Solar powered and energy efficient homes and buildings in Tennessee and across the country will be open for public tours. It’s all part of the upcoming National Solar Tour.

The tour offers local residents an opportunity to find out how their neighbors are:

• trimming energy bills
• increasing energy independence
• taking steps to address global warming

Here at Sequatchie Valley Institute, we will be sponsoring the tour for the 14th consecutive year! The Institute will be open on Saturday, Oct. 2, for tours.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE 2010 SOLAR TOUR:

• Saturday, October 2, 2010

Free and open to all (donations gladly accepted)!

Come on out and enjoy the autumn colors in the beautiful Sequatchie Valley while you about making electricity from the sun at the Sequatchie Valley Institute!  The National Solar Tour is organized by the American Solar Energy Society.

Sequatchie Valley Institute at Moonshadow. Off grid, photovoltaic electricity, Trace Inverter, RV Solar boost charge controller, Zomeworks Tracker, Trojan batteries, Sunfrost refrigerator, passive solar, hand-crafted buildings of rock, logs and clay, solar greenhouse.

• Time: 11:00 am – 3:00 pm Central Time.
• Contact Info: Telephone: 423-949-5922, 423-949-4598. E-mail: officemanager [at] svionline [dot] org  Website: svionline.org
• Location: 1233 Cartwright Loop, Whitwell, TN 373797.
• Directions:
  • From Chattanooga: We are located just off Rt. 28 near Cartwright, between Whitwell and Dunlap. It will take under 1 hour from most locations in Chattanooga. Take I-24W from Chattanooga toward Nashville. Take exit #155 (Dunlap). Turn right on to Hwy. 28. Go 18 miles North from I-24 (you will go through Whitwell). Watch for Cartwright Automotive on your left. Turn left just past this on Cartwright Loop. Follow this road for 0.7 miles to Box 1233 and a Solar Tour sign. Turn right and park, walk across dry creek to the first house. You will be met there.
  • From North Chattanooga: Take Hwy 111 from Soddy-Daisy to Dunlap. Turn left at the ramp exit and drive through Dunlap. At the last light, take the right fork, which is Rt. 28 (passes by the schools and BiLo). Travel 7 miles to Cartwright Loop, just past a small store, and before Cartwright Automotive. Turn right on Cartwright Loop and go 0.7 mi.to Box # 1233.
  • FROM DUNLAP: We are located just off Rt. 28 near Cartwright, between Whitwell and Dunlap. It will take about 20 min. from Dunlap or Whitwell. Take Rt. 28 (passes by the schools and BiLo) south from the Middle School. Travel 7 miles to Cartwright Loop, just past a small store, and before Cartwright Automotive. Turn right on Cartwright Loop and go 0.7 mi. to Box # 1233.
• There will be Solar Tour signs. Call for directions from other locations.

Nona McIntyre Home. Passive solar Mother Earth News design; circular and earth bermed.

• Location and Directions, same as above.

Mildred Kimmons Home. Passive solar construction with dual-metering capability, when the TVA Green Generation Partners Program is approved by the Sequachee Valley Electric Co-op. Green architecture and healthy house design used throughout to provide a non-toxic and environmentally friendly living space for elder living (95 years young!). Both interior and exterior built with Southern Pine Beetle-killed pine and other local and salvaged materials. Wall insulation made from blue jean scraps.

• Location and Directions, same as above.

For tours in other areas, visit www.NationalSolarTour.org.

You can learn more about the Sequatchie Valley and its history by joining a tour of Sequatchie Valley Institute at Moonshadow.

Ulinawi
Ulinawi, the neighboring community started by our former interns, Nada and Bradley Jones, is becoming well established now, with some great people helping out.  An impressive earth bag and pole framed home is moving upwards, and several other temporary and permanent structures have been built.  Projects include gardens, chickens, goats, and a gravity-fed water supply.  SVI building workshops are now being conducted at Ulinawi, which has more in-progress structures than SVI at this time.

Barking Beetle Conference Center
This beautiful three-floored structure, built in part with a grant from the Community Foundation of Chattanooga, is becoming a vortex for SVI events.  It provides a unique shelter high in the trees when rain prevents outdoor programs.   The structure also provides room for large groups.  Moonshadow is a beautiful venue for meetings and workshops, but has been bursting at the seams when numbers reach 30 to 60 people.  Now we easily have capabilities for over 50 people who can meet in comfort under shelter.  We have even used it as a “campground” for scouts and students when the weather was too inclement to stay in tents.

