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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T100000
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UID:3226-1789207200-1789218000@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Permaculture Skills: Local Herbal Medicine
DESCRIPTION:This workshop is part of our Fall 2026 Permaculture Skills workshop series. This morning workshop is followed in the afternoon by another workshop on Permaculture Practices for Soil Health and Gardening.  Come to one or both! \n\n\n\nBeginner-friendly and deep. Learn local herbal medicine making and the art of working with plants for health. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHerbal medicine is our original medicine.  \n\n\n\nWhile many traditional herbal systems are immensely sophisticated and can be studied for a lifetime\, plant medicine is also accessible to everyone as a folk tradition that empowers each person to support the health of their own bodies\, families\, and communities. \n\n\n\nLike learning to grow food and build shelter\, learning our local and accessible herbal medicines can give us a deeper sense of personal security and connection to the land. When we can turn to the plants growing right outside our door to give physical and psychological ease\, it grows our resilience and our relationship to earth.   \n\n\n\nThis 3-hour herbal medicine workshop is meant to empower you to begin making and working with herbal medicines.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSome of our local family apothecary.  We make dozens of herbal medicines mostly from local plants each year.  For physical and emotional health\, they’ve been invaluable support.\n\n\n\nWe’ll taste plants\, visit plants\, plant plants\, learn plants\, and make a simple medicine to bring home. We’ll also give you the foundation to continue learning more of our local and useful medicinal plants on your own\, helping you to feel safe exploring this beautiful and rewarding art with your own senses. \n\n\n\nIf you’ve dabbled in herbalism but haven’t yet learned about herbal energetics or our local plants\, or if you feel overwhelmed by online information and intimidated by complex recipes and conflicting information\, this workshop is for you!   Total beginners are also welcome. \n\n\n\nWith the direct experience of how simple it can be to prepare these remedies and the knowledge of some of the best plants to begin with including many common local plants in the Piedmont\, you’ll be taking the first steps on a long and ancient path towards health in harmony with the land.  \n\n\n\nSome Topics:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe simplest ways to make effective herbal medicines at home\n\n\n\nHands-on medicine making – come home with some to share!\n\n\n\nLearning some of our local (and abundant) herbal medicines\n\n\n\nUnderstanding medicinal properties from tastes and other sensory cues\n\n\n\nDemystifying “herbal energetics” – the heart of all holistic herbal systems\n\n\n\nLearning about our constitutions\, part of why plants can effect us so differently\n\n\n\nUnderstanding why herbs may not have worked for you in the past\n\n\n\nWorking with herbs for psychological (and spiritual) well being\n\n\n\nHerbal “first aid” and the simple everyday plants that can make life easier\n\n\n\nMedicinal properties of some of our local abundant “invasive” plants\n\n\n\nCutting through influencer and wellness fads and dispelling bad advice\n\n\n\nPlant families\, toxicity\, and how to feel safe experimenting with plants\n\n\n\nNon-rational ways of learning plants including dreaming and heart perception\n\n\n\nThe tradition of plants as teachers\, and ways of learning from plants\n\n\n\n…plus some wild\, do-not-try-this-at-home herbal stories!\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nFrom this workshop you’ll also take home at least one ready made tincture to work with and learn from.\n\n\n\nVenue and Workshop Details:\n\n\n\nOur Saturday morningworkshop will be held at Jubilee Healing Farm – a beautifully tended small farm located on 10 acres in Hillsborough\, NC that supports volunteer and community-building activities and workshops for people seeking healing. \n\n\n\nWe’ll have the workshop part inside and part outside unless the weather disagrees!  Please wear comfortable clothing for the day. If it’s going to rain a little\, bring rain gear.  \n\n\n\nWe may do a little forest walking.  Good to wear compatible footwear.  If you’re concerned about ticks or other itchy expressions of the local ecology\, please bring non-toxic insect deterrent. \n\n\n\nIn this workshop\, you’ll be invited (…never required!) to try small amounts of herbal medicines to learn their tastes and properties. Though we will choose plants and amounts meant to be safe for most bodies\, please know your own sensitivities and err on the side of caution around any potential herb-drug interactions. We will not be offering any medical advice or prescribing anything. This is an educational experience. \n\n\n\nWhat to Bring:\n\n\n\n\nJournal and pen\n\n\n\nYour own lunch and any snacks you need (kitchen available to heat up food)\n\n\n\nWater bottle\n\n\n\nA small-to-medium (not huge) mason jar with a lid.