JANUARY 27, 2018. SEED SWAP EXTRAVAGANZA

Paradise Permaculture Institute Presents 4th Annual PPI Seed Extravaganza SEED SWAP! Bring your own seeds if you have them, and envelopes or containers to collect them. Recycled junk mail envelopes work well. Featured Speaker: Kiki Hubbard, director of advocacy & communications for Organic Seed Alliance. Kiki manages OSA’s State of Organic Seed Project. Panelist: Toby Day, MSU Extension Horticulturalist. Panelist: Michele Evans, Master Gardener Level 3, Bio-Intensive Instructor, PPI Board Member.

Download the flyer.

12:00 to 2pm Seed Presentation for Farmers 2:00 to 3pm Seed Swap. Bring seeds, envelopes, containers. 3:00 to 5pm Seed Presentation for Backyard Seed Savers and Panel Discussion 5:00 to 6:30pm Pot Luck. Continue the conversation! Please bring a dish to share. Location: Livingston Food Resource Center 220 S 2nd, Livingston, MT 

 JANUARY 25, 2018. TINCTURE MAKING WITH BEV AXELSEN.

Past PPI Events 2017

Designing Edible Backyards. Creating a Growing Space you love! Thursdays: Oct 19 and 26, 6–9pm. $50. This 2 day class covers developing and maintaining soil quality, finding the best watering method to create a living regenerative system, choosing plants that benefit the each other and those you enjoy eating, creating your personal design, plus much more. Bring a “before” sketch of your property and leave with a plan! How to Green Your Garden with Less Water: Water Conservation, Collection and Storage. Postponed due to scheduling conflict. Tincture Making Thursday, November 2, 6 – 9pm. $25. The class focus will be anti-viral herb combinations; echinacea, elderberry, licorice, red root and rhodiola. We will be using the “folk remedy” maceration process, it requires minimal measurement and is good for general use by family herbalists. There is an additional charge for materials, jars and bottles for tincture making … around $20. Click on the flyer below to download a printable list. (Note: How to Green Your Garden with Less Water workshop postponed, new date TBD.) PermaSprouts Monday October 2, 10am to Noon. Instructor: Mona Lewis. We are piloting a program for teaching permaculture to children. Antibiotic, Anti-Viral & Immune Booster Herbs Thursday, Oct. 5, 6-9pm $25 Instructor: Bev Axelsen. We will learn the medicinal qualities, planting, & harvesting of 30 plants for our climate zone. This class provides an in depth understanding of herbs and the many ways we can use them to improve our health. Designing Edible Backyards, Creating a Growing Space you Love! Instructor: Mona Lewis. Thursdays on Oct 19, 26, at 6-9pm $50 This 2 day class covers developing and maintaining soil quality, finding the best watering method to suit your situation, growing with diversity to create a living regenerative system, choosing plants that benefit the each other and those you enjoy eating, creating your personal design, plus much more. Bring a “before” sketch of your property and leave with a plan!

Wild Weed Harvest Feast Sunday October 1^st, 1pm Suggested donation $10-15.00 PPIs Benefit Gourmet Weed Lunch. Come celebrate the connection between wild plants, sustainable food, and our personal health! Eating the Weeds Thursday, August 31, 6 – 9 pm   $25 Instructor: Bev Axelsen. We will identify, harvest and learn the nutritional qualities of selected weeds and prepare a “weed pasta” from common garden weeds; chickweed, dandelion, mustard, mallow, purslane, shepherd’s purse, nettle, pig weed (wild spinach) and sow thistle. To accompany the pasta we will make a tea from the medicinal plants in PPI gardens; again identifying, harvesting and learning the healing qualities of the plants. Drinking the Plants Thursday, September 7, 6 – 9pm   $25 Instructor: Bev Axelsen. We will learn the easiest and most economical way to make and have teas (infusions and decoctions) available every day. Replace unhealthy sodas and expensive “health drinks” for a fraction of the cost. Bev is an expert in knowing which plants to combine for delicious results. Replace unhealthy sodas and expensive “health” drinks” for a fraction of the cost PermaSprouts Monday Sept 11, 10am to Noon. Instructor: Mona Lewis. We are piloting a program for teaching permaculture to children. Putting your Gardens to Bed & No Fail Beds for Spring! Thurs. Sept. 21, 6-7:30pm $15 Instructor: Mona Lewis. What really works for increasing produce production, enriching and “growing” soil, producing healthier plants, requiring less weeding and watering and saving time in the spring. We will prepare one garden bed for winter by creating a “no dig” garden bed for spring.

