| Dandelion Festival Schedule Saturday, April 24, 2010 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. All events are free and take place at the bandshell (Canyon and Broaday, Boulder, CO) 9:00 to 9:15 Good Morning Statements
9:15 to 9:45
Eric Lombardi of Eco-Cycle: Taking Nontoxic from Niche to NormIs it possible for the mainstream products in our lives, such as soil enhancers, to be healthy instead of toxic? How do we "scale up" for all of America the wonderful sustainable solutions that are spreading in progressive communities like Boulder? In this presentation, Eric will address the difficult issues of bringing large industry into the solution, and how to use the profit motive to grow our visions. Eric Lombardi is the executive director of Eco-Cycle, the largest nonprofit recycling company in the United States. Eco-Cycle’s mission is to build Zero Waste communities in Boulder County and beyond, a key component of which is redesigning products to be less toxic and more easily recycled, reused, or composted. 10:00 to 10:30 Mikl Brawner of Harlequin’s Garden: Gardening without Chemicals
Is it possible to have beautiful gardens and great food without using poisons to kill off the bugs and diseases? Yes, no problem. How? This class will give you the basics.
Mikl Brawner is co-owner of Harlequin's Gardens nursery in north Boulder. He has spent 35 years researching and testing alternatives to toxic chemicals for pest management and fertilization. He has managed the nursery and his display gardens organically for 19 years. 10:35 to 11:00 Tim Gilpin of Native Solutions: Sustainable Lawn Care Forgoing the lawn chemicals can be healthier not just for you, but for your soil, your grass, and the planet. Here's how to grow a sustainable lawn. Tim Gilpin, Ph.D., has over 25 years of lab and field experience in soil science, horticulture, and environmental chemistry. His company, Native Solutions, offers organic pest control, organic lawn care, and consulting. 11:00 to 11:30 Rebecca Luna of Rebecca’s Apothecary: Medicine Making with Local Plants
This class will touch on various ways of making medicines from the plants that are all around us. Teas, oils, poultices, compresses, and more are all accessable and easy-to-make medicines for anyone who learns even just one plant. Join Rebecca for this fun and informative class.
Rebecca Luna is an herbalist and the owner of Rebecca's Herbal Apothecary and Supply, located in downtown Boulder. She has well over a decade of experience and a great love of making botanical medicines. The mission of her shop is to connect our community with botanical medicine by providing raw materials, education, and carefully crafted products. She believes this is a bridge that will empower our community to reclaim our health and our collective environment. 11:35 to 12:00 Zia Parker: A Permaculture Approach to Natural Weed Control
Careful observation of natural processes provides an understanding of how to work with nature to help control plants that become pests. Knowing the natives, their succession cycles, and their ability to out-compete other "weeds" is helpful in getting the landscape you hope for. Here are some ideas for controlling weeds by working within an integrated multi-functional system.
Zia loves all plants and is passionate about turning the tide on the current cultural acceptance of poisoning the land to control "weeds." She is owner and director of Willow Way Permaculture and has taught permaculture in several cultures and eco-zones. She has received a grant from the CSU Specialty Crops Program for a small study on natural weed control. The most innovative, and unusual method (... perhaps "woo-woo"?) to be studied is natural weed control by natural succession. 12:00 to 12:45 Bill Melvin of Ecoscape Environmental Design: Fun with Permaculture: the Edible Landscape
Come learn about wonderful opportunities to integrate edible plants into your landscape. From fruit trees to berry bushes, culinary and medicinal herbs to vegetables, foods add not only interest to our landscapes, but nutritional delights for your whole family. You can have so much more than just a vegetable garden … a whole landscape of foods!
Bill Melvin is owner and lead designer of Ecoscape Environmental Design, a landscape design, install, and maintenance company serving Boulder and the Front Range. Bill is a graduate of Boulder’s University of Colorado School of Environmental Design, has been a certified Permaculture Designer for over 13 years, teaches throughout the region, and is celebrating 10 years of bringing edible landscapes to the area. 12:45 to 1:00 Cook-Off Results! 1:00 to 1:45 Brigitte Mars: Wild, Edible, and Medicinal Weeds of Boulder | Where the Wild Things Are
Learn about Boulder-area plants that are edible and medicinal and that have long traditions of safe use by humans and animals. We can all have better health and a healthier planet if we connect to the plants, learn about them, use them, and cease spraying.
Brigitte Mars is a local herbalist, nutritional consultant, raw food chef, and author. "A weed is an herb whose virtue has not yet been recognized." —Emerson 1:45 to 2:00 Xiuhtezcatl: A Message of Hope for the Planet 3:15 to 4:00 Music by Choosing June (duo Julia Knearl and Joan Langford)
4:00 Closing Statement
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