Fungi and Fermentation Skill Swap

The Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design (ISLAND) and the Martha Wagbo Farm and Education Center are proud to partner for the upcoming Fungi and Fermentation Skill Swap.

The skill swap will take place Sunday, October 4th from 1 pm to 5 pm at the Wagbo Farm, located three miles south of East Jordan at 5745 North M-66.

Join us as we explore the wide world of fungi and fermentation. Anyone with an interest in local foods; wild-crafting; food preservation; or tasty, healthful meals will greatly benefit from the workshops offered here. There will also be local vendors selling fungal and fermented goods.

Experienced instructors will lead workshops about fungi and fermentation, including:

Mushroom cultivation with Jim Ruster of Mitchell Hill Farm
Paper-making with polypores taught by Franny Bluhm
Fall mushroom hunting led by Michigan Mushroom Hunter's Club Vice President Jim Provci
Dyeing wool with mushrooms taught by fiber artist Julie Hurd of the Lake Charlevoix Weavers Guild
Cheese making taught by Amanda Kik of ISLAND
Sauerkraut preparation by Mark Maier
Composting with Mike and Monika Fiebing of Bella Terra Farms
Kombucha with Pepper Bromelmeir
Mead making with Nels Veliquette, beekeeper and fourth generation farmer in Northern MI
Wine making with Brian Hosmer
Live ginger beer and kefir with Nirinjan Singh and Kimberly Dante of Anahata Balance
Whole Grain Home Brew with Jerome Grskovic, BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) beer judge


Sponsored by Eden Foods, and support from the following: Field and Forest Products, and Pleasanton Bakery, Tandem Ciders, Leelanau Cultured Veggies, Black Star Farms, Mushroom the Journal.

Cost is $20 for pre-registration by Friday, October 2nd, or $25 at the door.

For a complete list of workshops and vendors, or to register, please visit http://www.ARTmeetsEARTH.org or contact Yvonne at ISLAND 231-480-4515 or info@ARTmeetsEARTH.org.

The Art of Tracking

Date-- Saturday, August 29th to Sunday, August 30th
Time-- Saturday: Check-in starts at 1 pm; Classes go from 2 pm to 9pm
Sunday: Breakfast starts at 8 am. Classes go from 9 am to 5 pm
Cost-- $30 for three meals and camping, $25 for two meals without camping (breakfast excluded.) Registration is limited! Reserve a space today!

The Institute for Sustainable Living, Art, and Natural Design, (ISLAND) and the Martha Wagbo Farm and Education Center are partnering to bring you a valuable resource in outdoor education—tracking knowledge. The Art of Tracking will be held at the Wagbo Farm just south of East Jordan at 5745 North M-66. Activities will be lead by Paul Raphael, an experienced tracker who has worked with celebrated outdoorsmen such as Jon Young and Paul Rezendes, and has taught tracking classes across the United States and Europe.

At The Art of Tracking, you will learn how to fully engage your senses so that animal trails and sign can be readily observed, how to understand the meanings of bird calls, and how to interpret animal behavior through tracks and gaits. Snacks, drinks, and three meals (dinner Saturday, breakfast and lunch Sunday) are included. Overnight camping is available at the Wagbo Farm—please call Wagbo at 231-536-0333 or email wagbo@torchlake.com for more details.

This event is limited to just 15 participants, so please register by Monday, August 24th by following this link or calling ISLAND Directors Brad and Amanda Kik at 231-480-4515. Supervised older children are welcome. Please note that your registration is not complete until we have received your payment.

For further general information, visit the ISLAND events page. Or contact Intern Maria Wesserle at 231-480-4515.

Systematics Discussion Group

May 20th: Systematics Discussion Group
733 E. Cayuga Street
from 6 to 8 pm

Join Daniel Proudfoot in a working project based analysis of systematics.

Systematics was developed by John Bennett in the 60's working with a variety of people over many years, including Anthony Blake. Through the help of managers such as Saul Kuchinsky (In Search of Miraculous Management), he introduced systematics to the business world, but only on a very small scale. Given the present turmoil of new thinking systematics assumes a new significance as a way of understanding complexity in flux and uncertainty.

Poetry Discussion Group

Join us for a reading and discussion based poetry group. Participants should bring 1-3 poems to share with others, and brief discussion on each writer’s work will ensue.

This is not a typical “writing workshop” where writers offer critiques of others’ work. Rather, the focus of the group is to examine our poetry from the inside out, to appreciate its complexities. The goal is to approach poetry through the places it comes from and where it takes us as readers and writers. We’ll try to offer each other illuminating and fresh perspectives to our poetry. Everyone should feel welcome to attend, even if you don’t have any of your own poetry to share. If you would like to have your poem discussed, bring enough copies for everyone.

May 20th
733 E. Cayuga Street
Bellaire, MI
from 6 to 8 pm