Plans for the Conference Center
Retreats, conferences, non-profit meetings, workshops, parties, and more.  A current idea is to host weddings.  The Wedding Rocks, where Joel and Michelle were married, is a beautiful outdoor site, and the Conference Center provides an alternate location in case of rain as well as an excellent reception area.

One of our restrictions for large groups is our small parking area, so we are considering establishing a new location for parking.

January

January 10.  Webb School Outdoor Class Visits

January 26. Home School Day at the Tennessee Aquarium

January 30.  Johnny and Carol celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by traveling to New Zealand and Australia for three months, hiking, camping, and learning about new bioregions, leaving SVI in the capable hands of Asha, Patrick, and Chris.

February

February 24.  UTC Sociology class field trip.

February 27.  Sewanee Creek Community representative visits.

The Board visioning workshop helped determine SVI goals and activities for the year.

A seed exchange and spring celebration was led by Cerulean.

Randall, our gardener for 2008, was joined by Trish for the beginning of Spring gardening .

March

March 9.  Tour group visits. Mountain Justice Spring Break Program with 27 student activists visit and help out with projects here.  This group came to discuss strategy and planning for the upcoming year in the struggle to stop the use of mountain top removal for coal mining in Appalachia.

March 28.  Spring Wildflower Hike.

March 29.  Shiitake Mushroom Workshop with 15 participants who worked enthusiastically to inoculate over 40 logs.  Each person took home a lovely inoculated log and enjoyed a delicious shiitake-filled luncheon.

April

April 7.  Class from University of the South visits for a tour.

April 12.  Second Spring Wildflower Hike.

April 15.  Visit from 6th-8th graders from Chattanooga Montessori School, including a 3-hr tour, lunch, and a hike.

UTC Earth Day presentation.

April 21.  David Brainerd School Senior Class visited for hike and tour

April 25.  Party for the Planet at the Tennessee Aquarium.

April 27.  Co-Sponsor of the Beehive Collective’s Presentation in Chattanooga about the Mountaintop Removal Poster.

Trish worked with the Bethlehem Center for children in Chattanooga from April to June helping to plant a garden with the children.

SVI joined the Buy Fresh Buy Local organization in Chattanooga with participation in the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Food Guide.

May

May 14.  Collegedale Academy Senior Ecology Class Visit.

May 17. Patrick taught a workshop on Fermentation in Chattanooga.

May 21-31.  Food For Life had 96 participants. Programs and workshops were presented by 23 great speakers, including Sandor’s fermentation workshop and Carol’s food preservation and native edibles and medicinal plant hike, a shiitake inoculation workshop, and more.

Appalachian Voices, a story and portrait project about Appalachia, interviewed and drew portraits of the SVI staff and Food For Life participants.

June

June 1-5.  The Warren County School Honors Summer Program.  Fifty kids from Grades 1-6 came to us each day for 5 days for a three-hour hike and tour.  We broke them into 3 groups, each with an experienced guide, and took them up separate trails.  The kids were great!  We hope they will be able to come back next year.

June 9-15. Bonnaroo.  SVI again participated in Planet Roo, the ecovillage section of Bonnaroo. We built a lovely straw-bale house, as usual, with very elegant clay slip designs.  See our website for photographs. We shared our love of sustainable building with over 90,000 music lovers, many of whom were entranced with our goals and our unique building skills.  We’re fond of telling the story about the young man who left Bonnaroo early.  According to his girl friend, he went home to start building a clay house!   Asha and friends performed on the solar stage.   Our staff sold their handmade crafts.  This provided much-appreciated income, as none of us are salaried.

June 23.  Creative Discovery Museum Scientist in Residence Program.  Carol and Johnny took buckets of clay, sand, and straw to the Museum and, with the help of passing kids, built a cob house!  See the web for pictures of this exciting and educational event.

Gardens. Our interns, staff, and gardeners were busy planting, weeding, and harvesting.  We shared our knowledge of the enduring skills of canning, drying, and freezing, producing lots of delicious healthful products, including apple & pear butter, apple & pear cider, dried shiitake mushrooms, grape and muscadine juice, mead, wine, and tomato sauce.

July- August

Building Workshop at Ulinawi sponsored by SVI.

Gardening and food preservation projects continue.