BEER FOR A CAUSE (Past Event) Katabatic Brewing Company. Tuesday, August 1, 2017.

$1 of Each Beer Goes to the Non-profit of the Night: Paradise Permaculture Institute. Katabatic Brewing Company 117 West Park St. Livingston, MT. Ph: 406-333-2855.

Plant Walks with Bev Axelsen.

Walks are usually held once a month during the summer and fall. Join our email list below or contact us using our contact form to make sure you are notified when future walks are scheduled. Price for each walk: $25.

Plant Walk with Bev Axelsen, July 22, 2017. (Past Event).

As we had to cancel our last walk due to weather I would like to include two walks into one.  Bring a lunch, we will take a break half way through to lunch by the creek.  The time is approximate for ending, I want to be sure we cover everything available in the Deep Creek vicinity so you each can take the knowledge and begin your harvesting in other areas you might visit during summer outings. Let me know if you need further directions to Deep Creek.  Everyone needs to be pre-registered through Paradise Permaculture, the cost will be $25. We will identify 10 to 20 wild medicinal plants growing in the proximity of the Deep Creek trailhead … some hiking required. The purpose of the class will be identification of plants; followed by observation and study of their cycles of growth, medicinal qualities, flowering, seed production and moving into dormancy. NOTE: Walks are usually held once a month during the summer and fall. The walk on June 10 was cancelled due to weather. Sign up for our email newsletter below or contact us using our contact form to make sure you are notified when future walks are scheduled. Price for each walk: $25.

Seeking Volunteers for Saturday July 8, Garden for a Cause! (Past Event).

In partnership with Montana Matriarch. We are seeking volunteers to help re-create Kristina Lankford’s yard in Livingston into a more user-friendly place, which will allow her to move fluidly and will contribute immensely to letting her live life to the fullest. We will discuss ways to mulch to conserve water, enrich the soil, suppress weeds and show techniques for gardening ergonomically, to save our energy and backs! Plant and mulch donations are welcome whether you can attend or not. Get more information here. Come lend a hand to help our community member! BBQ to follow: salad and drinks provided, BYO meat. Sign up here to participate.

Medicinal Herbs Gardens with Bev Axelsen. (Past Event)

May 27, 2017.  Medicinal Herbs Gardens Workshop event information here.

Food Forest in a Day: The Plan, the plants, the planting and the “why” behind it. (Past Event)

On Earth Day April 22, Paradise Permaculture Institute will be hosting a Food Forest Workshop in Livingston Montana. Our permaculture demonstration site will be prepped, holes dug and staged so participants will be able to focus on the skill and art of replicating nature in an edible ecosystem. Just like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. The goal is to provide people with a plant list appropriate for our climatic zone, the “hows” and “whys” of compatible plant placement and the necessary information for successful planting so they can duplicate an edible foodscape wherever they choose.

Many of us would love to enjoy nuts, fruit and berries outside our backdoor!

