Living Garden

Pleasant Hill, OR

What you will learn in a nutshell: How to order, organize, harvest, process and store seeds. How to grow, harvest and preserve healthy, nutritious food as well as culinary and medicinal herbs. This will include where, when and how to prepare a garden bed. How to make compost and care for it. Creating and using compost tea inexpensively. How to start plants from cuttings.How to plant seeds in trays and pots as well as direct planting in ground. How to transplant seedlings from pots to the garden. How to care for the plants once they are in the ground. General care of the garden throughout the spring, summer and winter months. How to harvest and preserve food and medicinal plants for later uses. Since we also teach people how to use medicinal herbs we will discuss uses of some of these herbs while involved in activities in the herb garden. Expect to study hard, work hard and learn more than you can imagine!

Harvest Festival at Natural Harvest Farm

Canby, OR

At Natural Harvest Farm, near Canby, Oregon (near Oregon City).

Our annual harvest party is fun for the whole family!

Visit Natural Harvest Farm, OSALT's 20-acre research and demonstration site near Canby, Oregon (about midway between Portland and Salem).

For more information about the farm, and for directions, see http://www.osalt.org/natural_harvest_farm.html

Events include a self-guided tour of the farm; talks about bees, the future of farming and food; pressing cider; spinning demonstrations; Raffles for gift certificates at local food stores and eateries.

Natural Harvest Farm features sheep (raised for fiber), as well as orchards, grapes and vegetables. We raise our crops using organic practices.

The farm is developing 4 demonstration gardens, follows permaculture design principles, and includes a wide variety of fruits, nuts, vegetables and herbs, as well as basketry materials.

There is a pot-luck dinner at 5 pm. Bring your favorite dish to share. Bring plates, cups and utensils. We'll provide ice cream, cider, tea and water.

Please do not bring alcoholic beverages, tobacco, or animals (except guide and assistance animals.) Feel free to ask us why.

Bring your family, bring your friends, wear sturdy shoes, and be ready to enjoy the country.

See you at the farm!

Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?