September

Sept. 26.  Tennessee Environmental Education Association Annual Conference, Nashville, TN. Session:  Use Mud to Build Green-Inside or Out!  Carol and Johnny presented a workshop for SVI on use of cob building in the classroom and schoolyard, to encourage creative thinking and understanding of green sustainable building.  See pictures on our website.

October

October 3.  National Solar Tour. Thanks to Chris for organizing the tour this year.  More and more people each year are interested in alternative energy systems.

October  30.  Wine in the Woods. Over 40 people attended our yearly fundraiser, this year with a Halloween costume theme.  We were honored by seven donors with donations of wine from Tennessee vineyards.  Of course, our own wines, champagnes, and meads were featured.   Over 40 people had an excellent evening, with lots of wine and food.  Our new conference center, Barking Beetle, provided plenty of space for tasting sessions, accompanied by an excellent band from Chattanooga.  A number of people spent the night with us, and awoke to discover that heavy rains had brought down our creek.  People who parked on the SVI side of the creek were trapped till the next day!  Not many wine tastings end like this.  We provided meals and our unexpected visitors helped with clean up and hiked on our trails.

Potlucks. We began joining with our neighboring friends and communities in the Sequatchie Valley for monthly get-togethers and potluck dinners.

November-December

December  11-13.  Solstice Party and Open Studio. This annual event attracted many revelers.  We combined the party with a work day to begin raising the roof beams for the new wood-fired kiln shed in Sassafras Flats.  Artists in our community displayed their work in Barking Beetle.  Carol presented an Open Studio event at Sweetgum, with her pottery on display, and provided hot herb teas, cider, and Johnny’s famous fudge to visitors.

• our next public tour will be July 17,2010.

Topics covered at the workshop include:  1) The Art of Directional Felling, which enables loggers to carefully drop trees without harming neighboring trees and shrubs; 2) Use of the Farmi Winch to delicately remove logs from the forest without damaging the soil—it works even on a 45 hp tractor; 3) Effects of the 2001 forest fire on a mature forest; 4) Effects of the Southern Pine Beetle and use of the damaged wood; 5) Demonstration of a portable Wood Mizer bandsaw for utilizing damaged and dead forest trees for lumber; 6) Shiitake mushroom production.

Discussions will begin during the Wildflower Hike on Saturday, April 17. Hands-on Workshop will take place Sunday, April 18.

• Low-impact and positive impact technology and ethics, making forest healthier through sustainable management practices.
• Mindset: waste not – limbs – shiitakes, wildlife, firewood | lumber off ground to dry | sawmill – mulch, slabs, building/siding, sawdust (fire, compost, toilets)
• mindset: anything in forest to encourage wildlife, you encourage fertility — reap profits of encouraging wildlife.
• discussion group – personal and social ethics, goals, outcomes
• STIHL safety and operation video
• chainsaw maintenance – adjustment, sharpening, fule mixture, lube
• chainsaw safety – equipment, protective gear and clothing, starting
• cutting, bucking, felling
• lumber extraction tools, FARMI tractor winch demonstration
• axe, handsaw, pruning tools
• Wood Mizer sawmill, lumber sorting, selection and storage

Low-impact and positive impact technology and ethics, making forest healthier through sustainable management practices.

At SVI, we have a waste not mentality with our wood. We use all parts of the tree, including what is normally considered waste wood.

We harvest mainly deadfall and windfall lumber. When a tree falls, we begin a process:

• Live hardwood limbs are used in our fungiculture grove to grow shiitake mushrooms. Dead limbs are used for firewood.
• Smaller brush is piled to encourage wildlife,  which directly benefits the fertility of the forest ecosystem.
• Large trunks are raised, in situ, off the ground to dry and cure.
• At the sawmill, side slabs are used for siding simple buildings. Sawdust is saved for fire kindling, garden mulch and toilet compost

A sliding-scale fee of $25-50 will be charged for this non-profit educational program. Participants may choose to camp out on Saturday night: please call ahead to arrange a camping spot.

For directions to SVI, which is located in the Cartwright community half-way between Dunlap and Whitwell, 45 minutes from Chattanooga, or for more information, contact us at 423-949-5922, or email officemanager [at] svionline [dot] org

We will begin hiking at 11 am Central Standard Time (12 noon Chattanooga time — EST). Early birds (10:00 am CST) may enjoy a biodiesel tractor-pulled hayride up the hill to the start of the hike. There will be a choice of a long, strenuous hike deep into the Gulf, or a shorter, more relaxed walk.