\n\n\n\n\nAlso: \n\n\n\n\nOpenness to different ways of seeing and living\n\n\n\nKindness towards the plants\, animals\, soil\, water\, and other people here\n\n\n\nInclusivity and welcoming spirit towards the people in the workshop\n\n\n\nWillingness to put your phones away and tune into your senses\n\n\n\nCuriosity about life and what each other and the land has to say\n\n\n\n\nSign-Up\n\n\n\nThis year\, we’re offering sliding scale tickets at two different prices.  Please only take a reduced price ticket if you are in significant financial need.  Full-price tickets make it possible for us to continue this work.  Thank you for your support. \n\n\n\nIn the afternoon after this workshop\, we’ll be offering another Permaculture workshop on the topic of Soil Health and Permaculture Gardening Practices. If you’re interested\, come to this workshop and stay for the afternoon one was well!  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis workshop is part of our 2026 Fall Workshop Series. \n\n\n\nAbout the Facilitator\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew “Watersong” Tracy started practicing Permaculture in 2011 and received his design certificate from Wild Abundance in 2015. He has been consulting and teaching as a Permaculture Designer since 2018. \n\n\n\nAlong the way\, he learned from numerous Permaculture teachers\, tended land with minimal inputs\, worked with around 70 clients on their land\, lived off-grid for a decade\, and made (… and still makes!) a whole lot of humbling and valuable mistakes on his way back to life in harmony with the earth.  \n\n\n\nMatt is also a devoted herbalist (…in training\, like all herbalists..!) and has been putting strong-tasting plants in bottles to make helpful things happen since 2007. He prepares dozens of local herbal medicines for his community every year and talks about medicinal herbs pretty much every single day. He’s learned from the wisdom of a great number of herbalists including Matthew Wood\, Sajah Popham\, Kat Maier\, Katja Swift\, Sean O’Donoghue\, and others\, and of course\, from the plants! \n\n\n\nWith all his experience\, Matt is ever a beginner and student of the land. Nature is infinite. What can we do but listen and try? \n\n\n\nRead the rest of Matt’s bio here.
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/local-herbal-medicine-workshop/
LOCATION:Jubilee Healing Farm\, 1009 Hi Mar Ln\, Hillsborough\, NC\, 27278\, United States
CATEGORIES:Herbal Medicine Workshops,Permaculture Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/IMG_4899-1.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T170000
DTSTAMP:20260826T202837Z
CREATED:20260806T172852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260826T202837Z
UID:3648-1789221600-1789232400@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Permaculture Skills: Soil\, Compost\, Cover Crop\, Biochar\, and More
DESCRIPTION:This afternoon workshop is part of our 2026 Permaculture Earth Skills Series. It follows our morning workshop in the same location on Local Herbal Medicine Making. \n\n\n\nGrow Healthy Plants and Healthy Humans!  Learn the Fundamentals of Permaculture Gardening Methods to Build Rich\, Deep Soil.\n\n\n\nThrough a variety of permaculture no-till techniques\, this formerly nutrient depleted\, very low pH pine forest soil became rich\, dark\, and able to support a great diversity of life.\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nWe can turn the most depleted\, compacted\, eroded dirt into soil\, rich with life. \n\n\n\nRegenerating soil may be one of the most important tasks of our time.  There is almost nowhere in the Piedmont that hasn’t been damaged by hundreds of years of over-cultivation\, over-tilling\, and over-development.  Nutrients run off the land into streams where they become pollutants.  Most of us know this story. \n\n\n\nYet there’s a different story we could be telling with our hands and our care. It’s one that leaves a tangible\, physical hope for the future: we are the people that rebuilt the soil. \n\n\n\nPermaculture teaches a whole collection of techniques\, new and ancient\, to turn dirt into deep\, dark\, wonderful smelling soil you’ll want to put your seeds (and hands!) in.  \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nCover crop is simple to learn and gives you a satisfying way to always be building soil.  \n\n\n\nMany Good Ways to Begin\n\n\n\nWhile you can find ten thousand videos online of how to make rich soil\, the sheer number of choices can be overwhelming. The opinions can be intense and contradictory. \n\n\n\nI’ve found that with all the information out there\, many people I work with just want to know how to get started\, and they want to see it in person and try it with their own hands. \n\n\n\nThis workshop is to teach you the practical skills that will make you comfortable and confident in creating soil right where you are. You’ll be able to bring these skills home to prepare garden beds for next year’s planting with soil that will be far better than what was there before. \n\n\n\nWith these practices\, it doesn’t matter if your soil test reads like a biological desert. I know\, because the soil I tended in Cedar Grove did. You can build soil anywhere\, using what’s around you and easily available. \n\n\n\n… and yes\, we will include hands-on practice! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSome Practices We’ll Cover:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNo-till\, or till-once gardening – how does it work\, really?\n\n\n\nLazy composting\n\n\n\nSheet mulching\n\n\n\nTurning weeds into abundant soil with “chop and drop”\n\n\n\nCompost tea\n\n\n\nCreating homemade biochar (if fire weather allows 🙂 )\n\n\n\nUsing cover crops wisely\n\n\n\nHugulkultur – burying wood as a carbon sponge\n\n\n\nWater-smart gardening\n\n\n\nGrowing edible mushrooms IN your garden beds!  Get food and fungal soil!\n\n\n\nOther creative sources of fertility available in your community\n\n\n\n…Plus\, a whole bunch of ways you can eat or use common garden “weeds”\n\n\n\n\nGood soil is more than the foundation of good gardening.  It’s the greatest ally you will have for healthy plants that can take care of themselves. \n\n\n\nLearn and practice these techniques\, and the generations after you will inherit a far deeper soil than what you started with. \n\n\n\nVenue and Workshop Details:\n\n\n\nOur Saturday afternoon workshop will be held at Jubilee Healing Farm – a beautifully tended small farm located on 10 acres in Hillsborough\, NC that supports volunteer and community-building activities and workshops for people seeking healing. \n\n\n\nWe’ll have the workshop outside unless the weather is truly extreme.  Please wear comfortable clothing for the day. If it’s going to rain a little\, bring rain gear. \n\n\n\nWe may do a little forest walking.  Good to wear compatible footwear.  If you’re concerned about ticks or other itchy expressions of the local ecology\, please bring non-toxic insect deterrent. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nWhat to Bring:\n\n\n\n\nJournal and pen\n\n\n\nWater bottle\n\n\n\nWork clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty\n\n\n\n\nAlso: \n\n\n\n\nOpenness to different ways of seeing and living\n\n\n\nKindness towards the plants\, animals\, soil\, water\, and other people here\n\n\n\nInclusivity and welcoming spirit towards the people in the workshop\n\n\n\nWillingness to put your phones away and tune into your senses\n\n\n\nCuriosity about life and what each other and the land has to say\n\n\n\n\nSign-Up\n\n\n\nThis year\, we’re offering sliding scale tickets at two different prices. Please only take a reduced price ticket if you are in significant financial need. Full-price tickets make it possible for us to continue this work. Thank you for your support. \n\n\n\nIn the morning before this workshop\, we’re also offering a class on Local Herbal Medicine Making. Come to either or both!  You can also see our other workshops here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCheck out the other workshops in our Fall 2026 Permaculture Skills series\n\n\n\nAbout the Facilitator:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew “Watersong” Tracy started practicing Permaculture in 2011 and received his design certificate from Wild Abundance in 2015. He has been consulting and teaching as a Permaculture Designer since 2018. \n\n\n\nAlong the way\, he learned from numerous Permaculture teachers\, tended land with minimal inputs\, worked with around 70 clients on their land\, lived off-grid for a decade\, and made (… and still makes!) a whole lot of humbling and valuable mistakes on his way back to life in harmony with the earth.  \n\n\n\nMatt is also an herbalist (…in training\, like all herbalists..!) and has been putting strong-tasting plants in bottles to make helpful things happen since 2007. He prepares dozens of local herbal medicines for his community every year.  \n\n\n\nWith all that experience\, Matt is ever a beginner and student of the land. Nature is infinite. What can we do but listen and try? \n\n\n\nMatt is honored to be a Permaculture guide to anyone interested in coming a little closer to the earth. Becoming a father in 2023 has made passing down these teachings that always consider future generations more important than ever. \n\n\n\nRead the rest of Matt’s bio here.
