This week I continued with our timeline for our project and have been researching the different events the Pfeiffer Center is going to be sponsoring this spring. They have a ton going on, so it was awesome reading all about the different learning opportunities this organization provides. I was able to find 9 different workshops and events being offered in the coming weeks. An overview of the workshops are:
Begin a Vegetable Garden:
- When: Saturday, April 14, 9:00am-5:00pm
- Instructor: Mac Mead
- Cost: $95
- Level: beginners
- Covers the topics of: planning the garden (what goes where and when), preparing the soil, fencing the garden, planting and raising seedlings, companion planting, making and using compost, and weeding and mulching (Pfeiffer Website)
Conscious Beekeeping: Special Session for Beginners -When: Friday, April 27, 2:00-5:30pm
- Instructor: Bill Day - Cost: $55
- Level: beginners
- Description: This workshop teaches beginning beekeepers the basic biology of the honeybee colony; rhythms of the year and the beekeeper’s role in the life of the hive; a comparison of Langstroth, top bar and Warré hives; siting your hives; and the basics of working with bees (Pfeiffer Website). During this half-day workshop attendees will not only learn about these topics from an expert, but they will also be able to see a hive first-hand in the Pfeiffer Center's apiary!
Conscious Beekeeping: Practical Organic Approaches for Healthy Bees and Growing Apiaries
When: Saturday, April 28, 9:00am-5:00pm
Instructor: Bill Day Cost: $95
Description: This workshop is for those who already have the basic knowledge about bees and beekeeping, but want to learn to help them survive and thrive! This workshop is strongly encouraged to be paired with the beginning workshop mentioned above, but is not a requirement. In this course participants learn about how to confront the challenges of beekeeping in the healthiest way for their hives.
The topics include: Swarming as an expression of the bees’ vitality; healthy rhythms of life in the hive, and how to support them; when to intervene and when to let your bees manage on their own; increasing your apiary naturally with splits and swarms while breeding better, locally-adapted queens; alternative hive designs; managing Varroa; and much more!! To bring this information to life the class will have the opportunity to visit the Pfeiffer Center's apiary as well (Pfeiffer Website).
Pfeiffer Center Plant Sale
- When: Friday, May 18, 9:00am-5:00pm Saturday, May 19, 9:00am-5:00pm Sunday, May 20, 9:00am-3:00pm
- Where: Pfeiffer Center garden, opposite 285 Hungry Hollow Road, Chestnut Ridge, NY
Description: During this sale you will be able to purchase bedding plants, vegetables, herbs, teas, salves, compost, and more!! All of it has been grown biodynamically, so you know it is the freshest and highest quality produce out there! It is all grown by the Pfeiffer Center, and the proceeds go towards the Pfeiffer Center programs to keep them thriving just like their plants.
The Pfeiffer Center CSA
When: Starts Monday, June 11
Description: The Pfeiffer Center’s 2018 CSA offers 23 weekly pickups of their own freshly harvested, biodynamically raised vegetables, herbs and flowers from June 11 through November 12. Pickup is conveniently located on the Threefold Educational Center campus from 3:30 to 6:00pm. At their market-style CSA, shareholders pack their own boxes, choosing from a generous selection from the harvest of the day; a gardener is always on hand to assist and answer questions (Pfeiffer Website).
Information: Visit this page for complete information and an application form.
Introduction to Biodynamics
Instructor: Mac Mead When: Summer 2018
Where: Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farms, Clinton & Flushing Avenues, Brooklyn, NY 11205.
Description: This course covers the basics of biodynamics. This topic is truly complex, but you are in good hands since Mac is a true expert. Biodynamics combines novel techniques of building up healthy soil with a renewed awareness of all the forces at work in the farm organism: among and between the soil, plants, animals, and humans, as well as the cosmos itself (Pfeiffer Website).
