A great link for Urban farmers.

stumbled upon this rummaging around google. It is the blog for "Little Homestead in the City" (a play off Laura Ingles Wilder's books "little house on the prairie"). Basically, a family in Urban Pasadena grows about 6,000 pounds of organic produce every year on ONLY 1/5 of an acre. Although not all the links on their website are working I still recommend checking it out. I found the "homestead" tab off the main page to be informative and inspiring.

what you can watch on TV on earth day...

In honor of Earth Day 2010 PBS has some great programming avaiable to watch. One cant miss film is "Dirt the movie" which is playing on Idependent Lens. Don't worry it is playing on days besides Earth Day which leaves you plenty of time to go to this website an find out what is happening in your community. If you are looking for someting to do after you read this blog, maybe check out this. Finally if your brains aren't mush from all this media I am recommending, take a look (if it is on in your area) at this feature on Rachel Carson.

Soon a very special Deepening Roots video will be taken out of the vault and be released to the public for the first time in two years. I just know you cant wait to see it!

-Michael

PS today I reached the highest point in NJ. (not very high) but I took a picture anyway. Ill insert that soon. Have you been to any highest points in the states? Tell me about it!

Mixed bag

Today you get a two-for-one.

First are two pictures of the 2-day workshop in Oakland (remember, we have another coming right up in DC!). And second you get to see some early efforts of my class (pre-school) and our tiny garden.

Andrew leads the group in a discussion: "what do you look for in a life partner?" why do we discuss this? I guess you will have to take the workshop to find out!

During the workshop you get to sample delicious superfoods courtesy of

Navitas Naturals Just snacking on this stuff is worth the price of admission. My favorite are the golden berries.

Nursery School Garden

This photo captures about 1/3 of our beautiful plot. The green springs shooting up are garlic (planted last fall). Ready to pop out are Cosmos, nasturshums, and marigolds. Once the flowers have gained some footing we will mulch it with straw. Ill keep you updated through the spring...

2-day workshop in DC

Happy to report that our successful workshop in Oakland has helped us secure dates and a venue for our next workshop. The workshop will be held on May 29th and 30th in Washington DC and will run from 12-5 both days. Below is a flyer with the information. For more detailed information including a overview of the two days and facilitator bios check out the registration page

Also there is a $20 dollar discount for registrations sent before May 13th.

I will share more as it becomes available.

-Michael

Click on poster for larger view!

In the News(letter)

I just received the the April newsletter from the Art of Living International Center in Canada (where we host our summer program). Wouldn't you know? We have a article in it. Its a short read, but the writer obviously has an exceptional talent. I would say he is a mix between Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, and Virginia Woolf. Plus he is modest.

Thanks to all that contributed!

-Michael

Workshop Mania

Happy and proud to say that the Deepening Roots workshop held in Oakland last weekend was a MAJOR success. Twenty-two people from many walks of life participated in a high spirited, and overwhelming positive workshop; and while everyone took something different from the workshop, one message they sent unanimously was:

This workshop is for everyone.

Each person left the weekend glowing, excited to take on new adventures in the five areas the workshop covers (meditation, health, agriculture, community, and empowerment). Participants also emphasized that one of the greatest strengths of the workshop was how it offers simple yet (sometimes) profound techniques so they could get started right away.

When people leave our workshop with tools and feeling empowered, we consider it a success. By this standard, this weekend was a major success.

Thanks to all who joined us and helped organize.

The rest of you will just have to patiently await the announcement for our next workshop (coming soon!)

Below is a picture of the group, once more photos float to the surface of the internet I will post them here. If you took the course, send your pictures to deepeningroots@gmail.com