Our model will be the size of an acre with 20+ different species of trees, shrubs and plants and 127 plantings. These principles can be applied to a backyard to create food growing on different levels. A tree canopy can hold an amazing amount of nuts. The understory of fruit trees generates our favorite local fruits. Low shrubs provide many types of berries and ground covers provide even more edibles. A formal food forest has eight layers from canopy to ground cover with edible vines such as grapes and kiwi, both can which be grown in Montana. When we think of growing vertically as in a food forest we increase our yield, decrease evaporation loss, supply plants for fixing nitrogen, trap carbon and store vast amounts of water. Food forestry is an alternative, self-sustaining, economic model for growing food as well as repairing and regenerating the environment. The workshop will be presented by Mona Lewis based on the work of a Canadian food forest pioneer, Richard Walker, author of Food Forestry, North of the 49th (parallel). At Paradise Permaculture, we demonstrate how to work with nature to co-create abundant foodscapes and sacred spaces. More information and workshop registration can be found at www.paradisepermaculture.org or by calling (406) 222-9999. Please call for location. Workshop space is limited so please register early. Fee: $49 Time: 8am to 5pm

PPI Gathering: Beer for a Cause! (Past Event)

Join us at Katabatic Brewing Company Tuesday January 31, 2017, 4pm -8pm 117 W Park St, Livingston, (406) 333-2855 Experience the best craft beer on the planet and support a great cause! $1 from each beer goes to our non-profit. Let’s kick back, have fun and we will show pictures from our gardens and the many “perks” we have to offer. Download our flyer.

Seed Extravaganza Free Event 2017 (Past Event)

Date and Time: Sat, January 28, 2017 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM MST Where: Livingston Food Resource Center 220 S 2nd St, Livingston, MT 59047 Download our flyer.

Past PPI Events: 2016

2016 Plant Walks series with Bev Axelsen. (Past Event)

Edible medicinal plants are everywhere, local, free, abundant and they can be a sustainable source of plants for healing. (To allow more students to participate, the same information will be presented during each Saturday morning walk as in that week’s Thursday evening walk. If you are interested in multiple walks, please feel free to mix and match.) When: Thursday evenings, 6-8p except in October: June 23, 2016, July 28, September 1 (rescheduled from August 25), September 22, October 13 (4-6p) Saturday mornings, 9a-12n: June 25, 2016, July 30, September 3 (rescheduled from August 27), October 1 (rescheduled from September 24), October 15 Price: $20 per walk  Location: Deep Creek Trailhead (contact us for directions) We will identify 10 to 20 wild medicinal plants growing in the proximity of the trailhead … some hiking required. The purpose of the class will be identification of plants; followed by observation and study of their cycles of growth, medicinal qualities, flowering, seed production and moving into dormancy. Click here for registration or for additional information. 

Paradise Permaculture Institute’s 2nd Annual Seed Extravaganza (Past Event)

Download the flyer. Seed Swap! Bring your own seeds if you have them, and envelopes or containers to collect them. Recycled junk mail envelopes work well. Sponsored by: Planet Natural and Cashman Nursery Saturday January 30, 2016 • 1-4:30pm $30 Location: Elk River Books | Wheatgrass Saloon 120 N Main, Livingston, MT Paradise Permaculture Institute is pleased to present two excellent speakers at our 2nd Annual Seed Extravaganza. Thinking about saving seeds but don’t know where to start? From fruit harvest to extraction and storage of seeds, we’ll cover more basics than last year. Cheryl Moore-Gough: New topics this year include “Talks” on Growing Plants for Seed and Harvesting; and Cleaning Seed and Seed Storage. Cheryl Moore-Gough is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor in horticulture at MSU, where she teaches Vegetable Production. Additionally, she co-authored 5 books with her late husband and recently on her own released The Montana Gardener’s Companion Second Edition. Her next book, Rocky Mountain Vegetable Gardening Guide is scheduled to be released in February of 2016. Together, they wrote in 2011 The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds. Cheryl is also the technical horticulture editor for Rocky Mountain Gardening Magazine. Michele Evans: Michele will provide hands-on experience with seeds, practical information for growing seed and bring real growing examples. Michele Evans is a Montana Master Gardener Level 2 and a bio-intensive instructor working with Ecology Action, a non-profit working in 145 countries teaching nutrition intervention by showing people how to grow all their food and soil.

