This in-depth course is a bargain when compared to in-person seminar registration, travel and lodging. And you can study wherever you are when it is most convenient for you.
$499.00
Regular Price
$399.00
Special Summer Savings!
Specific tools and techniques which will be discussed include:
Windbreaks
Alley cropping
Silvopasture
Polyculture and permaculture
Multi-story forest cropping
Erosion best management practices
Integrated specialty crops
Foundation Knowledge in Restoration Agriculture
With the vagaries of commodity crop prices year-to-year, and the extremes in weather and rainfall that seem more normal than exceptions, it's becoming evident that farmers need more than ever to seek farming systems which offer resiliency. Diversification of farming methods and species offers this and more. In this mind-expanding workshop you can learn some of the tools available to move your farming operation toward a more stable, resilient ecosystem. And the fringe benefit can be in quality of life as it becomes easier to manage and economically as it becomes more consistently profitable.
Monoculture farming works against nature, takes more energy and inputs, and produces concentrated and often toxic wastes. Over time, resources are depleted and yields decline.
Polyculture farming systems are integrated, diverse systems which are more resilient and mimic nature. So-called wastes become resources. Ecosystems are restored and balanced. Once established, very little effort is needed to maintain the systems.
Permaculture is an approach to designing perennial agricultural systems that mimic the complex interrelationships found in nature. Many of the concepts were practiced by native people and early civilizations before agriculture discovered and became addicted to cheap fossil fuels.
Agroforestry is a way for landowners to improve the stewardship of their land for better income potential, wildlife habitat, and environmental quality. Agroforestry combines agriculture and forestry to create integrated and sustainable land-use systems and takes advantage of the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs and/or livestock.
Wisconsin farmer Mark Shepard is a certified permaculture designer, agroforester and ecological farming consultant. He has demonstrated on his own 100-acre family farm that the principles of permaculture — long embraced by eco-minded urban gardeners — are needed in farming more now than ever. In this intensive self-paced course you will learn how to imitate nature and create a landscape that builds the health of the ecosystem over time.
Join Mark Shepard as he shares the knowledge he's gained over a lifetime of study and through the implementation of these systems on his own family's farm. Not just a theory class, you'll hear real-world advice and tips on these innovative farming systems. Whether you "go all the way," as Mark is doing, or simply introduce some new crops and diversity into your traditional farm or small acreage this workshop is certain to provide the roadmap you'll need.
Welcome
FREE PREVIEWStanding on the Backs of Giants
FREE PREVIEWBacks of Giants . . . J. Russell Smith
Backs of Giants . . . Masanobu Fukuoka
FREE PREVIEWBacks of Giants . . . Bill Mollison
FREE PREVIEWLet's Begin!
Self-Review: Foundations of Restoration Agriculture
"Progress" vs. Reality
The Education of a Restoration Agriculturalist
Nature Heals!
Our Crisis in Agriculture
FREE PREVIEWThe Obscenity of Industrial Chemical Agriculture
Challenges Facing Agriculture
What Are We to Do?
Admitting Problems, Creatively Seeking Solutions
Self-Review: Realities Mandating Restoration Agriculture
What Does Farming in Nature's Image Mean?
