Author Archives: Ladybugs, Butterflies and Bees

Bringing Biodynamics Down to Earth . . .
from Cosmos to Compost

Friday July 27th, Saturday July 28th & Sunday July 29th, 2012

Biodynamic farming is a powerful and proven system of farming organically. Utilized heavily around the world, in North America farmers have yet to take full advantage of this elegant natural system.

California biodynamic farmer and educator Gena Nonini will teach how to implement biodynamic practices in a commercial-scale farming enterprise, small urban farm, and all facets of landscaping.   A basis in theory followed by a lot of practical knowledge will enable you to put biodynamic practices to work on your farm, in your yard, at your hotel, golf course or container gardens.

Workshop Price: $275. (Group discount available.)
Please call to reserve your spot: 805-646-4294. Space is limited to 50 people.

Group Rates:
Workshop for 3 or more: $225 ea.
Workshop & dinner together: $325 ($225 for workshop & $100 for dinner.)

To purchase workshop tickets now, please click here.

Or you can send your tax-deductible donation, check payable to:
CRA (Center For Regenerative Agriculture),                                                                         w/ notation: Biodynamic Workshop.                                                                                    Mail check to Transition to Organics, 1129 Maricopa Hwy,                                           PMB 190, Ojai, CA 93023.

Day 1 – Biodynamic Agriculture: Background and History
A deeper look at the role of ‘natural’ law as defined by science vs. “cosmic” law as defined by the works of Goethe and Steiner. Intensive full day with lunch and dinner break. Lunch included.

Day 2 – Practical Applied Biodynamics (with part of the day on a biodynamic orchard).  Paradigm Shift in Thinking: The fundamental shift in thinking required for biodynamic practice. The role of fertility in relation to composting, cover cropping, soil structure and humus formation and the integration of biodynamic practices.

Class ends with a screening of the film “How To Save The World One Cow, One Man, One Planet” at the Ojai Theater, 4pm.  (Included in price for workshop, or separately: $10 at the door.  For more info, see below.)

6:30pm: Evening Farm To Table Dinner  ~  Please join us for an amazing evening of great food, great talk, new and old friends, in the citrus orchard under Ojai’s pink sky.

Dinner Price: $125. (Group discount available.)
Please call to reserve your spot: 805-646-4294.
Space is limited. Reservations required.

Group Rates:
Dinner, 2 tickets: $110 ea.
Dinner, 3 -7 tickets: $100 ea.
Workshop & dinner together: $325 ($225 for workshop & $100 for dinner.)

To purchase dinner tickets now, please click here.

Or you can send your tax-deductible donation, check payable to:
CRA (Center For Regenerative Agriculture),
with notation: Farm to Table.
Mail check to Transition to Organics,
1129 Maricopa Hwy, PMB 190, Ojai, CA 93023.
Checks must be received no later than July 21st.

(Movie and Dinner can be purchased separately from the workshop.)

Day 3 – Bringing biodynamics into the landscape arena. All aspects of BD principles, preps and applications will be covered in this wonderful morning focusing on landscaping and backyard food gardens.

ABOUT OUR INSTRUCTOR
Gena Nonini is the owner of Marian Farms and a master distiller. She studied Agriculture Business Management at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California and did her graduate work in Agribusiness at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Gena is sought after as an accomplished biodynamic farmer and teacher throughout the United States and Canada. She serves on a number of boards and offers private consulting services as well. Nonini is the president of the board of the Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics and president of the board of the Biodynamic Trade Association.

Marian Farms was the first certified Demeter Biodynamic vineyard in the Americas in 1995. In addition to the vineyard, Marian Farms was the first citrus, almond and distillery operation in the Americas to be Demeter-certified. Today, Marian Farms is a 100+ acre, horticultural diversified farm with a 5,000 square foot distillery and CSA operation. http://www.marianfarmsbiodynamic.com

Where Can I sign? Because this is a California Ballot Initiativate, we need in-person, physical signatures. We cannot gather online and have until April 22nd to gather 800,000 signatures to get this on the 2012 California Ballot.

To sign in Ojai, go to Rainbow Bridge.   There’s a table in the front of the store.

via Label GMOs, Genetically Modified Foods – California Committee For The Right to Know – A 2012 Ballot Initiative Campaign.

Transition to Organics was invited to participate in the Ojai Valley Wide Discussion with Supervisor Bennett.  We submitted the following list of accomplishments and recommendations.