Medicinal Plant Walks (Past Event)

We will identify 10 to 20 wild medicinal plants growing in the proximity of the trailhead … some hiking required. Thursdays, June 21, July 28, Sept 1, Sept 22, Oct 13. $20 each walk. OR Saturdays, June 23, July 30, Sept 3, Sept 24, Oct 15. $20 each walk. Grow More Vegetables AND….!  [Date TBD] Tour and learn at the off grid biointensive mini farm with seed, meat, egg and cheese production! PAST EVENT: Solar DIY Workshop 2016 Click here for description.

Free Movie Presentation: Laundry to Landscape (Past Event)

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 7:00-8:30pm. Livingston Public Library. Free.

Video by Art Ludwig, author of Create an Oasis with Greywater

A 30-minute discussion will follow the movie.

Please contact Mona at 406-222-9999 with any questions.

Paradise Transition Garden Phase 2: Watering with Rainwater and Greywater

Saturday, June 4, 2016 9am-5pm. $60. Call for Livingston location. Click here for registration or for additional information. 

How to Grow More Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops (Postponed)

Date TBD • 9am-4pm $60. Call for site-based workshop location between Livingston and Bozeman. Lunch break BYO. Tour an off-grid mini farm with seed, meat, egg and cheese production. Learn updated sustainable growing practices for optimizing soil fertility and harvesting the most delicious homegrown produce. Instructor Michele Evans will be teaching from the book: How to Grow More Vegetables, Eighth Edition: (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine by John Jeavons. Please bring your copy of the book (available for purchase at amazon.com).

PAST PPI EVENTS: 2015

PAST EVENT: Raising Mason Bees: The Friendly Pollinators

Sunday November 1, 2015 at 3-5:00pm $24 Call for Livingston Location Instructor: Linda Mahr, Permaculture Designer With the decline of the honey bee population Mason bees assist in pollinating your plants without producing honey. They are readily available through online ordering. This class will cover all you need to know to start a successful colony in your yard next spring. Through hands-on experience we will learn to prepare the larvae for winter storage. Compared to honey bee keeping, Mason bees are inexpensive and less work!

PAST EVENT: Create a Pond… In Your Backyard, Saturday, March 28, 2015  •  10am to 4pm  $45

Livingston location. Instructor: Greg Johnson from Montana Ponds along with local permaculture instructors. Join us in a backyard garden to complete the digging, then line and fill a suburban yard pond. 

PAST EVENT: SEED EXTRAVAGANZA 2015 February 28, 2015, 1-4:30pm

Seed Extravaganza 2015

Speakers: author and MSU Adjunct Professor in Horticulture Cheryl Moore-Gough, and Montana Master Gardener and bio-intensive instructor Michele Evans. Location: Elk River Books|  Wheatgrass Saloon, 120 N Main, Livingston, MT. Sponsored by Planet Natural.

Photos from the Seed Extravaganza event: PAST EVENT: Edible Weeds Thursday August 13, 2015 at 6-8pm $24

Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist We will identify, harvest and learn the nutritional qualities of selected weeds and prepare a “weed pasta” from common garden weeds; chickweed, dandelion, mustard, mallow, purslane, shepherd’s purse, nettle, pig weed (wild spinach) and sow thistle. To accompany the pasta we will make a tea from the medicinal plants in PPI gardens; again identifying, harvesting and learning the healing qualities of the plants. See also Creating a Medicinal Garden

PAST EVENT: Raising Mason Bees: The Friendly Pollinators

PAST PPI EVENTS: 2014

Permaculture: Working with Nature, Yielding Abundance

PAST EVENT: Wednesdays March 5-26 6:30-8:30pm, $99

Instructor: Mona Lewis

Learn how to Create Edible Yard-Scapes, Enrich Your Soil, Maximize Water Collection and Increase Production Learn strategies and principles to design your garden, yard, farm or any sized property to restore natural cycles, prevent disease of plants and animals with biodiversity and reduce your work load while increasing your yields. Includes a 100+ page Permaculture notebook. Class size limited to 9 students.