FREE PREVIEWSoil Erosion
Understanding Succession . . . Nature's Way
DEEP DIVE: Succession
The Savanna — Successional Brushland
It's All About Resource Capture . . . Light, Rain, More
Perennialism
Multitudes of Living Interconnections
A Few Words about Staple Food Crops
FREE PREVIEWSelf-Review: Farming in Nature's Image
Step 1: Identify your Biome
FREE PREVIEWStep 2: Find the "Key" Economic Species
Step 3: Imitate the System
Self-Review: Steps Toward Restoration Agriculture
New Forest Farm, Wisconsin
Oak Savanna Biome
Oaks, Beech, Chestnuts
Apples
FREE PREVIEWHazelnuts
Rubus and Ribes
Grapes
Cherries, Plums and Peaches
Fungi
The Oak-Hickory Variation on the Oak Savanna
Self-Review: Oak Savanna Biome
Considering Biomes Other Than the Oak Savanna
Temperate Riparian Zones
Northern Pine Forest
FREE PREVIEWPrairie Grasslands
Boreal Forests
The Tropics
Self-Review: Biomes
Animals and Agriculture
Nature Abhors a Vacuum
Restoration Agriculture and Livestock
DISCUSSION: The Vegetarian/Vegan Diet and Animals in Farming Systems
Integrating Animals into a Restoration Agriculture System
Don't Overlook Trees as Forage
Stocking Rates and "Overgrazing"
Cattle
Pigs
FREE PREVIEWTurkeys
Sheep
Chickens
Goats
Potential Livestock Problems
The Economics of Livestock, and Summary
Self-Review: Livestock
Bees as Livestock
Bees in the Western Hemisphere
Our Era of "Modern" Beekeeping
BEES IN-DEPTH: L.L. Langstroth, the Father of American Beekeeping
And Then Come the Problems . . .
Breeding Honeybees
Dividing Hives as the Tool for Adaptation
Self-Review: Bees
Considering Water
Contour Farming
Other "USDA" Water Management Methods
Closing Thoughts on Traditional Water Management
Self-Review: Water and Your Farm
An Introduction to Keylines and Masterlines
The Concepts of Water Management On-Farm
FREE PREVIEWKeyline Benefits Along the Ridge
Keypoint Ponds
Ridge Ponds
Pocket Ponds
Drive-Through Ponds xx
Drive-Through Ponds
Large Water Events
Keylines Drive Farm, Paddock Layout
CASE REPORT: Keyline Water Management at New Forest Farm
The Subsoiler . . . Creating Topsoil
Seeing the Impact of Earthworks on Drainage
Closing Thoughts on Earth Shaping
Self-Review: Earth Shaping and Water Management
Introduction
Meet "Agroforestry"
Agroforestry Techniques: Windbreaks
Agroforestry Techniques: Riparian Buffers
FREE PREVIEWAgroforestry Techniques: Alley Cropping
Video Tour: Managing a Tree Lot 10 Years After Planting
Practical Advice: Planting Trees
Agroforestry Techniques: Silvopasture
Video Tour: Silvopasture Conversion through Removal
Agroforestry Techniques: Forest Farming
Crop Rotations in Agroforestry
Closing Thoughts
Self-Review: Transitional Strategies
Introduction: A Healthy Ecosystem
Start with the Soil
Finding Balance
Soil: Physical and Mechanical Properties
Soil: Chemical/Mineral Properties
Soil: Biological Activity
Pests and Disease in Nature
Pests and Disease, a Different Point of View
Side Note: Cultural Practices and the Tale of Two Plants
Closing Thoughts
Self-Review: Healthy Ecosystems
A Bit of Background First . . .
The Truth About On-Farm Breeding
SIDE NOTE: Luther Burbank
FREE PREVIEWS.T.U.N. . . . Your Secret Weapon
Developing "Stunning" Varieties
My Perspective
The Restoration Agriculture Approach
Self-Review: Plant Breeding
Farm Economics, the Bad News
Farm Economics, the Good News
Nature Is the Ultimate Low-Cost Producer
Look at "Total Site Yield"
Joining Together
Diversity and Abundance
Real Estate Profits
FREE PREVIEWAgroforestry Profits
It's About Food and Quality of Life!
Self-Review: Economics and Profits
A Call for New Pioneers
SURVEY: One Last Request . . .
What to Do Next . . .?
Interview: Mark Shepard
FREE PREVIEWInterview: Bill Mollison, Co-founder of Permaculture
Gary Zimmer's 6 Tenets of Biological Farming
Book Excerpt: Dung Beetles
Book Excerpt: "Turkeys" from Beyond the Chicken
Book Excerpt: "Principles of Keyline Design" from Water for Any Farm
Resources
Technical Troubleshooting
Mark Shepard
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