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/permaculture-skills-soil-compost-cover-crop-biochar-and-more/
LOCATION:Jubilee Healing Farm\, 1009 Hi Mar Ln\, Hillsborough\, NC\, 27278\, United States
CATEGORIES:Permaculture Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/PB030032-scaled-e1633033653364.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260918T120000
DTSTAMP:20260827T024805Z
CREATED:20260826T191126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260827T024805Z
UID:4027-1789725600-1789732800@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Edible and Medicinal Wild Plant Tour
DESCRIPTION:With thanks to Tortuga Flow Farm\, we’re co-offering a fun\, joyful\, hands-on edible & medicinal wild plant tour.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCome on a Fall plant stroll with us and share your questions and your own welcome plant knowledge as we meet and taste the plant friends of our area!  \n\n\n\nTogether we’ll make a simple plant medicine you can take home with the knowledge of how to safely work with it for your and others’ health.   \n\n\n\nThis will be a breezy and beautiful way to spend an early Autumn morning as we walk together into the cooling of the day and the slow shedding of the leaves. \n\n\n\nAll levels of experience welcome. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOn this walk:\n\n\n\n\nLearn plant identification\n\n\n\nExperience hands-on\, in-person learning\n\n\n\nDiscover which local plants are edible and/or medicinal and how to safely work with them\n\n\n\nEnjoy the kind fall weather and meet other plant people!\n\n\n\n\nRegister:\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nThis walk is offered through Tortuga Flow Farm. Registration is on their website here. Limited spots are available. We would love to see you there.
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/edible-and-medicinal-wild-plant-tour/
LOCATION:Morrisville Community Park\, 1520 Morrisville Pkwy\, Morrisville\, North Carolina\, 27560\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_3509.jpeg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261010T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261010T130000
DTSTAMP:20260825T141037Z
CREATED:20260806T172031Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T141037Z
UID:3654-1791626400-1791637200@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Permaculture Skills:  Fall Food Forest Workshop + Tour
DESCRIPTION:This workshop is part of 2026 Fall Permaculture Skills workshop series.  After this morning food forest workshop\, we’ll be offering another workshop in nearby Hillsborough NC on Guilds\, Polycultures\, and Useful Perennials.  Come for the morning or stay for both! \n\n\n\n\n\nChapel Hill\, NC \n\n\n\nLearn about Food Forests inside one of the most mature and abundant forest gardens in the Piedmont area of NC! \n\n\n\nOne small part of Liane’s Chapel Hill Food Forest. It’s hard for photos to do a food forest justice. Just about every plant you see here provides food (as well as medicine\, habitat\, mulch\, soil building\, and so on…!). Fifteen years after Liane began\, the Food Forest is a place for life beyond compare.\n\n\n\nIn this food forest workshop\, we’ll be touring Liane Salgado’s 15+-year old food forest / forest garden in Chapel Hill\, NC and talking all about the trees\, shrubs\, and herbaceous plants that thrive there as an example for hot\, humid zone 8a system. \n\n\n\nThis is the most abundant and mature example of a food forest I know of in the entire Piedmont. This workshop gives a rare opportunity to learn from an established\, local food forest. \n\n\n\nAs part of it\, we’ll also talk about what the real maintenance of a food forest involves\, how this one was started years ago\, and answer any questions you might have about food forest design.  \n\n\n\nIt’s rare to get to see many of these trees at the age they’re at. With Matt and Liane’s combined experience and the food forest to immerse yourself in\, you can count on learning a lot! \n\n\n\nAlso – if you’re in town for the food forest tour\, we’re having another workshop nearby that afternoon on tree guild design and planting. Learn more about it here. \n\n\n\nThe Venue\n\n\n\nThe food forest tour and discussion will be at Liane’s 2-acre property in Chapel Hill.  