I’m sorry so much time has gone by but a life change took all my attention for six months. Now I’m back on track and ready to o help you get on track for 2012. Here are some classes/events/talks you may want to get on your calendar.
ENERGY
Solar Hot Water 103
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Century College, 3300 Century Avenue N., White Bear Lake, MN 55110
$90.00 for members of MRES, $100.00 for non-members
A one-day introductory course for homeowners interested in learning how to design a solar hot water heating system. You will learn to evaluate solar site resource, when solar hot water is the right solution, the economics and incentives for solar hot water, and system design principles. Topics covered include system components, system sizing, solar thermal panels, storage tanks, heat exchangers and plumbing connections.
Build a Personal Solar Station
Thursday, March 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
At the Seward Co-op, brought to you by GoSolar!
$50/$45 members
The class will teach you how to build a Personal Solar Station that can be used in your home, cabin, or RV to run 12V kitchen appliances for cooking or lights for a shed. Learn the basics of solar energy and electricity. Solar kits will be offered during class.
Your Longfellow sustainability group (called Transition Longfellow) will be hosting a workshop to make a solar cooker in April of this year. Watch for more info.
CLIMATE CHANGE
HOLY TRINITY READING PROJECT
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is doing a congregation book read of “Earth: Making Life on a Tough New Planet,” by Bill McKibben. Learn how climate change is/will affect both people and the planet and how we can begin to respond to and prepare for it. Book discussion is held in the Holy Trinity library at 9:55 am on Sunday, March 11. Books are available for sale at the church.
GARDENS/LOCAL FOOD
Community Garden Spring Resource Fair, organized by Gardening Matters
Saturday March 31st
Neighborhood House, 179 Robie Street, St. Paul, MN 55107
Donation
Connecting gardeners with resources, information and people for a successful 2012 growing season. Workshops on topics such as backyard chickens and beekeeping, food swaps and coops, addressing food justice at a local level, and composting options for community gardens. Keynote speaker is Karen Washington, an urban farmer and president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition and founding member of Black Urban Growers (BUGs). Karen has developed abandoned lots into successful community gardens and food initiatives. She will be sharing her work advocating for land permanence for community gardens and the power of working in a coalition to achieve common goals.
Urban Chicken 101 Lecture
Wednesday, April 4, 6:30-8:30
Seward Co-op
$12/$10 members
This class will cover everything you need to know to start up a small flock of chickens in your back yard, with an emphasis on coop design.
Think of It As An Adventure 
I am interested in teaming up for support and encouragement to stay within our bioregion for food. Start with garden, then farmer markets & csa, then coop. (This would mean no more olive oil, coconut oil, and (gasp) coffee!) I want to show it can be done and survived, even with fun and health!
Also, want to build Biointensive Circle Garden, which produces enough food for one person on less than 1000 square feet (factory farms use between 45 and 83 times this land area for food produced for one adult for a year). Again, I want to show it can be done, not as a huge sacrifice, but “as an adventure”.
Please contact me at 612-722-7356
LLEN@usfamily.net
Phillips neighborhood, Mpls.
LikeLike
Lynne, visit the first Saturday group sometime and offer this as one of the monthly mini-challenges. We have challenges listed through June but this would be a great one to start in July. (Read the mini-challenge page to see what we’ve got coming up and where we are meeting.)
LikeLike
Leslie, Just a note to say that Annette and I are thinking to do the film on chickens in April, so the timing would be perfect to have the workshop crosslisted with the film
elizabeth
LikeLike