That Was Amazing!

The 2013 WestCan Permaculture Convergence at Rancho Relaxo was an overwhelming success, with over 90 people coming out for the weekend, and focusing on exchanging ideas, knowledge and networking in regards to organic food, renewable energy and all aspects of sustainability.  

We had delegates attend from Australia, Germany, South Africa, Mexico, Vancouver Island, Saskatchewan, and from places all over Alberta.  

We would like to thank:

Creative Cuisine Catering (led by Denia Baltzer) for providing three outstanding meals using local organic ingredients, including a grass-fed organic pig from Fisher Farms which we fire-roasted in a pit.  

Theresa Strawberry from the O'Cheise First Nations for delivering a blessing and positive thoughts in the Opening Ceremony.

Chris Guilbeault from Little Green Thumbs organized and led the children's activities for the weekend, allowing kids to get their hands dirty and be creative while learning some very useful skills.

Charlie MGee and Mal Webb from Australia put on an amazing musical show on our outdoor stage, leaving spectators in awe.  

FormidableVegetable.com.au

Marie and Jacob Snyder led the drumming circle, complete with a didgeridoo, hand drums and bongos and trained the next generation of percussionists (and didgeridooers).

During the daytime on Saturday and Sunday, workshops and discussions covered a variety of topics such as solar air heating, solar electricity, organic food production, and compost toilet systems.  

Programming and discussions were greatly enhanced with the help of Javan Bernakevitch, a professional facilitator from Permaculture BC.  His influence helped bring out the best ideas from the group, promote connections between participants, and he ensured the whole weekend ran smoothly and without delay.

Hands-on activities allowed participants to build bat houses, solar door-screen heaters and a large garden bed specially designed for lowland food production.  

Many ideas and contacts were exchanged, and everyone took away at least a few ideas and some enthusiasm for becoming more self-sufficient in their own lives.  

The idea was presented that we should put together a proposal to host the International Permaculture Convergence here in November 2017, so further investigation of this possibility will be on-going.

For anyone that didn't catch a full tour of Rancho Relaxo: A Permaculture Demonstration Farm, you can watch a (2-part) YouTube video presentation that will give you a virtual tour of the farm at RanchoRelaxoResort.ca

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped out during the weekend, and we look forward to having you back again to Rancho Relaxo.

Jeff & Juli Gillies (J2)

Taimi Soil Projects

Last minute details.....

Three more sleeps until the Convergence!  Excited yet?

Here are some details that will help to make your weekend planning and packing easier.

First, those who are bringing children, the director of the Childrens’ activities has asked that your kids bring a few things for the Kids Permie Camp:  Hat, water bottle that can be painted on, rain boots and jacket, T-shirt for painting on, lighter colors better, favorite natural objects (should be labeled with child’s name for return home), large pillow to sit on and blanket for quiet/story times, plain writing book to use as a nature journal.

Friday night dinner will be potluck. Please bring your contribution ready to be served. Crock pots and roasters welcome.

Dinner at 6pm

All folks are responsible for their own breakfast on both days.  We will be proving eggs each morning and will have coffee and tea available.

This is a low impact event. Please bring your own dishes. There will be a communal dish washing area available at all times.

Recommended things to bring:

Plates

Utensils

Chairs

Please bring musical Instruments!  Tubamabobs, obomophones, etc

Soup bowl, cloth napkins, dish cloths for drying dishes, cloth shopping bag or basket to store dishes in, beer, breakfast food, rain coat, water bottle.

Please DO NOT BRING:  Dogs, fireworks, glass bottles.

Camping

All camping is on mowed grass with basic composting toilets nearby.  It can be quite cool at night and in the morning and very hot during the day.

There are 4 options for camping. RV/trailer, tenting, tipi and fresh air cabins. 

When you arrive at Rancho Relaxo you will be greeted and registered. Tenters will be loaded onto wagons/trailers and shuttled into the camping area. Because we feel vehicles take away from the beauty of the property, cars are not permitted in the yard and will be parked in an adjacent lot.

There will be well water for drinking and a laundry sink for hand washing and tooth brushing. Please use only earth friendly biodegradable products.

At this point there are no fire bans. Fires are only in designated fire pits.  We have a fire pit that can be cooked on.

Volunteers

Breakfast and lunch will be provided for all volunteers on Friday and Monday.

You may arrive any time after 6pm on Thursday and stay until Monday 4pm. 

When you arrive you will receive details of your job for the weekend.  You may do more than one job if you’d like to meet more people. 

If you haven't already registered.... http://2013westcanpermacultureconvergence.eventbrite.ca

Schedule for the weekend:

Friday

8-9am Breakfast

9-1pm Set up

2-6 pm Registration and camp set up.