Start With the Soil

PAST EVENT: Saturday March 22, 2014 10-1pm, $36

Instructor: Kareen Erbe

Healthy soil means healthy plants. Learn ways to cycle nutrients on your property, enhance natural systems and improve your soil through composting, compost teas, green manures, and growing your own biomass. This workshop will cover traditional composting methods, vermiculture, and much more! Take one step toward nature and she’ll take ten steps toward you! Kareen Erbe has been studying, practicing and teaching permaculture since 2006. After training under Geoff Lawton at the Permaculture Research Institute, she founded Broken Ground, a permaculture education and edible garden design company in Bozeman. She has a Master Composter certification, has training in Ecology Action’s Grow Biointensive method and has worked and volunteered on numerous organic and permaculture farms in Australia, New Zealand, western Massachusetts and Montana.

Straw Bale Mini Workshop

PAST EVENT: Thursday April 3, 2014 6-8pm, $26

Instructor: Christopher Borton. Plastered Straw Bale Home Construction has swept the country, and for good reason. It has minimal environmental impacts, is super-insulated, and can be very affordable. This two-hour slide presentation will touch on construction methods, bale selection, plaster mixes, and rodent/fire/moisture/code issues. We will also step outside to analyze the anatomy of the bale and demonstrate how to custom tie straw bales. Christopher is the director and co-founder of the award winning Sage Mountain Center, a Montana based off-grid demonstration and education center dedicated to promoting personal and environmental awareness. With over 20 years of hands-on experience in renewable energy and eco- building, he has consulted and given lectures and seminars to thousands of students, homeowners, and businesses throughout the state. As a consultant and educator he collaborates with NorthWestern Energy, Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality, and Montana Dakota Utilities as well as local environmental organizations to promote multiple levels of sustainability living.

Sepp Holzer’s Permaculture

PAST EVENT: Saturday April 5, 2014 9-4pm, $75

Instructor: Zach Weiss. Revolutionary farmer Sepp Holzer has worked to regenerate landscapes all around the world. His work with nature started as a small child at high elevations in the coldest part of the Austrian Alps. By working with nature and farming time he has helped create resilient productive ecosystems in some of the harshest climates on the planet. This one day workshop covers an overview of Sepp’s techniques, leaving students with hands on methods to use in regenerating their own landscape. Zachary Weiss is the founder of Perpetual Green Gardens, Graduate of MSU (summa cum laude) with a BS in Ecology, Certified Permaculture Consultant and Instructor, contractor for Earthworks and Earth Powered Greenhouses, and knowledgeable in the application of Holzer Permaculture having studied in Austria with Sepp Holzer.

How to Grow More Vegetables* (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains, and other crops) *Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine!

PAST EVENT:Saturday May 10, 2014 9-4pm $75

Instructor: Michele Evans, CoOwner of Earth Wind and Fire, a solar, wind & micro-hydro company in MT, Bio-Intensive Farming Instructor and Master Gardener Level 2. Michele lives off the grid at 7300′ running a research garden growing almost all their food, meat, eggs, and seeds. Ever thought about growing ALL your food? Register for the class.

Intro to MycoPermaculture: Growing Edible & Medicinal Mushrooms

PAST EVENT:Saturday May 17 9am-4pm, $75 Early Registration $50 before May 1st; $75 thereafter. RSVP so the instructors can order enough materials.