Accomplishments toward Making the Ojai Valley a Model Green and Sustainable Community:

Transition to Organics has sponsored two successful, well-attended conferences this year. We also sponsored, along with Denise Ritchie (Malibu Compost), the screening of an important documentary, Queen of the Sun, What Are the Bees Telling Us, at the Ojai Theater, with the filmmaker Taggart Siegel and Ed Begley Jr. hosting the event.  Courtney Cole (Grounded by Nature), and Kim Ainsworth (owner of Redtail Ranch) joined us in sponsoring the after event, which was a memorable community gathering honoring the bees and beekeepers.  Organic and biodynamic farmers donated time, food and energy to prepare delicious dishes and treats for this incredible gathering.

The most notable result of our efforts is that we were instrumental in inspiring a Ventura County orchard to begin the transition to organics!  The orchard manager also manages other orchards, and we are hopeful that the success of this first orchard will spur the manager on to begin transitioning the others!

Our Transition to Organics Team includes Steve Sprinkel (Farmer & the Cook, Gozo Farm),  Matt Boeck (organic horticulturist and pest control advisor), and Gena Nonini (biodynamic expert and land manager for Marian Farms).  They are available for consultation and advice on how to best begin and follow through with transitioning to organics.

Also, because of the Queen of the Sun event, we have a newly formed Beekeepers Club meeting at the community meeting room next to Farmer and the Cook, monthly, as announced.  80 people are signed up in the club and 40 actually showed up for the first meeting.  The room was buzzing with enthusiasm in support of creating bee friendly, sustainable landscaping, backyards, orchards and agriculture in our valley.

Update:  We just got news that one of the attendees of the Queen of the Sun event (an orchard owner in San Diego County) who was inspired by the message of the movie, is in the first steps of transitioning!  Also: a local orchard manager and a golf course manager are seeing results with the biodynamic compost soil amendment, and are moving ahead in testing larger areas on the properties they manage.

Current Efforts or Future Plans in this area:

Transition to Organics is continuing to educate and inspire community members to honor the bees and support our local, sustainable farmers and fruit growers.  Transition to Organics has already spread to Carpinteria, where a community group, Carpinteria Transition 2 Organics, has formed!

We are planning the next Transition to Organics conference, details TBA.   We invite the whole community to participate!

Please visit our website:  www.sustainableojai.org

This website includes a resource page for all local sustainable organizations to send information and events to be posted.

Ojai Valley Wide Discussion Survey

#1   Making the Ojai Valley a model green and sustainable community:

Do you feel that the Ojai Valley is a model green and sustainable community or that there is more work to do in this area?

               Yes, the Ojai Valley is a model green and sustainable community                             _     X       More Effort is Needed

Do you have suggestions for additional steps needed in this area?

1. Encourage and support City, County, and State maintenance departments, landscapers, gardeners, farmers and orchard owners in our valley by offering information about cost effective, nontoxic alternatives to pesticides (which include herbicides).

2. Offer formal education programs, with obligatory participation by certain members of facilities management, including schools and parks.  Learn from local professionals who are already using nontoxic remedies in their landscape management.  Learn from other cities that are successfully using nontoxic alternatives to pesticides and herbicides, such as Arcata, California.

http://greenlivingideas.com/2010/03/31/17-pacific-northwest-cities-feature-pesticidefree-parks-playgrounds/

3. Eliminate spraying of toxic herbicides, using site-specific, efficient and timely use of safe alternatives, such as vinegar, flame torching (in spring, when weeds are just emerging), mulching, sheet mulching, utilizing goats as weed control, and other alternative methods.

4. Support biodiversity and grow healthy soil, thereby allowing the ecosystem to regenerate, and eliminate the need to use toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.  According to a USDA study, researchers show that Organic Farming Enhances Biodiversity and Natural Pest Control:

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2010news/07011_organic_study.html

5. Create a dialogue about the weed control issues facing the county and have some community input in the process. Indiscriminate use of pesticides is detrimental to the health of the community.  People are getting spayed in the face (without their knowledge and consent) as they are driving or walking on the bike path where county sprayers are using pesticides along the side of the road.

6. Instead of using fear tactics to discuss the Asian Citrus Psyllid, encourage growers to use mulch and compost to create healthy soil that retains water and supports the citrus trees, instead if expecting the use of pesticides to kill the pests.

7. Encourage local enforcement agencies to police and ticket Pesticide Applicators (landscapers/gardeners) whom do not have current Pesticide Applicator Licenses (either QAL, QAC, or Q) and are transporting unsecured/unlabeled pesticides in their commercial vehicles. A visit to any local landfill will present up to 50 of these unlicensed contractors an hour.

Nitrogen Fixing Trees

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