6-7:30pm Potluck dinner

8-9 Opening ceremony

9-10 Live Music, Charlie Mgee (Formidable Vegetable Sound System)

10-11 The Mal Webb Show

11-12am – Open mic, Jam session, bonfire

Saturday

6:00 am Coffee ready for early risers

7:30-8:30am Yoga and barefoot trail walk

8-9am Breakfast

9-9:30 Ice Breaker, meet some cool folks

9:30- 10:30am Discussion workshops

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12pm Hands-on workshop

12-1:30 pm Lunch

1:30-2:30pm Discussion workshops

2:30-2:45 Break

2:45-4pm Hands-on workshops

4-6pm Rancho Relaxo Tours, art projects, exploration, mingling, cocktails

6-7:30 pm Dinner served by Creative Cuisine Catering

8-9pm Live music, Garden Variety Rockstars

9-12am Open mic jam session, bonfire

Sunday

6:00 am Coffee ready for early risers

7:30-8:30am Yoga and barefoot trail walk

8-9am Breakfast

9-9:30 Ice breaker, meet some cool folks

9:30- 10:30am Discussion workshops

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12pm Hands-on workshop

12-1:30 pm Lunch

1:30-2:30pm Discussion workshops

2:30-3pm Closing

4-5pm Straw bale house tour, Rancho Relaxo tour

4-7pm Take down

9pm Outdoor movie

See you soon!

J2

Volunteer Positions Announced!

Here’s what you have been waiting for:  

the Discount Volunteer Tickets!

Register Now!  Tickets sales end Aug 19.

We’ve compiled a list of all the major tasks involved in this years’ Permaculture Convergence.  Since we want all these positions to be filled, we’ll offer a $40 Savings on your registration if you sign up for a position.  Most of the positions are for multiple people, so that way you don’t have to work on things by yourself, and it’s a great way to meet new people too! 

Have a look down the list and see what might interest you:

·      Signage – drive and pound in (pre-made) highway signs showing direction to Rancho Relaxo; Maintain signage around site.  2 people (Friday & mornings)

·      

    Registration table – Meet people, ask their names, point.       2 people (Friday &  mornings)

·      

    Gear Haulers – You’ll pilot our high-performance farm ‘tractor’ & trailer to transport camping gear to the tenting area – 2 people (Friday & Sat morning, Sunday afternoon)

·      MCs for:  (one for each day) - 3 people

o   Friday: Supper, Evening opening Ceremony, ‘Mixer’ & Live Music

o   Saturday Supper, Evening Entertainment

o   Sunday closing ceremony

·      Yoga Instructors – Morning session (one person for each day) – 2 people

·      Marketplace Coordinator – Permaculture businesses and their info, expert panel.  2 people

·     

Door Screen Heater

  Hands-on workshop hosts/leaders – prep materials for projects and assist with    assembly.  3 people

   o   Door screen heater

   o   Cordwood Hugelkultur

   o   Hotels for Bats

·      Group Discussion Hosts – Keep conversations on track, ask questions to encourage original thoughts, encourage connections, (some knowledge of the topic would be helpful but not essential)  7 people

·      Harvesters – people who make sure to ‘capture and store’ the energy of the convergence through photography, video, blogging, etc.  2 people

·      Facilitation planning and design.  2 people

·      Dishwashing station monitor:  Prep water, tubs, put away after.  2 people

·      Meal Clean-up Manager:  Get the room ready for the next meal.  2 people

·      Toilet Seat Construction Artist – Seat + Plywood + Bucket + Your skills = Toilets.  2 people  (Friday)

·      Fertilizer Collection manager – Put paper on the rollers, fill buckets with sawdust, empty pails, make compost for 2015 garden season.  4 people

·      Resource Management – garbage/recycling/composting – Check the bins, empty them, repeat.             2 people

·      Set-up Crew – Tables, chairs, stage, stage roof, PA, event tent, toilets.  4 people (9am – noon, includes lunch Friday)

·      Parking Attendant -No valet, but by pointing out good parking spaces to drivers, you might get tips. 2 people (Friday &  mornings)

·      Site manager - Answers questions, knows the property, handles situations.

·      Combustion Activation Technician - Bonfire maker/putting out -       2 fire pits, 2 days, not hard.  1 person

·      Tear Down Crew – opposite of set-up crew, requires stay until Monday 9am – noon (includes Sunday night outdoor movie and    lunch Monday!).  4 people

Kids’ Activities Helper – A short shift helping Chris with different kids’ activities appropriate to different ages (6 positions, Ages 12 and up)

Speaking of kids, we have had a lot of feedback about kids’ prices so we are cutting the price of kids’ tickets down to $40!  We really want this to be a family event, so bring out the whole crew.  

Space is limited.  Register Now!  Ticket sales end Aug 19.

What ARE we doing this year?

Only 23 more sleeps until the most amazing event of the summer!

REGISTER HERE

By now you might be thinking how great this weekend sounds with all the warm fuzzies and evening fun stuff but where’s the meat and potatoes, where’s the learning and hands-on stuff?!  

We’re here today to lead you through what a day at the 2013 Convergence might look like…

We’ll start each day with your choice of either a barefoot boreal forest nature walk, or a yoga session with our local Yoga For Life Studio.

