We are launching the second in a series of Earthskill gatherings at Our Permaculture Farm in Brooksville, Florida. The land we steward is a long-leaf pine, turkey oak ecosystem with a diversity of native species alongside our orchard and food forest.

We will spend the weekend sharing earth skills, connection with nature, and building community. New presenters are being added, and there will be informal skill sharing and networking going on all weekend - the below calendar is just a sample!

Topics covered:

• Edible and medicinal plant identification - learn edibles and medicinal and how to use them.
• Mushrooms - foraging and growing
• Nature awareness and tracking skills
• Permaculture skills
• Food preservation
• Seed and plant swap
• Community building
• Water and well care
• Tree care
• Animal husbandry

and more

Event Schedule

Saturday AM

10 am - Diane Willis - Plants, We will walk around and learn how to identify plants using simple characters like leaf shape and arrangement, and flower and fruit structures. We will identify and discuss how to use edible and medicinal weeds and native plants that we find. I will show you my favorite books and give you the names of my favorite websites.

11 am - Koreen Brennan - We’ll do a farm walk and discuss the ways we are providing abundance for wildlife and for humans. We’ll discuss great plants for bees and other useful native species as well as plants in our food forest.
 

Saturday PM

1pm - Diane Willis - Water harvesting, we will look for signs of water movement on the landscape and learn how to identify areas where erosion and infiltration are occurring. I will offer tips on where and how to design a water harvesting plan based on what you observe in the landscape. I will talk about what I learned from a water harvesting certification course I took in Arizona.

2pm Mycol Stevens - Will share his broad knowledge and also we'll sharpen some tools.

3pm A Panel - learn earthskills wisdom from multiple experts, dive deep into your own interests in an open session.

 
Sunday AM

10am - Rebecca Krassnowski - animal expert. Nutrition and care for animals, from pigs to rehabilitating a dying horse. Special treat: Meet the horse, Cora, now recovered and a working animal!

Ashley Davis - Ashley Davis will teach you to preserve nature's bounty with an in depth canning demonstration. She has worked on farms throughout the south and has worked hard to make this year's kitchen garden possible. You will learn to pickle your garden veggies, create jelly from native Florida beauty berries, and make it last for up to a year or more! Stock your pantry with food grown at home.

Steve Szmidt - Water catchment, well pump liabilities and solutions, solar.

Sunday PM

Steven Turner - Tree care and trimming.

Koreen Brennan - Reading the landscape - How much can you understand about a piece of land in a single walk about it? A lot! Explore the farm while learning pattern language and other skills that allow you to read any landscape.

Plant and seed swap again!

Signing Up

Our goal is to create a community setting whereby people with earthskill can meet each other and share their skills with others of like mind, learn from each other, get to know each other, and create stronger communities in our bio-regions.

Because we want to keep this as accessible as possible, we are asking for donations and suggesting a sliding scale amount. Suggested donations range from $20-50, which help us to cover costs of preparing the site, organizing and hosting the event.

To keep our costs low, we will ask that you bring your own food and eating utensils to this event. We will have facilities to warm or cook it.

Date: Nov 4-5, 2023
Time:  
Sat - 10 AM to 5 PM, with evening activities and fire
Sun - 10 AM to 3 PM
Where: 11251 Salina St, Brooksville, FL 34614
RSVP: Please go here!

Come one day or both days! We will have some camping spots available. Please let us know ahead of time if you intend to camp. Outdoor toilets and shower facilities available.

We will have a plant and goods swap at 5 PM on Saturday. Please bring plants, seeds, or other goods that you’d like to share at our “really free market” on Saturday.

If you have an earthskill or other idea you’d like to share, please let us know!