How Are My Bees? Understanding and Meeting Your Bees’ Midsummer Needs
Instructor: Bill Day When: Saturday, July 28, 9:00am-5:00pm Cost: $95
Description: This workshop is yet again another chance to learn how to become a better bee keeper. Who knew there was so much that went into the making of honey? This workshop focuses on the challenges faced by beekeepers in the summer, like dearth of forage, varroa mites, and rebuilding of hives. The topics include: Assessing hive health; when to super, and when to take off boxes; harvesting honey; assessing honey stores, and knowing when and how to feed; monitoring and managing varroa; management options for weak hives; and more. There will be ample time for questions and discussion. As always, there will be a field trip to a real-life beehive at the center.
Farm & Garden Days: A Hands-On Garden, Farm and Forest Experience
When:Monday, August 13 through Friday, August 17, 9:00am-4:00pm
Where: Pfeiffer Center’s biodynamic gardens and at neighboring Duryea Farm
Limited Numbers: only 60 spots open!
Ages: 5-13
Cost: $925 per week ($1,200 for children coming from New York City; includes bus transportation from Manhattan).
Description: Don't worry, they didn't forget about the kiddos. This week-long program teaches kids all about farms, gardening, and nature! With this workshop comes fun in the dirt, where the participants will be digging potatoes, picking peas, milking cows, visiting horses and honeybees, making pizza in an outdoor clay oven, and more — with plenty of time for swims, exploring nearby woods and streams, art activities, music and games. It is made possible with the help of The Nature Place and of course the Pfeiffer Center.
To enroll Click here
One-Year, Part-Time Practical Training in Biodynamics
Instructors: Mac Mead, Principal Instructor With Megan Durney, Bill Day, Jairo Gonzalez, Jennifer Greene, Craig Holdrege, Steffen Schneider, Sherry Wildfeuer, and Hugh Williams
When: Starts Saturday, September 15 @ 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
This internship occurs within thirteen full-day workshops, from September to June, at the Pfeiffer Center.
It covers: making and working with the biodynamic preparations; making and working with compost; techniques for soil building; understanding the rhythms of nature and planetary influences on earthly life and growth; best practices in agricultural handwork and pruning; farm animal husbandry; seed saving; biodynamic methods of weed and pest control; the honeybee; and much more (Pfeiffer Website).
Visit this page for a complete description of the course and schedule for the year, or apply today!
Wow! Is that crazy or what? Who knew this organization offered so many wonderful opportunities to learn about biodynamics and how to care for honeybees?
In addition to learning about the different opportunities the Pfeiffer Center offers and promoting them, I also learned about how to store the Preps which we will be using in our garden so we can start our own biodynamic garden as well!! Thanks to a resource provided by Wanda, I was able to see how to care for this natural "miracle grow." I learned how important it is to make sure you store them correctly if you want them to work effectively, which we certainly do! Here are the different requirements:
501: It must be stored in either the original horn or a glass container with a non-plastic top. It must be kept dry and placed in direct sunlight, such as a windowsill.
508: This prep must be kept in a dry and dark place, and stored in a dry and opaque container.
509: This prep should be stored in a brown glass container. It should not be exposed to light, kept cool, and tightly sealed. Occasionally, however, the fermented gases might have to be released.
500, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, and barrel compost: All of these preps have several specific requirements. Are you ready for this? They must be kept from drying out, out of a lot of light, cool, and they need to have the chance to "breathe" every so often. They need to be kept apart, in a very specific type of vessel. In order of preference, they should be stored in glazed ceramic crocks, glass, or unglazed croc vessel. The vessel's top should fit loosely, and the top should be made of specific materials as well. In order of preference it should be made of crockery, natural stone, glass, wood, metal, and cork. Suggested locations for storage is a root cellar. The vessel chosen should be surrounded by 3 inches of long-fibered sphagnum peat moss on all sides, and stored in a wooden box.
Image and prep storage information taken from file:///C:/Users/huresksa/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/PMFOBKBV/storing%20BD%20preps_.pdf