Once you have grabbed some breakfast and met a few new people, you feel like your brain might be up for something new, so let’s check out what the morning conversation topics might include…

·      Food Forest vs Annual Gardens:  A new type of early retirement?

·      Humanure Compost:  Is human feedback into the soil essential to the evolution of healthy food?

·      Solar Electricity:  Is it sustainable, and can we rely on it?

 

·      Off-Grid Log Cabins:  Fresh ideas for cozy, efficient, sustainable homes.

·      Solar Air Heating:  The most efficient, simplest, form of solar.

·      Chickens:  Food and manure and entertainment? Oh My!

·      Rock Stoves:  Can it really be that easy?  A welder’s version…

Each of these conversations will take place three different times throughout the weekend, so that you can pick and choose a few favorites.

Now that your brain is rolling some new information and ideas around, you’re ready to get your hands dirty and learn a new skill, build something cool or let your creative side out with a cool art project, or go build something with your kids.  It’s time for hands-on activities!

Hugelkulture Crop Circles:  Turning swamp land into garden paradise.  We will be assembling a large hugelkultur bed in a lowland area that is generally too wet to garden.  This will not only increase the surface area available for food production, it will store water, build soil, and it gives us lots of options for really cool designs.

Door screen heater: Assembling a handful of cheap materials into free heat for life.  This project will involve building a device that collects heat from the sun (rather than electricity).  Collecting heat, it turns out, is way easier and more efficient way of using solar energy, so at the end of this activity, you will have a firm grasp on how you could heat your buildings very, very inexpensively in the future.

Bats houses:  Are you getting tired of listening to that low hum in the air as you squint to look at the tornado of mosquitoes that is swirling above you (I’m referring to the Gull Lake PDC’s from past years)?  Bats could put a big dent in that swarm, but they like to have a house first!  You get to build them.

Grout house art project:  When a new building goes up, it’s always exciting to see how it looks when it’s finally finished.  We combined the ideas of Greenhouse and Outhouse, so all that’s left is to paint and decorate the Grouthouse!

Song writing workshop:  Charlie MGee wrote a whole CD of songs about permaculture principles, and now he wants to help you get your musical ideas down on paper.  You’ll come away from this activity with your own type of “Yield”.  Watch Charlie’s new video! 

All the while your kids are busy discovering their own permaculture world with some amazing projects:

Permie kids will rock this year!  We will be walking in the forest, wild foraging and then creating green smoothies, building mason bee houses, painting a community mural, mudding seed bombs sprinkled with heritage and organic seeds interspersed with games, story-time and laying in the sun.  Families are welcome and encouraged for all activities.

Kids’ Activities are faciliated by Chris Guilbeault of LadyBug Permaculture and Lakech EcoLodge and Ranch.  Chris hails from just around the corner, in Pigeon Lake and is an alumni from Verge Permaculture, Michael Becker Teacher Training (Calgary), and the Permaculture Institute for Children (Portland).  Chris is currently the Coordinator for Little Green Thumbs CentralAlberta and designs gardens and activities for schools, hospitals and senior's homes as a horticultural therapist.

Lunch will be a time to sit down together, try some local organic food, and see what food is really supposed to taste like!  We’ll have our friend Denia at Creative Cuisine Catering preparing everything including vegan and gluten-free options.

Alright, now that we’ve had a chance to let our stomach settle from lunch let’s get busy again.  Jeff & Juli are very excited to give you a tour of Rancho Relaxo.  There are too many projects to list, but it’s safe to say that it will blow your mind to try and think about that many projects at once.

After a spectacular supper including a naturally raised and hormone free roasted pig from Fisher Farms, the evening entertainment will begin. 

Charlie Mgee,  the Australian Permaculture Ukulele Guy will rock the stage first with his hilarious collection of songs about the permaculture Principles.  Watch his hilarious new video!  After his set, it’s time to get your open mic song ready to play!  There may even be a surprise appearance by the Garden Variety Rockstars.

Sunday, let’s finish up those last projects and meet the last few people before we say our good-byes…but wait there’s still more after lunch….

The Business of Permaculture:  Can we make real money?  YES we can!  You’ll get new ideas for choosing a viable business, writing a business plan, establishing fair pricing, and of course, how to effectively market a new business. 

A panel of current permaculture businesses owners will speak a bit about their business and then take questions regarding what they do.  This is an industry of huge potential that is just barely being tapped, and you could be in on the ‘ground floor’.  Meaningful work is in your future!

There will be a MarketPlace space set aside where there will be room for a few people to display their Permaculture-related business.  This will be on a first come first serve basis.  You could also have the opportunity to give the lunch crowd a 60-second commercial for your new venture.

Then just when you thought you had to go back to the hussle and bussle of the city, you can stay Sunday night to help eat leftovers and have an outdoor movie night!  If you have Monday off, why not hang around for a bit, enjoy a movie on theatre-quality screen and sound system, and let those ideas sink in a bit before diving back into real life.

We hope you are licking your lips and tuning your guitars.  

Cheers for now. 

REGISTER NOW, SPACE IS LIMITED!