The location will be sent out a few days before the workshop. \n\n\n\nWhat to Bring:\n\n\n\n\nRain gear if it’s rainy\n\n\n\nWater bottle\n\n\n\n\nSorry to say that for liability reasons\, there’s been a request not to bring children or dogs to this one. \n\n\n\nAlso: \n\n\n\n\nOpenness to new (and ancient) ways of seeing and living\n\n\n\nKindness towards the plants\, animals\, soil\, water\, and other people here\n\n\n\nInclusivity and welcoming spirit towards the people in the workshop\n\n\n\nWillingness to put your phones away and tune into your senses\n\n\n\nCuriosity about life and what each other and the land has to say\n\n\n\n\nSign Up\n\n\n\nThis year\, we’re offering tickets at a sliding scale and standard rates.  Please only choose the reduced rate tickets if you truly need to. Thank you for the support that allows us to continue sharing this work! \n\n\n\nAfter this morning tour and workshop\, we’re having another related class in Hillsborough from 2-5pm on Tree Guild and Polyculture Design and Useful Perennials.  Come to one or both! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCheck out our other Fall 2026 Permaculture Workshops!\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nAbout the Facilitator:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew “Watersong” Tracy started practicing Permaculture in 2011 and received his design certificate from Wild Abundance in 2015. He has been consulting and teaching as a Permaculture Designer since 2018. \n\n\n\nAlong the way\, he learned from numerous Permaculture teachers\, tended land with minimal inputs\, worked with around 70 clients on their land\, lived off-grid for a decade\, and made (… and still makes!) a whole lot of humbling and valuable mistakes on his way back to life in harmony with the earth.  \n\n\n\nMatt is also an herbalist (…in training\, like all herbalists..!) and has been putting strong-tasting plants in bottles to make helpful things happen since 2007. He prepares dozens of local herbal medicines for his community every year.  \n\n\n\nWith all that experience\, Matt is ever a beginner and student of the land. Nature is infinite. What can we do but listen and try? \n\n\n\nMatt is honored to be a Permaculture guide to anyone interested in coming a little closer to the earth. Becoming a father in 2023 has made passing down these teachings that always consider future generations more important than ever. \n\n\n\nRead the rest of Matt’s bio here.
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/permaculture-skills-fall-food-forest-tour/
LOCATION:Liane’s Food Forest
CATEGORIES:Permaculture Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_2203.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261010T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261010T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T141044Z
CREATED:20260806T170058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T141044Z
UID:3695-1791640800-1791651600@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Permaculture Skills:  Tree Guild and Perennial Plants
DESCRIPTION:Hillsborough\, NC \n\n\n\nThis workshop is part of our Fall 2026 Permaculture Skills series. It follows our separate morning Food Forest Workshop and Tour in Chapel Hill.  \n\n\n\nLearn to plant symbiotic\, self-maintaining communities of plants that support you and eachother in growing well.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nIn Permaculture\, guilds are a way to plant a multi-functional community of plants that support each other in growing and thriving. \n\n\n\nThe heart of the forest garden is a tree guild\, where a tree doesn’t simply stand alone\, but exists in a web of beneficial relationships. The result is self-maintaining\, useful\, and beautiful. \n\n\n\nThe same little patch of earth can support pollinators\, bring in its own fertility through nitrogen-fixing plants\, have its own mulch through “chop and drop” biomass plants\, balance insect and disease pressure through aromatic and host plants\, and of course\, give food and medicine to the people tending the tree (…you!). \n\n\n\nGuild and polyculture design doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact\, learning it is a great way to learn about a whole lot more useful plants and the patterns of plants\, including plant families. \n\n\n\nAfter we learn about guilds\, we’ll go right outside and plant some to enrich Jubilee Healing Farm’s young food forest! \n\n\n\nIf you’ve ever wondered how to design guilds and polycultures\, or just want to learn a lot of interesting and useful new perennial plants for our area\, this workshop is for you! \n\n\n\n \n\n\nTopics include:\n\n\n\n\nWhat the heck is a guild and why does it matter?