Sustainable Living Skills Fair
Workshop descriptions
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Sara Schlutte and Joanna Berg of Dirty Business Soil Analysis will conduct a workshop on “The
Soil Whisperers” which will demonstrate how to “type” your soil using the soil chart and
rejuvenate it, if necessary, for missing ingredients essential to plant growth. The kids in the
audience will especially like getting their hands dirty feeling different kinds of soil types to
determine clay, loamy and sandy soils types. You can bring samples of your soil to get a “quickand-dirty” analysis.
Tory Wildharber of Garden Bliss will conduct a workshop on “Permaculture for Kids,” which
will use pattern recognition, storytelling, nature props, live plants and much more to teach kids to
feel with all their senses and how truly connected we are to nature. Kids will go home with
plants to grow and a new way to look at the natural world.
The UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program will lead a workshop on “How to
Grow More Food” in which participants will learn tips and resources for maximizing food
production in a garden while minimizing resources needed.
The Red Cross will teach a workshop on Disaster Preparedness in both the morning and
afternoon.
Nathan Donnelly of Built For Life Permaculture Design will conduct a workshop on “Living
with Trees: Fruit tree care & maintenance.”
Grow It Right Aquaponics will present a “Build Your Own Aquaponic System” class.
Participants will learn the basic components of an aquaponic system and how they work
together. Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (growing
plants in with water).
Luke Besmar of TeaLab will teach “Soil Biology and Your Garden.” Learn about the amazing
microbial universe that exists in your garden's soil. Find out how you can promote good soil life that
will protect your plants from disease, increase nutrient availability, improve water retention, and
condition poor soils. You will learn how to stretch the benefits of composting through the use of
Compost Teas.
The UC Cooperative Extension Master Food Preserver group will lead a workshop on ”Intro to
Food Preservation” in which participants will be exposed to different techniques as well as
information for quality and safety.
Jane Woodward (M.Ed, MPA, JD) will teach a workshop on “Adopting a Zero-Waste
Lifestyle." Jane has been a social science researcher, analyst and program developer for over 40
years. She is very involved in the local community and among other civic responsibilities is an
active member of Zero Waste Humboldt.
Marlon Gil is a self-employed Carpenter/Woodworker whose passions include gardening,
furniture making and community building. He will present the workshop: Setting up a Rain
Barrel. This workshop will show you how to make and install a rain barrel for garden use or
emergency water supply. He will discuss the practical installation/maintenance concerns
involved with using rainwater.
Nathan Donnelly of Built For Life Permaculture Design will conduct a workshop on
“Humanure Composting: A simple adaptive method.” This class will cover the basics in
creating a humanure composting toilet system that is versatile enough to work for nearly any
home with space for 2 compost piles and can service multiple bathrooms/locations. The second
workshop will be on The third workshop will be on “Adaptation: Actions You Can Take Now
for Resiliency and Productivity During Climate Change.”
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“Kelly Compost” will demonstrate “How to create your own worm farm and grow healthy
soil through the use of composting and worms.” This hands on demonstration will get
workshop participants properly introduced to red wiggler worms in their native habitat –
compost!
Jen will be teaching a workshop on “Preparing Acorns and other wild forest plants.” Growing
her own food for the last 20 years has led her to wonder about all the abundance dropping on the
ground from the oak trees. For the past 10 years she has experimented with grinding, leaching,
and cooking acorns. Besides acorn pancakes, cookies, cake and pie, she has also made all sorts of
teas from wild forest plants. So come grind and crack acorns while tasting some acorn cake and
herbal forest teas with Jen.
Lauryn Axelrod, CHHC is a Certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor and an avid
organic gardener will lead a workshop entitled “Food Is Free: Building Neighborhood
Gardens for Fun and Food.” The workshop will feature a 30 minute presentation on the
concept of neighborhood “share-gardening” and a demonstration of how to use upcycled and
recycled materials to build easy to maintain garden beds for home and apartment gardening.
Levon Durr of Fungaia Farms will teach a class on “Mushroom Basics - Learn the art of
growing your own edible and medicinal mushrooms.” This class will cover the techniques of
home mushroom cultivation. Participants will learn the basics of log inoculation and how to
grow Oyster mushroom on straw. Class will include power point presentation and hands on
demonstration. All participants will take home an oyster mushroom kit to grow their own
mushrooms.
Bethany Staffieri is a certified herbalist who will teach “Wild Food and Medicine.” Bethany
may also give a neighborhood herb walk if the weather is nice.
And other topics plus demonstrations on energy-saving tips, local currencies, and more
happening throughout the day!