This local chapter is located in/near Portland, Maine.
To contact/join this chapter, please see the contact info on the left.
When: Tuesday, October 15, 2019 from 6-8pm
Where: Falmouth High School 74 Woodville Rd, Falmouth, ME 04105 [ Map ]
It has taken us a little while to figure out all the details, but we're happy to announce that Mark Shepard will be coming to talk to our chapter on October 15th!
We are co-hosting the event with the Resilience Hub and it is open to all. Suggested Donation: $10-30 sliding scale at the door. Please give more if you're able. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Hope to see all of you there!
Sam, Anson, and Rachel
The lecture will draw extensively on Mark’s experience establishing and developing New Forest Farm as one of North America’s largest and most innovative perennial farm ecosystems.
Using nature as a model, Restoration Agriculture is the intentional restoration of healthy, functional ecosystems as the context for economically-viable farm operations. Perennial crops, livestock, fungus, and pollinators are integrated to produce abundant food, fiber, and fuel crops while simultaneously restoring critical ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water purification and infiltration, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity.
Mark will discuss the strategic how-to’s of implementing Restoration Agriculture beginning with the agroforestry techniques of alley cropping and multi-species silvopasture grazing, along with how to implement water management systems based off of natural patterns and informed by Keyline patterning pioneered by P.A. Yeomans.
Inputs-based agriculture, pest and disease cycles, plant and animal breeding, compost & compost teas, nitrogen-fixing woody plants, 16-brick rocket stoves, herb spirals, and hugulkultur will all be mentioned before winding up with a passionate call to arms for all farmers, land owners or aspirants, to rise to the challenges of our times, to live and work toward the creation of an ecologically healthy food system, culture and economy.
Who is Mark Shepard?
Mark is the CEO of Restoration Agriculture Development, Forest Agriculture Enterprises LLC, and runs New Forest Farm, a 110 acre perennial agricultural savanna, one of the first of its kind in the USA. New Forest Farm is a planned conversion of a typical row-crops grain farm into a commercial-scale, perennial agricultural ecosystem using oak savanna, successional brushland and eastern woodlands as the ecological models.
Trees, shrubs, vines, canes, perennial plants and fungi are planted in association with one another to produce food (for humans and animals) fuel, medicines, and beauty. Hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts and various fruits are the primary woody crops. The farm is solar and wind powered.
Trained in both mechanical engineering and ecology, Mark has developed and patented equipment and processes for the cultivation, harvesting and processing of forest derived agricultural products for human foods and bio fuels production. Mark was certified as a Permaculture designer in 1993 and received his Diploma of Permaculture design from Bill Mollison, the founder of the international Permaculture movement.
He is the author of the bestselling book Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers, available at http://www.acresusa.com/restoration-agriculture-in-practice-book-dvd-combo
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