Instructors: Ben Shepard, founder of Mountain Mycoworks with Jona Khaosanga and Kevin Blue. In this one-day workshop we will explore how to partner with the fungal kingdom to enhance the health and productivity of permaculture systems while yielding food and medicine to enhance human well being. Students will be introduced to low tech/low cost ways of integrating mushrooms into your farm or garden. Register for the class. PAST EVENT: Edible Weeds, Tuesday July 8, 2014 6 – 8pm, $24 Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist We will identify, harvest, and learn the nutritional qualities of selected weeds, and prepare a “weed pasta” from common garden weeds; chickweed, dandelion, mustard, mallow, purslane, shepherd’s purse, nettle, pig weed (wild spinach) and sow thistle. To accompany the pasta we will make a tea from the medicinal plants in PPI gardens; again identifying, harvesting and learning the healing qualities of the plants.

PAST EVENT: Sheet Mulching Tuesday July 22,  2014 6 – 8pm, $24 Instructor: Mona Lewis

PAST EVENT: Immune Boosting Herbs, RESCHEDULED TO Tuesday September 30, 2014 6 – 8pm $24 Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist. Learn about the most effective immune boosting plants. Learn easy and economical ways to have them available at all times. Immune Boosting Herbs Class, September 30, 2014 PAST EVENT: Antibiotic Herbs, Tuesday October 7, 2014 6 – 8pm $24 Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist. We will learn about the ten most effective antibiotic herbs. Guidelines and suggestions will be offered for creating your own apothecary of healing plants.

PAST EVENT: October 21, 2014: Drinking the Plants 6 – 8pm $24

Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist. Learn the easiest and most economical way to make and have teas available every day. Replace unhealthy sodas and expensive “health” drinks” for a fraction of the cost. PAST EVENT: Herbal Anti-virals, Tuesday November 4, 2014, 6-8pm $24 Natural Remedies for Emerging and Resistant Viral Infections Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist. Similarly to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, many of the viruses long thought conquered are making comebacks. They are doing this through genetic re-arrangements, through learned resistance to anti-virals, and, most of all, because of changes in the world in which all of us live. These changes are profound. There are many great interventions that are possible with plant medicines and unlike pharmaceuticals, viruses don’t develop resistance to them. For a similar cost and effort of purchasing and making coffee you can purchase and make your own plant medicines. “Do or do not, there is no maybe” – Yoda.

PAST EVENT: Permaculture: Working with Nature, Yielding Abundance Thursdays Oct 16 – Nov 6, 2014, 6-8pm. Four classes plus permaculture notebook. $99

Learn how to Create Edible Yard-Scapes, Enrich Your Soil, Maximize Water Collection and Increase Production. Instructor: Mona Lewis. Learn strategies and principles to design your garden, yard, farm or any sized property to restore natural cycles, prevent disease of plants and animals with biodiversity and reduce your workload while increasing your yields. Includes a 100+ page Permaculture notebook. Class size limited to 9 students.

Past Event: Herbal Anti-virals, Tuesday November 4, 2014, 6-8pm $24

Photo: Herbal Anti-virals workshop held Tuesday, November 4, 2014, with instructor Bev Axelsen, seated second from right. Mona Lewis, PPI president, standing, right. Natural Remedies for Emerging and Resistant Viral Infections Instructor: Bev Axelsen, Herb and Plant Medicine Specialist. Similarly to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, many of the viruses long thought conquered are making comebacks. They are doing this through genetic re-arrangements, through learned resistance to anti-virals, and, most of all, because of changes in the world in which all of us live. These changes are profound. There are many great interventions that are possible with plant medicines and unlike pharmaceuticals, viruses don’t develop resistance to them. For a similar cost and effort of purchasing and making coffee you can purchase and make your own plant medicines. “Do or do not, there is no maybe” – Yoda. PAST EVENT: Probiotic Beverages, Thursday. November 20, 6-9pm, $49 Held at the Wheatgrass Saloon: 120 N Main St, Livingston, Montana 59047. PAST EVENT: Creating Herbal Tinctures, Thursday, December 4, 6-8pm, $24 Instructor: Bev Axelsen.