Seminars and Notes - Mother Earth News Fair

October 22-23, 2016                   Topeka, Kansas
Mother Earth News Fair

These are the notes, scribbled on the back of the fair schedule, from the seminars that I attended.

These notes may not interest you or make sense, but I want to keep them for reference.

I have included links to websites and Amazon  links for the books.



Wildlife Friendly Gardening
Tammi Hartung, author
I have been following her blog, she lives/farms on 5 acres in Canon City, CO
newest book: Cattail Moonshine & Milkweed Medicine
Bats - night pollinators, Passion Flower
Deers eat bindweed
"OMRI" products - organic for pest control


A Tiny Home to call your Own: Living well in just-right houses
Patricia Foreman
She has built tiny houses and she talked about her business and about how to get your tiny house built where you want.


How to Produce Half Your Food in Less Than an Hour a Day in a Backyard
Marjory Wildcraft
Listened in a little after the tiny home seminar, but she talked about raising rabbits, chickens, etc and I will not be doing that. I plan on growing plants - fruits, veggies, flowers.


Grow, Create & Inspire
Crystal Stevens
CSA Farmer (7 acres) and herbalist
A great seminar, by a young mom, hoping to make a difference
* Refuse-Reuse-Reduce-Recycle
* Share with others
* Reach out to kids
* Basis in volunteering
* "Slow Food Chapter"
* author Grow Create Inspire



The Road to Health is Through Your Stomach
Dawn Combs, M.A. - Ethnobotanist & Author mockingbirdmeadows.com
author of Heal Local
author of Conceiving Healthy Babies
nervines and bitters for digestion
nervines are hops, chamomile, lavender, oat tops
headache relief tincture
sage, gingko for memory loss
mugwort is a moth repellant

"Our Heal Local Mentorship is a year-long program that involves two week-long stays at the farm along with homework oversight and hands-on volunteer opportunities during the months in between. The design is intended to provide an immersive study experience while being practical for those who will need to travel to the farm."          2017-2018 SESSION DATES  July 17, 2017 – July 22, 2017 and  June 18, 2018 – June 23, 2018
"The curriculum covers the foundations of herbalism, wild plant identification, physiology and pathophysiology of the human body, medicinal herbology, herb gardening, herbal preparation, natural cosmetics, medicinal formulation, native connection to the land, traditional foods preparation, the techniques of harvesting, drying and storing plants and much, much more."



Making a Living on 1.5 Acres
Jean-Martin Fortier
Grow Better - Not Bigger
author of The Market Gardener
"Les Jardins de la Grelinette, an internationally recognized micro-farm known for its high productivity and profitability using low-tech, high-yield methods of production."
Located in Quebec, an area that my maternal grandfather's family has farmed.





Saving Resources and Money by Intentional Living
Aaron Murphy and Dan Durica
Dancing Rabbit EcoVillage
interesting concept to living with shared facilities, everyone has their own little, solar powered house, but they share - cars, kitchens, tools, etc.


Extending the Season at Both Ends
Eliot Coleman, author - Maine
Four Season Harvest
The Winter Harvest Handbook
The New Organic Grower



The 7 Hour Business to Fund Your Family Farm
Red Rock, TX - Marjory Wildcraft, author - Grow Your Own Groceries
THE GROW NETWORK


Benchmarks of Truth
Joel Salatin, author - I listened to the audio online during my lunch break
 Permaculture - Amassing Natural Wealth
1. model scale resistant / up or down
2. appropriate in developed and undeveloped countries
3. principle consistent: spiritually, ecologically & economical
4. easy to enter, easy to exit, lower capital, portable
5. everyone can do it ie:permaculture, pond building, irrigation
6. "Innovations" should be easier, rather than harder (no franchises) (don't be a Tyson chicken farmer)
7. Equity is in management, information & service, not infrastructure
8. Builds "self'-reliance" instead of Dependence
9. Child Friendly - transparency, open source, charitable
10. Building carbon onsite and not depleting carbon in the soil



Creating Healthy Soil for Healthy Food and People
Dale Stricker is an agronomist for Green Cover Seed
No-till Farmer - avoid the problems of the "Dust Bowl"
follow the "pattern of the Prairie"
plant cover crops
Barley, Crimson Clover, Buckwheat - attract pollinators
Mycorrhizal Fungi inoculated in plants increases minerals in the soil
excellent information, the last seminar of the event, a great end to the weekend



Posting this information here, helps to keep my RV clutter free, now I can recycle my notes and the brochures and business cards that I collected at this event.

