98501
• $20

For more information, or to register, contact Marisha Auerbach at 360-943-5262 or mailto:queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

May 23 -June 1: Village Building Convergence, Portland, OR

• http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc8

Over the course of a long weekend, people will have the opportunity to participate in numerous projects involving green and natural building techniques and principles of permaculture and edible landscaping, partnering experienced practitioners with volunteers. The goal is to accomplish a small number of construction and planting projects, giving people training in the basic methods involved and fostering a sense of community as strangers come together to create useful spaces for all to enjoy.

GRuB - 2016 Elliott Ave NW, Olympia
Earthen Plaster is made of a combination of clays, sand and a fiber (straw) mixed in a muddy pit with bare feet. The mixture will be smeared with our hands onto the walls on GRuB's new Farmhouse/Education Center to provide a beautiful and durable interior wall finish. Join Joseph Becker, an ecological builder and educator, for 3 days of muddy fun.

• Friday 7/25
  • 9am-4pm: Earthen Plaster
• Saturday 7/26
  • 9am-4pm: Earthen Plaster
  • 2pm-3pm: Brewing for Cheap with Jonah Hankin-Rappaport
  • 4:30-5:30pm: Natural Building With Earthen Materials with Joseph Becker
• Sunday 7/27
  • 9am-4pm: Earthen Plaster
  • 10am-12pm: Appropriate Heat - Solar Cookers, Rocket Stoves and Building Hayboxes with Sam Fox

• Friday 7/25
  • 12:30pm-4:30pm: Cob Bench Building
• Sunday 7/27
  • 10am-4pm: Cob Bench Building

• Saturday 7/26
  • 11am-1pm: Seedsaving

• Saturday 7/26
  • 7pm-9pm: Dana Lyons

"How To Grow All Your Own Produce in 2 1/2 Years: An (r)Evolution Disguised as Organic Gardening"

Seattle Peak Oil, Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Avenue North, Seattle, WA
7pm-9:30pm

Marisha Auerbach will present 'How to Grow All Your Own Produce in 2 1/2 Years: An (r)Evolution Disguised As Organic Gardening)'. Marisha graduated from the Evergreen State College with a Bachelor's of Arts in 1998. She focused on ethnobotany, ecological agriculture, and sustainability studies. She received her permaculture designer's certification through Leisure Coast Permaculture Visions in Australia in March of 1998 and a diploma of Herbal Studies from the Australasian College of Herbal Studies in 2001.

She is a talented permaculturist teaching this and other courses around the Pacific North West. This is an excellent opportunity to become aware of basic techniques to transform your yard into a year round food production system. To help fund this presentation, it is requested that each attendee make a donation of $5-$20.

"In the Maritime Northwest, it is possible to grow all our own food year-round with limited time to establish a system and limited effort. As petroleum becomes more expensive, this sort of system can provide an example to support our evolution to a more sustainable society. Marisha Auerbach specializes in how to convert properties from grass to to a perennial forage system. A perennial forage system functions much like a natural ecological system, and yields year round produce with minimal work. These systems are developed to meet the needs of the inhabitants on site. Marisha provides most of her diet and income from her garden and has surplus produce and crafts to give away and trade for other supplies.

This presentation is an invitation for you to visit Marisha's garden through slides and philosophy. She will be discussing how you can work towards self-reliance in produce if you have property to work with as well as guerrilla tactics to grow more food and flowers in the greater Seattle area. As petroleum becomes more expensive, fruits, vegetables, and other goods will become increasingly more expensive to transport into residential areas. This workshop offers an opportunity to create cultural change through gardening."

Integrating Sustainability for the Land, the Built Environment, and for Human Communities on the Village Scale and Beyond....

Learn solutions to environmental and social problems that you can implement in your own life, in your local community, and on larger scales. Develop skills that will help you foster communities that are more ecologically regenerative, socially cooperative, and personally satisfying.

"Creating a new culture of living peacefully with each other and the planet is our number one need."
--Hildur Jackson

Permaculture Design Certification
The 2 week Permaculture Design Course provides a holistic overview of the concepts and practices of permaculture. Topics include:
• organic gardening • forest gardening • natural building • eco-forestry • appropriate technology • renewable energy • social sustainability • urban applications •

Ecovillage and Permaculture Design
Through personalized instruction and hands on application, the Ecovillage and Permaculture Design Course immerses participants in the theoretical, physical, and social aspects of ecovillages, community living, and permaculture. It includes a 72-hr Permaculture Design Course and provides a deeper exploration of the standard permaculture curriculum. You will also have the opportunity to explore subjects that are not usually covered in other permaculture design courses, such as:
• intentional community operations • ecovillage design • personal growth • interpersonal dynamics • health and well-being • integral_perspective • simple living skills • earth-based crafts •

The longer time frame of the Ecovillage and Permaculture program also allows for more experiential education through extended hands-on activities and the profound experience of living in community. You will have the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills with an incredible team of experienced residential instructors and nationally known guest instructors. Our courses are led by some of the most experienced permaculture teachers in the United States.

We can help students at most colleges receive course or internship credit for this program. for more information, contact (541) 937-3351 or mailto:events@lostvalley.org

Please note: This is the first listing of three possible Permaculture Design Certification Courses offered this fall. The instructors, locations, and times vary but the curriculum is the same.

Permaculture is whole system design and development for sustainable living and land use. Permaculture presents at framework for consciously designed landscapes that mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature. These systems yield an abundance of food, water, shelter, and energy for the provision of local needs.

This complete, accredited course is suitable for eveyone interested in permaculture and sustainable design including: homeowners, gardeners, farmers, business owners, students, design and development professionals. At completion, students will recieve the Permaculture Design Certificate.

Topics include:
• Permaculture Philosophy, Ethics, and Principles • Concepts and Themes in Design • Design Methodology • Pattern Understanding • Reading the Landscape • Cliimatic Factors • Trees and their Energy Transactions • Water • Soils • Earthworking and Earth Resources • Aquaculture • Natural Building • The Humid Tropics, Drylands, and Humid Cool to Cold Climates • Forestry • The Strategies of an Alternative Global Nation • Perennial and Annual Gardens • Animal Husbandry • Sustainable Building • Restoration Ecology • Mycology • Edible Landscapng • Sustainable Land Use • Plant Propagation • Nutrient Cycling • Ethnobotany • Energy Conservation • Seed Saving • Bioregionalism • Urban Permaculture • Appropriate Technology • Local Economics • Food Forests & Polyculture Systems • Community • and more!

With expert guests, tours of local sustainable projects, homes and farms, and hands-on application on a working farm Course tuition is $1200, includes meals and camping on-site.

For information and registration, call (206) 697-0159

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A Food Forest is a term for an orchard in Permaculture Design. Here we try to obtain a generous yield while producing all of the maintenance needs of the system on-site. We can grow fecund fruit trees while we grow understory plants for fertility, medicinal herbs, and other edibles in this intentional forest. We observe the ecological system of the native forest to create effective designs. By observing the functions of the native forest, we can grow an abundance of useful plants in our intentional forest with minimal maintenance.

Please join us for this workshop in the Food Forest of Tryon Life Farm. The first day of this two day workshop will discuss design strategies, including ways to minimize the use of water for the plants. The second day will focus on species selection and the creation of guilds. We will be learning from the Food Forest that was planted at the Village Building Convergence in May of 2007 and enriching the plantings as we collaborate on strategies for the future. Each day will include hands-on activities.

For more information, check out: http://tryonfarm.org/share/