Success!

ISLAND's first event, the Edible Forest Gardening lecture and workshop with Dave Jacke, was a success!

Wednesday evening's lecture, with fifty folks in attendance, was a great introduction to forest gardening. After a short two hours, Dave's dynamic speaking style and encyclopedic brain had people buzzing with the anticipation of putting these ideas to work. Moving the audience from a monoculture mind to a polyculture mind, Dave spoke about ecosystem agriculture--the intersection of ecology, design, and agriculture.


Thursday's workshop, which sold out (there was a max of twenty-five students), began with an intensive morning lecture at the MSU Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Station. Once our brains were full, we filled our bellies at the Eco Learning Center while engaging in conversation with the workshop participants and getting to know each person's interests. After lunch, we toured the Eco Learning Center property while Dave encouraged us to absorb information through our eyes, ears, fingers, feet, noses, and skin. "I get a lot of information from my feet," he said after a trek across some lumpy ground. Then, he asked twenty-five grown-ups to dig in the dirt with their fingers and there was nothing but grins. In this way, Dave provided a great context for observing and analyzing the land before implementing any design decisions.

We are incredibly grateful to the following folks who made this event possible:
Dave Jacke
MSU Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Station
Jayne Leatherman Walker from the Eco Learning Center
SEEDS
Great Lakes Bioneers
Jayson Spalding
Green Island
Oryana
McGough's
Rising Star Wellness Center
Higher Grounds Coffee
Bill Palladino and SBTDC

and all of the people who showed up!

Thank you!