The Walk

I was driving home a few days ago and took a slight detour and ended up at a library in a neighboring town. I was not sure why I was stopping there. When I went inside I decided to look at the RV books, I wanted to read about 12V systems. I have always stopped at campgrounds that have an electric hookup. Someday I may want to boondock or park somewhere without hookups.  The only RV book they had was more than 10 years old.

I decided to take a look at the "new books" shelf.

One book stood out. "Miles to Go" by Richard Paul Evans. I read the description and it sounded a little like my life. It is the 2nd book in a series, so I looked on the shelves for the 1st book, "The Walk".  I took the books home.

I have already finished reading both books. I haven't been reading too many books lately, and have never written a book review. These books are about loss and grieving and going out on a journey to start a new life.  The books are novels, but read more like a parable.

Of course, there will be more books in the series, the next one is not due out until April 2012.

As I was reading, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue - I felt like I was being used by mass media advertising, and the author/publisher was playing with my mind, by dragging out the story into a series of books. On the other hand, I enjoyed reading the story and could relate to a lot of what was written.

Then I was thinking, I just spent 2 days reading. I have so many other things that need to get done if I am going to head south in a few months.  Am I just procrastinating, or do I need this time to relax.

  TOO MUCH THINKING

I did get some work done around the house and in the yard. I did take my father shopping and finished some banking and other paperwork, so I guess it was not all reading.  I just have a hard time relaxing and taking time for myself. After the preparation for the garage sale and then the garage sale - you would think I could relax and enjoy this time to just read.

Some thoughts and phrases from the books:

We plan our lives in long, unbroken stretches

that intersect our dreams,

 the way highways connect the city dots on a road map.

But in the end we learn that life is lived

in the side roads, alleys and detours.

* * * * * 

The best way to heal your own suffering

is by helping to heal someone else's.

* * * * * 

We tell ourselves

that there's always tomorrow,

when we can no more predict tomorrow

than we can the weather.

Free eBooks

I had loaded two boxes of books into my RV last month and never looked at even one of them during my 33 day trip.

I had enough to read with all of the free info that I picked up at visitors centers.....  some of the brochures give you the history of a place or town and are very interesting.

I listed many of the books on Amazon yesterday, I have already sold 3 books.

I have decided to limit the number of books I carry around. 

I will pick up used books and trade them or donate them when I am finished. I have to try and limit myself to one book at a time.

Not sure why I have this obsession to have every book ever printed.  I also have an E-reader (Liberati)  and have dowloaded the Kindle app to my netbook.

*    *    *     *    *    *    *

If you are an artsy, crafty type of person

you may be interested in this.

Received an email today about some free eBooks

and thought I would pass on the information.

Of course, you have to give them your email...

so you will get advertising from them.

Nothing is free.

www.InterweaveStore.com

eBooks about

quilting, drawing, beading

sewing, collage,

spinning wheels, knitting and crochet

Almost Ready........

Only a few more days until I'm "on the road again".  I'm taking my cat with me this time and I will be traveling for a month, so this should be an interesting trip. I had a route mapped out, been watching the weather reports, trying to avoid rain, may have to change my route. I need to make up my mind soon, because I wanted to make a reservation at a state park for the holiday weekend, I wanted to avoid driving in the holiday traffic.
I checked weather.com early this morning, most of the flooding is in Southern IL and MO - and further south - near my original route. More rain is predicted for this entire area all week.  I have decided to change my route and cross the Mississippi in Southern Iowa or Northern  Missouri.
Ladynomads blog showed flooding at campsites at Table Rock Lake.  Is there a central place I can find out about flooded areas, or do I need to contact each states Department of Transportation?
I will be traveling through Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and maybe a corner of Oklahoma before I get to Texas.      I checked out a few State Park websites and some were updated to include flood and road closings details on the home page of their website, this is very helpful information.

I still have to learn how all of the electrical stuff works. The water and sewer are a lot less complicated than making sure I have enough power for all of the gadgets and toys and for cooking and lights. On the way home from Florida, I had an electric hookup at each campsite, I did not hook up to water and sewer everyday.
    
I will have to read about the Inverter, vs shore power, vs generator. At a class I attended at LazyDays, they warned about plugging in chargers (for cameras, cell phones, etc) to inverter power, because its not a "pure SineWave". ??? They said a laptop is ok, the cord has that adaptor on it to regulate the power coming in. (I always wondered why laptop cords have that big "brick"). I would like to add solar to the coach - so that I'm not dependent on electrical hookups.
 