Plan to take lots of pictures! You are welcome to come early to visit our gardens, hand-crafted homes, and crafts gallery, which will be open for purchases of fine nature-based crafts produced by our staff, and specialty books. If you wish, you may bring a picnic lunch to eat at one of our beautiful picnic areas in the woods.

A sliding-scale donation of $5-20 will be used for our non-profit educational programs. For directions to SVI, which is located in the Cartwright community half-way between Dunlap and Whitwell, 45 minutes from Chattanooga, or for more information, contact us at 423-949-5922, or email officemanager [at] svionline [dot] org

food for life  in the new millennium

a gathering about the source and protection of life
held in beautiful rural tennessee — Jun 3-6, 2010

Our twelfth annual comprehensive food conference includes skill-building workshops as well as discussion-oriented political dialogues.

Plan to attend for the week, weekend or even just a day.

Learn various food preservation strategies including canning, fermentation (sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, wine, beer, mead and champagne) as well as different methods of cooking, diet choices, health and nutrition. Attend workshops on edible and medicinal plants, seed saving, permaculture, biodynamic and organic gardening practices. Engage in theoretical and political explorations of the social and ecological implications of industrial agriculture. Discuss strategies for mobilizing against biotech and agribusiness, and promoting sustainable community-based food systems instead of global monopolies.

All workshops at the sequatchie valley institute are intentionally affordable using a sliding scale based on your income. Food exchange is available.

We ask $25 – $50 (sliding scale based on your ability to pay) per adult, per day, which includes meals and overnight camping. Ala Carte workshops are $10 for those who can’t attend a full day. Food trade (must be approved in advance) can trim $15 per day. Children, $10/day (parents are responsible for their own child care). For food trade, please contact us quickly to discuss our needs and your potential contributions, we prefer bulk and non-perishable, in case of duplicate donations; fresh food is okay, too.

Registration

Online Registration Form »
…or call us at (423) 949-5922

Food for Life 2010 — Schedule

(Schedule will evolve as we add workshops and presenters – please call if you want to be sure about a particular workshop)

Food for Life is run on Central Daylight Time.

THURSDAY, June 3

10:00 – Tour of Sequatchie Cove Farm

(lunch is on your own…)

1:00 -4:00 ARRIVALS AT MOONSHADOW, TENT SET-UP

Theatre and Community Games
All ages. Come to any or all sessions. Facilitators: Jeannie Cerulean, Maya Aurelia, Patrick Ironwood.
Playing is good for the heart of the community. No experience necessary. These games are derived from improvisation in the theatre, Soma, and festival play.
On Thurs during tent set up 5pm-6pm

4:00-6:00 * WILD WINE, MEADS, AND HERBAL ELIXERS: an Exploration into Fermented Magic Medicine & Party Drinks (Patrick Ironwood and Marissa Percoco) – We will gather materials from the garden & the woods, then brew various wines, meads & brews for everyone to take home. Please either bring your own honey (1qt/gallon of mead) or local honey will be available for $5/#. In addition, please bring 1(or more) gallon jugs (wide mouth with lid preferred), and any fruit or herbs to share; we will also harvest whatever is in season from the surrounding forest and farm.

6:15 DINNER – FERMENTATION POT LUCK – Please bring your favorite ferments to share with everyone during our first evening together. Plan to share recipes and stories…

7:30 WELCOME CIRCLE and Vision Sharing – We’ll open Food for Life this year with a circle in which we will brainstorm about ways folks can reclaim food from corporate control. Bring ideas, visions, and fantasies of grassroots action to create better food choices. In our circle we will share our visions and inspire one another to action. (or this can be changed – it’s up to whoever is facilitating the opening circle – this is what we did last year and it’s already up on the svi website for this year’s schedule as well…)

FRIDAY, June 4

8:00-9:00 BREAKFAST

9:15 MORNING CIRCLE

9:30-12:30 * FERMENTATION OVERVIEW (Sandor Katz) – Experience how simple it is to harness the transformational power of microorganisms to make foods and beverages more delicious, more nutritious, more digestible, and more stable. Learn about the healing qualities and nutritional importance of live-culture ferments, as well as their illustrious history and integral role in human cultural evolution. Empower yourself with simple techniques for fermenting these healthful foods in your home. Be part of the fermentation revival! We will make sauerkraut, discuss kefir and yogurt, wild yeast alcoholic beverages and much more.

