! TLC Farm Update: March, 2008

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TLC Farm March Update: Celebrate Spring!

Blossoms in Spring

It's sunny. It's raining. Now it's hailing. Look, there's a rainbow. My how the wind blows today! It's sunny again.

Happy Portland Spring!!! Like the dynamic weather that transitions us into summer, TLC Farm is picking up the pace with a number of exciting spring offerings for the community. As you can see, this monthly update is packed with new information and numerous community events. And, as we breathe in the abundance of this time of growth—an invitation to let that abundance flow....

In this update
  1. TLC Farm's Spring Open House & Tour: Sunday April 6th
  2. Got $5?
  3. Summer Camps at TLC Farm
  4. Berkana Exchange
  5. Zimbabwe benefit house party: Sunday, April 13th
  6. BLOOM: Saturday, April 26th
  7. Upcoming Workshops & Classes
  8. Participation opportunities
  9. Ongoing Events @ TLC Farm
 

TLC Farm's Spring Open House & Tour

Sunday April 6th, 2-4 pm

Everything is growing at TLC Farm and we want to share it with you! While the farm is open to drop-in visitors every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we're providing a set time each month for an in-depth guided tour to get your questions answered and meet core TLC Farm volunteers and board members.

This Open House kick-offs of our First Sunday Tours, which will take place every first Sunday of the month for the rest of the year. If you can't make it on April 6th, please come on May 4th.  

Got five bucks?

We all know that TLC Farm is a community effort, but do you know that it really does make a difference for each of you to contribute a little bit of money on a regular basis? This month, we are asking the entire TLC Farm community (which includes YOU!) to become a Friend of the Farm by giving at least $5 a month to the farm.

Think about it - $5 a month really isn't that much money to give, but does makes a big difference to TLC Farm. Here's why:

Special offer

If you sign up by BLOOM (April 26th) to become a Friend of the Farm giving between $5-10 a month, you'll receive complementary admission for you and a guest to Bloom. If you sign up to contribute $10 or more each month, you'll receive complimentary admission for you and a guest to BLOOM and the Harvest Festival (on September 14th). AND, a super special offer: if you sign up at the April 6th Open House, you'll receive the above plus go home with new plant starts grown with love by Bonsai Matt.

To become a Friend of the Farm, please sign up online for an automatic withdrawal: tryonfarm.org/donate. If you want to arrange a different style of donation, contact Jenny Leis at jenny@tryonfarm.org and she'll help you out!  

Berkana Exchange

Earthen stove at Kufunda TLC Farm is honored to be invited to the Berkana Exchange Conference happening this May in Zimbabwe! Berkana Exchange facilitates connections between 13 "learning centers" located in various countries around the world: Senegal, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Greece, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The centers all share a commitment to grassroots organizing, ecological sustainability, and healthy living and are doing inspiring work in their local communities.

Each year Berkana facilitates an Art of Learning Conference which is an opportunity for representatives from each learning center to come together and share ideas and skills, create relationships, and weave together pieces of the global puzzle. The purpose of the conference is: "To consciously, deliberately and collectively create a field of shared learning around the art of learning centering, which is the practice of hosting local spaces where people gather to explore and invent ways for communities to become healthy and resilient."

The conference this year is being held from May 4-14 at Kufunda Village, the Zimbabwean learning center. You may remember reading about Kufunda from Jenny Leis's report-back from her travels in Africa last year. To learn more about Kufunda visit www.kufunda.org or read Jenny's blog at journeydejenny.blogspot.com.

We are excited to participate and to explore the possibility of TLC Farm becoming the newest learning center, and the only center in the United States. After thoughtful consideration we have selected farm residents Hope Medford and Matt Gordon to make the journey and represent us at the conference and are preparing them to share what we are learning in Portland. Do you have things you'd like Matt and Hope to share about TLC Farm or the wider community in Portland with other Berkana centers? Questions you'd like them to ask? Ideas for them to share? Don't hesitate to email berkana@tryonfarm.org, and stay tuned for stories of their travels and learnings.  

Zimbabwe benefit house party!

Join us on Sunday, April 13th from 6-10 pm to support cross-continental and cross-cultural learning, while eating Zimbabwean food, listening to great traditional Zimbabwean music, and learning more about the sustainability movement in Zimbabwe.

This benefit will support TLC Farm's involvement with the Berkana Exchange (see above) and Zimbabwean activists. TLC Farm needs to raise at least $1,000 to fund travel expenses for representatives of TLC Farm to travel to Kufunda Learning Village in May, and any funds raised in excess of travel needs will go towards helping allied activists in Zimbabwe visit TLC Farm in the future. (Note: if you can't come to the benefit, but want to make a donation to support cross-cultural sharing, please send a check or make a donation online and indicate that it is for the Berkana Learning Journey)

The benefit will include:

This will be a house party at 1905 NE Going St., in Portland.