I went to the DMV for my license plates. They were not very helpful, luckily I know how to fill out tax forms. They handed me the application and Use Tax form and said they could not do them.  I had called the SOS office the day before, so I had the tax rates and all of the info I needed. I received a credit for the sales tax paid in Florida.  Their website had an Environmental Plate with a Cardinal on it, they did not have these at the office I went to. I have plain RV plates for now. They expire on December 31st, so I will try to get the Cardinal plates when I get a renewal form in the mail.  Not sure if I want a personalized plate, or to just get a random number when I renew. Do you have "vanity plates" on any of your vehicles?

This weekend I've been busy filling up the cabinets and closets with dishes, food, clothing, electronic gadgets and books. The outside storage bins will have a lawn chair, chair umbrella, cleaning solutions, tool box, extra blankets and an extra water hose, cat litter and jugs of water. When I was first looking at RV's, I didn't think I would be able to take books along, thought I wouldn't have space or they would be too heavy. I have one upper cabinet filled with books, they are mostly travel books.  I found a file folder full of maps and travel brochures in the garage. I will sort through this and find a place for it in the coach.

Also, from the garage is a computer monitor that is also a TV. I originally purchased it for my office, and then later we used it in the garage - hooked up to cable TV. I purchased a wall mount for it today, and have to figure out where in the coach to put it. I like that it can be used as a computer monitor and/or TV. I can use it to watch DVD's for now.
I'll have to get a cable outlet installed on the coach.

The dollar store had some nice fabric bins in a bunch of sizes. I am using them to hold books, clothes and kitchen stuff. I took the coach for a short ride the other day and a lot of things moved around in the cabinets. I'm hoping these bins will keep things corralled. I splurged on a set of Corelle dishes this weekend. I have been trying to find some on sale or at a resale store.  I finally went and bought the design and style that I liked.

"SOLOing consists of
three consecutive takeoffs
and landings"
-unknown author

Half Price Books

Half Price Books (retail/online) sent me an email with "Spring Break" coupons   http://www.hpb.com/

I stopped at a store, in between appointments, and it's like Amazon without the shipping costs. I purchased 5 books and spent less than $30.00. I bought some older books, but they are new to me.

All of the books are in good shape, and some don't even look like they have been read.

The titles I bought are:

Pocket Guide to Zion and Bryce Canyon Natl Pks, Frommer, 2000

I have these pocket books for some of the other parks, and really like the way the info is presented

A Road of Her Own, Women's Journeys in the West, Marlene Blessing, 2002

started reading this one already

The Blue Bear, Lynn Schooler, 2002 (Alaskan story)

Going Back to Bisbee, Richard Shelton, 1993

Cities of Gold, A Journey Across the American SouthWest, Douglas Preston, 1992

I could have bought a ton more of the Travel Journals, they had shelves full of them. I was looking for a guide to State Parks or a guide to Wildlife Areas, but they didn't have those.

And they will buy back the books, I don't expect much for the books but it is better than nothing. I'm going to take a box of books over there next week to see what they offer.

Blogs vs Books

I have always been a reader........probably reading too much.

I usually read biographies or non-fiction - travel books, crafting and art books. I rarely bought fiction/novels.

The blogs are like a biography, if I find a blog I like, I go back to the beginning of that persons blog and read to discover more about who they are.

I still read books, but find that I read the blogs more, now. I have a small 'netbook' which makes reading blogs in bed or on the couch easier. I may get the Sprint "TAB" when I go on the road, or maybe even an IPad, I have to figure out what service plan for phone and internet will be the best for me. I have always used Sprint, but need to consider some of the other Wi-Fi contraptions out there.

Books

I need a 12-step program

for my BOOK addiction

What do you think? Is saving books and magazines and travel brochures and other papers an addiction?

They are heavy and I'm tired of moving them around. Is it necessary to keep them after we read them?

We can read them on the internet, or on a Kindle, or listen to them on an IPod.

It seems that I kept adding more bookshelves to the house, to keep more and more books.

I don't think I have ever read a book more than once.

I have sold some back to Amazon and take some to the library for the library book sale.

I'm trying to save money, so I have not been buying new books.

When I donate books at the library,  I check out what they have for sale. I always end up taking a few home because they only charge 50 cents for a hardcover and 25 cents for a paperback?

How could I not buy a few?

Denver Public Library

How do you keep yourself from hoarding books in the RV???

Enjoy your Day, Teri