12:00 EAT MY WORDS –  Storytime with Michelle Kimmons

12:45-2:00 LUNCH

CHOICE OF AFTERNOON SESSIONS:

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES:

2:15-5:00

* BREAD MAKING/BAKING W/ KIDS (Tricia Baehr) – Kids of all ages will learn how to measure, mix, knead and bake bread from scratch…we will explore the rising process, developing gluten with kneading, shaping and baking.

* HOW TO MAKE BUTTER (Tricia Baehr) – Start with cream and watch how butter is made in an old fashioned hand crank churn while our bread dough is rising. Rinsing and salting and shaping butter. Kids will learn how butter doesn’t come from a plastic tub in the supermarket and how great it tastes on freshley baked bread.

FOR ADULTS OF ALL AGES:

2:15-3:15 * SLOW FOOD, FARM TO SCHOOL, PRESERVING FARMLAND (Trish King) – Discussion on the philosophy of Slow Food USA: promoting good, clean, and fair food. How will a good, clean, and fair food system benefit communities? What are the implications for institutional food systems such as school lunches? What will happen to our local food economy as land use changes and farmland is threatened by sprawl? From a global movement to the local food scene, we’ll discuss what it means to live Slow.

3:30-5:00 * THE MEDICINAL PANTRY (Rachel Fee-Prince) – Learn what common foods and culinary herbs/spices can also be part of the home apothecary. As time allows we can cover everything from childhood issues, colds/flu to chronic illness.

Theatre and Community Games
All ages. Come to any or all sessions. Facilitators: Jeannie Cerulean, Maya Aurelia, Patrick Ironwood.
Playing is good for the heart of the community. No experience necessary. These games are derived from improvisation in the theatre, Soma, and festival play.
Fri 4pm-5pm

5:15 DINNER

6:45 * THE WAY TO HEALTH THROUGH FOOD AND HOW NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE CAN HELP (joel kimmons) – Lets talk about nourishment- ecology and where we fit in- how can we live an inspired gastronomic experience while nourishing the earth and all her communities. Local food, CSAs, farmers markets, community gardens, green spaces, school gardens, cooking, eating, and how to be more than just poop factories. Bring short questions (or don’t) and we will work towards the best answers in a real world and whole world perspective.

SATURDAY, June 5

8:00-9:00 BREAKFAST

9:15 MORNING CIRCLE

9:30-10:15 * CHOICE OF WORKSHOPS:

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES:

* COMPOSTING 101 (Tricia Baehr) – One of the most important things we can learn these days is how to compost. With more and more people learning to grow their own food, nutrient rich fertile soil starts with home composting. Kids will learn what to compost and what not to compost. The science of how things break down and the importance of composting.

FOR ADULTS OF ALL AGES:

* SAFE AND HEALTHY WAYS TO SAVE YOUR EXTRA FOOD – PART ONE (Carol Kimmons) – Safe and Healthy Food Preservation. This hands-on workshop will cover fun and easy methods of canning, pickling, freezing, and drying your surplus from the garden or market. Materials and instruction booklets included.

10:30-12:00 * CHOICE OF WORKSHOPS

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES:

* PLAY WITH YER FOOD (Michelle Kimmons) – Hope your imaginations are hungry, because Michelle is cookin’ up some creative fun! This year’s theme is “You Art What You Eat.” In the great artistic tradition of portraiture, we will compose self-portraits using stuff found in the kitchen. Glue will be
flowing, beans will be bouncin’!

FOR ADULTS OF ALL AGES:

* Fat, Fat, Fat: Making Ghee and Rendering Lard (Rachel and Daniel Fee-Prince) – We will make ghee and begin the process of making lard from local foraged hog fat. All the while discussing the positive role these nourishing and delicious fats can play in our lives. Both products will be available to take home later that evening.

12:15-1:30 LUNCH + Discuss! Discussion will include grass roots development in Central America and the 3rd world, and down to earth opportunities to get involved (Sandy Hepler) 2/3 World Development: the outlook, especially related to food and health – 95% of the world’s population growth in coming decades will occur at the edges of tropical cities. Is there any plan, or hope for sane development, and a healthy life for these people? How can they feed themselves? And can we help? Explore these issues with Sandy Hepler, based on many years of experience working on related matters in Nicaragua.

1:45-2:45 * Appalachian Heirloom Seeds and Foodways (Jim Veteto, Ph.D.)