$10-20 sliding scale donation. Volunteer opportunities available. Come ready to be merry! For more info please contact: mattg[at]tryonfarm.org or visit www.tryonfarm.org/share/zimbenefit.  

Summer Camps at TLC Farm

This year we're hosting two unique summer camps: Drum and Rhythm Camp is back for its third year, and we're pleased to introduce the Earth Song Summer Camp, sponsored by Shining Star Waldorf School.

Common Rhythms Drum and Rhythm Camp

A note from Hope & Tynan, the camp instructors:

We are excited to invite you to our summer rhythm and drum camps filled with opportunities for children to play a variety of instruments, rhythms, and musical games from around the world in a fun, supportive environment.

As we begin our summer classes, will be just be returning from Peru, South America—home of the wooden Cajón drum—and Zimbabwe—land of the Hosha shakers. We are very excited to share the new instruments as well as many new rhythms with you this summer!

Please feel free to email or call with questions, and if you know any other folks who might be interested, please forward this message- thanks and happy drumming!

We will be facilitating two week long camps this summer:

Rates: $25 a day, $100 for the week, or only $85 if you pre-register a month before the camp. To register please email commonrhythms@yahoo.com or call 503-752-2560.

About Common Rhythms
Common Rhythms (Tynan Pierce and Hope Medford) together have around 30 years' rhythm and teaching experience. They have both studied with a master drummer in Senegal, West Africa. Over the last 4 years, they have enjoyed facilitating rhythm events for around 2 thousand children and adults. They have served private birthday parties, Community Centers, Libraries, school groups from preschool up to high school ages, as well as many youth groups including Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon, Child Aid, and Friends of the Children.

Earth Song Summer Camp

Children in nature sponsored by Shining Star Waldorf School

July 1-August 22 (sign up for any or all weeks)
Tuesdays - Fridays , 9am-2pm
ages 3-9

This will be a magical summer adventure connecting children with the land through storytelling, forest exploration and organic gardening.

Activities include: Storytelling, Nature hikes, Water play, Feeding chickens, Gardening, Goat browsing, Berry picking, Arts & Crafts

$100 per week ($85 for siblings). Healthy organic snacks and activity materials included in price.

For more information, please call Kelly Hogan @ 503-944-9312

A non-refundable deposit of $40 per week ($15 for siblings) is due at time of registration. Please make checks payable to Kelly Hogan and mail to: Kelly Hogan, 11640 SW Boones Ferry Rd, Portland, OR 97219. A deposit must be received in order to hold a spot for your child(ren). We cannot hold spots made by phone or email requests.  

You are invited to BLOOM at TLC Farm!

Bloom! BLOOM: An All Day Festival For Community Alliance & Benefit for Tryon Life Community Farm
SATURDAY April 26th, 2pm to midnight

$10 - $50 Sliding Scale Admission
(work trade is available; email workshops@tryonfarm.org to volunteer)

Join us at TLC Farm for a day full of workshops, live music, face painting, great food, old friends & new and join your community putting vision into action!

ACTIVITIES for the day include:

This is a family friendly / alcohol-free event; food not included in admission price.

We will be running a shuttle from the Riverdale High School parking lot to TLC Farm (if you have special needs and must park near the farm, please email workshops@tryonfarm.org to arrange parking).  

Upcoming Workshops and Classes

 

More Cheese Workshops!!

These just keep selling out, so we scheduled a few more. . .

Cheese making is an ancient and simple way to preserve fresh milk. We'll make two kinds of fresh, soft and delicious Farmer Cheese from scratch, taste a variety of homemade cheeses, and in the end you'll get some cultures to make your own. Why buy expensive imported cheese when you can make it yourself from local milk?

Taught by Sue Romas, farm resident and homemaking expert. Sue has already led two successful workshops to rave reviews, and continues to be really, really excited to share the joy of homemade cheese with everyone. Crackers for tasting and tea provided.

Family friendly: there will be childcare available during the workshop for a small fee, although no small children will be allowed in the kitchen due to space and safety concerns. please let us know in advance if you are needing childcare during classtime.

Registration for the cheese classes is limited to 6 folks. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED: please email: workshops@tryonfarm.org  

Food, Sex, & Death: TLC Farm's goat herd and the ethics of domestication

TLC Farm's milking goats Sunday, April 20, 1-3pm

Animal husbandry is an ancient part of the human relationship with our ecology, providing food and shelter, labor and friendship. Many consider it an essential piece of a truly sustainable use of resources: is it more sustainable to eat industrial soy from thousands of miles away, or goats eating backyard underbrush? Yet husbandry requires a deep and thorough manipulation of the lives of sentient beings, in the interest of human benefit: forced labor, artificial breeding, castration, and slaughter.