Portland, OR

Have you heard the buzz? OSALT is proudly sponsoring “Queen of the Sun: What are the bees telling us?” opening September 17th at the Hollywood Theater! Queen of the Sun is a profound, alternative look at the global honeybee crisis from Taggart Siegel, award-winning director of The Real Dirt on Farmer John.
When: Opening September 17th @ 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM. Running nightly through October 3rd or longer.
Where: The Hollywood Theatre - 4122 NE Sandy Boulevard Portland, OR 97212
Advance Tickets: WWW.QUEENOFTHESUN.COM
Queen of the Sun is screening in celebration of "Portland Honeybee Week", beginning September 17th. After screenings, there will be Q&As with the director Taggart Siegel, producer Jon Betz & local beekeepers on most nights from September 17th to September 25th! Your movie stub will be a raffle ticket for prizes donated by great local businesses!
Come dressed up Saturday the 18th at the 9:30pm showing for a SPECIAL BEE COSTUME CONTEST! Win great prizes!
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On September 17, the new, locally-produced feature documentary, "QUEEN OF THE SUN: What are the bees telling us?" will hold it's national theatrical premiere at the historic Hollywood Theater in Portland. "Queen of the Sun" was directed by Portland filmmaker Taggart Siegel and local producer Jon Betz. "The Real Dirt on Farmer John" Siegel's previous film, was a huge grass-roots success, winning 31 film festival awards and playing for months in theaters in Portland. It is rated #1 on the Portland Area's Netflix and The Oregonian's Shawn Levy called The Real Dirt on Farmer John "One of the ten best films of the year."
Nearly three years in the making, "Queen of the Sun", Siegel's eagerly anticipated new film, deals with one of the most pertinent and important issues of our time, the recent decline of honeybee colonies around the world. "Without bees," Albert Einstein said, "man would only have four years of life left." Queen of the Sun takes a profound, alternative look at the tragic global bee crisis. Juxtaposing the catastrophic disappearance of bees with the mysterious world of the beehive, the film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heart-felt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world. Ultimately, "Queen of the Sun" reveals both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature. (WWW.QUEENOFTHESUN.COM)
"Queen of the Sun" features national best-selling author Michael Pollan, world-famous biodynamic beekeeper Gunther Hauk, Indian Activist Vandana Shiva, and beekeepers from as far away as New Zealand and Switzerland. Even though the film is global in scope, the local interests are vital. Portland is one of the greatest food & organic farming cities in the nation, and an ideal place to produce and debut "Queen of the Sun". Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Founder, notes in the film "Without bees there would be no agriculture, I repeat, no agriculture. Bees are the insects that guarantee fruit's growth and survival." Rooftop and backyard beekeepers around the world are highlighted in Queen of the Sun and Portland has one of the leading backyard beekeeping movements in the country. People from all walks of life are keeping bees in the city, who in turn produce local honey and pollinate our neighborhoods & gardens. Man is crucial to the survival of bees, and likewise, it is the bees efforts that are a big part of what keeps the city and the world vibrant and blooming. Cities are one of the best places for bees because of the diversity of flowers, herbs and trees and the decreased use of pesticides. With the potpourri of farmer's markets around Portland, you'll certainly be able to meet most of these local beekeepers selling their unique flavors of honey.
Siegel lives in Southeast Portland with his wife Jenny and daughter Olive and has begun beekeeping himself with a new hive in his backyard on the slopes of Mt. Tabor. It was a joy for Siegel and his crew to film Portland's farms and farmers markets. He found a network of urban backyard beekeepers, such as biodynamic beekeeper & "swarm catcher" Jacqueline Freeman (WWW.FRIENDLYHAVEN.COM) and local artist Sara Mapelli who danced reverently with 12,000 bees on her body.
With a collaborative spirit, Siegel & producer Jon Betz worked with Collective Eye, a Portland-based non-profit production and distribution organization to create Queen of the Sun. The duo fought an uphill battle to fund the film during the heart of the economic collapse. Bypassing traditional financing for a community based approach, the two worked together to fundraise money to complete the film. They also took on many roles themselves. Siegel is an experienced cinematographer and shot much of the film, and with Betz's background in social issue documentaries and film editing the two worked together to build the story from the ground up. With a strong interest in keeping production as local as possible, the Collective Eye team worked with northwest musician Jami Sieber, and local animators Noah Dorsey, Alyssa Timon & Chris Rodgers as well as a wealth of Portland film talent. Sound design was completed at Digital One with local designer Ryan Mauk. Queen of the Sun was edited at Collective Eye and color-corrected and mastered at Mission Control in downtown Portland.
"Queen of the Sun" has received wide national acclaim on the festival circuit, including awards at the Nashville & Maui Film Festival, and rave reviews with sold-out screenings at the Seattle International Film Festival. Film.com recently called Queen of the Sun, "Stunning...as soulful as it is scientific, as uplifting as it is alarming." The Seattle Times called the film, "3 and a half stars out of 4 - An irresistible romance about the essential role that honeybees play in maintaining earth's fragile ecosystem."
Where: The Hollywood Theater - Portland, Oregon.
[ Advance Tickets: https://www.hulahub.com/event?id=110255]

Carolyn Keane
Queen Of The Sun
http://www.queenofthesun.com
Marketing & Outreach Coordinator
Collective Eye, Inc.

Growing for Family

Salt Spring Island, BC

Whether you have a large yard or even just a balcony, growing some of your own food is easy, increases the pleasure of the table, and provides a sense of self reliance. This workshop is for people who would like to learn simple systems for growing food in small spaces for themselves and for their families. We will cover composting and soil fertility, bed preparation, seeding and transplanting, weeds and cultivation, and the harvest and storage of various food crops. This workshop is for all levels, no prior experience is necessary. $225, includes lunches and dinners

Taught by farmers Michael Ableman and Josh Volk. Register at www.foxglovefarmbc.ca or call 250-388-6800 for information

Growing for Market

Salt Spring Island, BC

This is a nuts and bolts workshop which will cover a range of both perennial and annual crops and enable participants to learn some of the specific techniques and strategies of a successful market farmer. The first part of the workshop will focus on production, from soil fertility and preparation, to seed selection and propagation, through harvest and post-harvest. The second part will be devoted entirely to marketing, with sessions on region specific market planning, farmers’ markets, CSA, displays, and restaurant and wholesale sales. $285, includes lunches and dinners.

Taught by farmers Michael Ableman and Josh Volk. Register at www.foxglovefarmbc.ca or call 250-388-6800 for information.

Soils 101 - Restoring soils for plant health and abundance

Tigard, OR

Will Newman II, co-founder of OSALT, will present a short class on "Restoring soils for plant health and abundance" at the Tigard Garden Club.
Contact Gayle at the Garden Club for more information.