Mirroring the diversity of bioregional natural flora, Southern/Central Appalachia is the center of agricultural biodiversity in the US, Canada, and northern Mexico. Appalachian homegardeners and farmers are nurturing close to 2000 documented folk taxa of traditional vegetable and fruit varieties. This workshop will present the results of a decade of research on Appalachian agrobiodiversity from a leading scholar in the field, discuss traditional ways of preparing Appalachian foods along with healthy alternatives, recommend heirloom varieties for Appalachian gardens, and provide seed packets for interested gardeners.

Jim Veteto, Ph.D., is assistant professor of applied environmental anthropology at The University of North Texas (UNT), the Director of The Southern Seed Legacy project, and Director of the Laboratory of Environmental Anthropology at UNT. He has fifteen years of experience as an heirloom gardener, permaculturist, environmental activist, and wild plants enthusiast.

1:45-2:45 * ICE CREAM AND INDUSTRIAL COLLAPSE: ARE THEY MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE? (Patrick Ironwood and Marissa Percoco) – Learn the basic use of hand crank ice cream makers, through a variety of recipes, including exploration of goat & cow milk, and also risk going hi-tech with liquid nitrogen to do a large quantity for an ice cream and crumpet party… participants are encouraged to bring ice cream makers of all types to use and share, milk & any of your favorite yummy add-ins

3:00-5:00 CHOICE OF WORKSHOPS:

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES:

GARDEN CRITTERS (Tricia Baehr) – Discover the creepy crawly garden helpers from worms to ladybugs and preying mantis. Let’s talk about how they help in the garden and why they are important.

CREATIVE PLANT MARKER MAKING (Tricia Baehr) – Garden art is fun and makes our gardens more colorful while we are waiting for plants to grow. Have fun painting markers to help distinguish plants for your garden, a friend’s garden or even a community garden.

FOR ADULTS OF ALL AGES:

* THE PHILOSOPHY OF EATING WILD (Alan Powell) – This workshop is about the value of wild foods in the context of human history as well as modern human life. Alan will talk about plant identification as well as harvesting philosophy (understanding how much to take and why). He will discuss why we stopped eating wild foods and the effect on human health and diversity in a healthy diet. The format will be an herb walk with much commentary and discussion.

5:15-6:45 * ARTISAN FARMSTEAD CHEESE TASTING AND THE STORY OF SEQUATCHIE COVER CREAMERY (Padgett Arnold) – Enjoy a tasting of cheeses made here in the Sequatchie Valley at Sequatchie Cove Creamery. Learn about the background of this new enterprise at Sequatchie Cove Farm, and how making this cheese fits in with the philosophy of the farm, and the local foods movement here in the southeast. A slide show of photos from the farm and its in-depth research into artisanal cheese-making will accompany the tasting. Bring your own wine or other beverage to share.

Theatre and Community Games
All ages. Come to any or all sessions. Facilitators: Jeannie Cerulean, Maya Aurelia, Patrick Ironwood.
Playing is good for the heart of the community. No experience necessary. These games are derived from improvisation in the theatre, Soma, and festival play.
Sat 6pm-7pm

7:00 PIZZA AND WOOD FIRED COB OVEN DISCUSSION – we will disscus sourdough & wheat fermentation, wood oven use and tips on building your own… as we bake.

SUNDAY, June 6

8:30-10:00 BREAKFAST

10:15 MORNING CIRCLE AND FERMENTATION CHECK-IN

10:30-12:15 * TRADITIONAL FOODS (Didi Wildrover and Chad Ananda) – This workshop will explore the process of nourishing our future by reclaiming the endangered foods and foodways of the past. We will start with an overview of nutritional practices utilized throughout human history that have relied on foods that are locally produced/gathered, nutrient-dense and more highly digestible, and minimally processed and stored without dependence on refrigeration or electricity. Given the extreme dependence of our modern societies on fossil fuels, high-tech food production methods, and pharmaceutical short-term health solutions, embracing traditional foodways is a movement toward greater community-based self reliance, and deeper foundations of health. We will spend some time looking around the kitchen at the variety of traditional foods we have incorporated into the food scene at Moonshadow, and do some basic hands-on activities to illustrate traditional foodways: making farmers’ cheese from raw milk, mayonnaise out of eggs and olive oil, acorns into edible meal, and turning whole corn into nutritionally superior “masa” or “hominy,” all of which we will incorporate into our final meal together.