TLC Farm volunteers on the dairy goat team have deeply, sometimes agonizingly questioned when and how to make life and death decisions about these beautiful creatures. Now, we'd like to use our experience to encourage broader debate in our community.

What should TLC Farm do? Should we keep goats at all, and a dairy herd in particular? If so, should we sell our males, or slaughter our own animals here, or castrate and keep them for other work? What kind of care and relationship is responsible to the animals, and to the land? What are the ethics involved, and what is at stake in respectfully sharing our lives with non-human animals that depend on us?

We invite animal rights activists, goat herders, permaculturists, ethicists, and everyone interested in the human relationship with our four-legged relations, to a roundtable discussion. The input and wisdom we gain here will be applied directly to decisionmaking about husbandry at TLC Farm.  

Embodying Gaia Women's Circle

An Outdoor Yoga Series Connecting Body, Earth & Spirit

Gather in this sacred women's circle to awaken and deepen the intimate exchange between your body and the earth. Through a blend of breathing, creative movement, yoga, sensory expansion, land and seasonal awareness and meditation we will directly and deeply participate with the animated life and elements around us.

Dates: May 14th -June 18th, every Wednesday, 5:30-7:30 pm
Location: Tryon Life Community Farm, SW Portland
Cost: $120
Pre-registration required, class limited to 10 students

For more information and to register contact: Megan Hubbs, 503-473-7982, greenfarmmama@gmail.com

About the instructor: Megan Hubbs, M.S. Megan designed this circle inspired by her own sacred connection to the land. Drawing from her 9 years of experience in the sustainable agriculture field as well as running an educational farm in SE Portland, Megan aspires to share with others the connection between ecology and health. Megan is also a certified Hatha Yoga instructor and draws from her 10 years of practice and teaching to create an avenue by which to expand the experience of the earth and body connection. In addition, Megan recently received a Master's degree in a Leadership in Ecology, Culture and Learning focused in garden-based education. Ultimately, Megan hopes a renewed connection to our bodies and the earth can help direct us towards a more sustainable future.  

Opportunities to get engaged

There are many ways to connect with the people, the land, and the work of TLC Farm! From habitat restoration to office admin, from event hosting to food forest research, and so much more: we'd love to help you plug into deeply meaningful work in a fun and supportive environment. Please contact Kelly at volunteer@tryonfarm.org to learn more.

We'd also like to highlight a couple extra-special participation opportunities this month:  

Monthly Updater

Do you enjoy reading the TLC Farm monthly update? Have you ever thought how much fun it must be to put it all together? Indeed it is, but friends, we're looking for someone else to do step into the responsibility of pulling all this info together and letting the world know what's happening at TLC Farm. This is a great volunteer task for someone who likes to write, and to organize information, and might like to volunteer from the comfort of their own home. We're happy to train you and share the joy. Please contact brenna@tryonfarm.org if you're interested.  

Bloom

With our big spring fling around the corner, we're looking for volunteers to help with everything from publicity to set-up to food preparation. Not only is it a great way to engage, all volunteers get in to Bloom free! Contact workshops@tryonfarm.org for more info.  

Empowering the Goddess workshop presenters

We are looking for inspired and talented womben willing to share their skills and lead a workshop for our upcoming Empowering The Goddess workshop series. This series is a womben-focused series, taught by womben for other womben to empower the goddess in each of us. Beginning at Summer Solstice and continuing into the fall this series of workshops will offer a wide array of avenues for womben to grow wiser, stronger, and more knowledgeable in a safe, supportive, and creative atmosphere. Workshop fees are flexible and can be worked out between the presenter and TLC Farm. We wish to create ways for us all to enhance our wealth financially while sharing our creative wealth with each other.

We are looking for womben with knowledge in the following areas:

If you or any womban you know is knowledgeable in one or more of these areas and would like to help others learn more while making a little income for yourself and helping an amazing local non-profit please contact Lena at lena@tryonfarm.org ASAP. Looking forward to an amazing season of sharing.  

Ongoing Events at the Farm (FREE!)

We recommend calling in advance: 503.245.3847

On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays we are open for the public to come enjoy the land, volunteer (Fri & Sat), & take self-guided tours. We are closed on Mondays. If you'd like to stop by another time, please make an appointment.

"Tryon life it fits like a glove
and feel what it's like to be free.
Try breathing and seeking to be an instrument of love
and encourage one another on the journey.
Give thanks for the land and the sky up above
and pour your energy into building a community."
--from our songwriting friend, Jes Karper

TLC Farm, 11640 SW Boones Ferry Rd, Portland, OR 97219
.:: www.tryonfarm.org .::. 503-245-3847 ::.

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