12:30-1:45 LUNCH

2:00-3:00 CHOICE OF TWO WORKSHOPS:

FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES:

MAD HATTER TEA PARTY (Tricia Baehr) – The annual FFL Mad Hatter Tea Party for kids of all ages! Wear a silly, fun or sophisticated hat while we explore the world of teas from history to healing properties of herbal teas. Learn how to brew tea while enjoying sipping and trying different varieties.

FOR ADULTS OF ALL AGES:

* SAFE AND HEALTHY WAYS TO SAVE YOUR EXTRA FOOD – PART TWO (Carol Kimmons) – Safe and Healthy Food Preservation. This hands-on workshop will cover fun and easy methods of canning, pickling, freezing, and drying your surplus from the garden or market. Materials and instruction booklets included.

Theatre and Community Games
All ages. Come to any or all sessions. Facilitators: Jeannie Cerulean, Maya Aurelia, Patrick Ironwood.
Playing is good for the heart of the community. No experience necessary. These games are derived from improvisation in the theatre, Soma, and festival play.
Sun 2:45pm to 3:15pm We will perform for the Tea Party Entertainment

3:15-4:45 * CHOCOLATE SURPRISE (Sandy Hepler) – Explore an all-time world favorite. Cacao itself is health food and can be made healthier. Original Aztecs drank it as a hot, bitter, peppered drink (did they ever add honey?). A really healthy, great-tasting chocolate is possible! samples of delicious organic chocolate are guaranteed. These are handmade in northern Tennessee by Sandy Hepler himself, our Mad Kitchen Scientist.

5:00 * CLOSING CIRCLE

Lodging:

Accommodations are spartan: tent camping space is available and is included in the daily event/workshop fees. If you would like hotel/motel/b&b lodging, try the following:

• Mountain Inn & Suites — 17260 Rankin Ave, Dunlap, TN — (423) 949-2184 (10 miles from SVI, in Dunlap)
• Club House Bed & Breakfast – 512 Mountain View Cir, Dunlap, TN — (423) 949-4983 (10 miles from SVI, in Dunlap)
• Acuff Country Inn – 1156 Highway 28, Jasper, TN 37347 — (423) 942-6370 (20 miles from SVI, on I-24 exit 155)

Download the event flyer

• 
  ffl-flyer_layout – 8.5″x14″ printable PDF (2 per sheet)

Food Donations

• SVI Food Donation Needs – Food for Life (pdf)

Learn more about SVI and Food for Life

• Monessa Guilfoil of WUTC interviews Asha Ironwood

Joel Kimmons works at Centers for Disease Control, and he’s been talking about this for years… now it looks like it’s finally ready for the public to think about.

HFCS is an ingredient in so many products, you’d be hard pressed to find packaged food that does not contain it.

“Normal American” children consume high levels of HFSC in their diet… very scary to think what it has done to this generation.

• provisional Environmental Health article about mercury in high fructose corn syrup
  • (contains the background on the study and the findings)
    
• Not So Sweet – press release about mercury in high fructose corn syrup
• Not So Sweet – final article about mercury in high fructose corn syrup
  

The SVI booth will have a model solar home, and information on SVI activities, tours and programs for the general public, teachers, scouts and homeschoolers, including lesson plans.

A BioBlitz is part contest, part festival, part educational event, and part scientific endeavor.  The Chattanooga BioBlitz will bring together scientists and other organizations from across the region in a race against time to see how many species can be counted in a 24-hour biological survey of the nature center and Reflection Riding. The public is invited to observe the scientists at work and to participate in educational activities provided by educators from the sponsoring organizations and by BioBlitz researchers.

Information from Chattanooga Nature Center:

• Friday, September 5^th from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
• Saturday, September 6^th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Free for All Ages

The Chattanooga Nature Center is partnering with Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Garden and the Tennessee Aquarium to host the Second Annual Chattanooga BioBlitz.  A BioBlitz is part contest, festival, educational event and scientific endeavor.  Scientists and experts in various areas of expertise will be in a race against time to see how many species can be counted during a 24-hour biological survey of the Nature Center and Reflection Riding Arboretum and Botanical Garden properties.  You are invited to come out to see scientists in action.  There will be educational programs and activities where the public will interact with scientists and professional educators to learn about the biodiversity of our region and what we can do to reduce our impact on the environment.  To register for the educational programs go to www.TNAqua.org and click on events.

Activities will range from insect blacklighting Friday evening to various nature programs, environmental games, crafts, and live animal encounters on Saturday.