\n\n\n\nThe types of plant uses and some local examples of each\n\n\n\nA new design game we invented for this workshop making tree guild design simple- you will get how to do this yourself after trying it!\n\n\n\nHands-on practice designing and planting tree guilds in a young food forest!\n\n\n\nPolycultures in the garden – planting annuals and perennials that are happy together\n\n\n\n…plus\, learn a whole lot of interesting perennial plants\, including edible and medicinal perennials you can grow\n\n\n\n\nVenue and Workshop Details\n\n\n\nOur workshop is held at Jubilee Healing Farm – a beautifully tended small farm located on 10 acres in Hillsborough\, NC that supports volunteer and community-building activities and workshops for people seeking healing. \n\n\n\nWe’ll have the workshop part inside and part outside unless the weather disagrees!  Please wear comfortable clothing for the day. If it’s going to rain a little\, bring rain gear. A little rain is very helpful for Permaculture design! \n\n\n\nWe’ll likely do a little forest walking.  Good to wear compatible footwear.  If you’re concerned about ticks or other itchy expressions of the local ecology\, please bring non-toxic insect deterrent. \n\n\n\nWhat to Bring:\n\n\n\n\nNotebook and pen\n\n\n\nWater bottle\n\n\n\nSeeds or plants to swap if you have any you want to share.\n\n\n\n\nAlso: \n\n\n\n\nOpenness to different ways of seeing and living\n\n\n\nKindness towards the plants\, animals\, soil\, water\, and other people here\n\n\n\nInclusivity and welcoming spirit towards the people in the workshop\n\n\n\nWillingness to put your phones away and tune into your senses\n\n\n\nCuriosity about life and what each other and the land has to say\n\n\n\n\nSign-Up\n\n\n\nWe offer our tickets at a reduced rate for people experiencing significant financial need.  Thank you for supporting this work. \n\n\n\nThis afternoon workshop is part of our Fall 2026 Permaculture Skills series. In the morning of the same day\, we’re having a Food Forest workshop and tour in nearby Chapel Hill. Join us for one or both! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the Facilitator:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew “Watersong” Tracy started practicing Permaculture in 2011 and received his design certificate from Wild Abundance in 2015. He has been consulting and teaching as a Permaculture Designer since 2018. \n\n\n\nAlong the way\, he learned from numerous Permaculture teachers\, tended land with minimal inputs\, worked with around 70 clients on their land\, lived off-grid for a decade\, and made (… and still makes!) a whole lot of humbling and valuable mistakes on his way back to life in harmony with the earth.  \n\n\n\nMatt is also an herbalist (…in training\, like all herbalists..!) and has been putting strong-tasting plants in bottles to make helpful things happen since 2007. He prepares dozens of local herbal medicines for his community every year.  \n\n\n\nWith all that experience\, Matt is ever a beginner and student of the land. Nature is infinite. What can we do but listen and try? \n\n\n\nMatt is honored to be a Permaculture guide to anyone interested in coming a little closer to the earth. Becoming a father in 2023 has made passing down these teachings that always consider future generations more important than ever. \n\n\n\nRead the rest of Matt’s bio here. \n\n\n\n\n\n  \n\n\n\n 
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/permaculture-skills-tree-guild-and-perennial-plant-deep-dive/
LOCATION:Jubilee Healing Farm\, 1009 Hi Mar Ln\, Hillsborough\, NC\, 27278\, United States
CATEGORIES:Permaculture Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/IMAG1755.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261107T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261107T130000
DTSTAMP:20260826T185108Z
CREATED:20260806T173717Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260826T185108Z
UID:3690-1794045600-1794056400@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Permaculture Skills:  Propagate Your Own Trees (with Nick Wrenn and Matt Tracy)
DESCRIPTION:Hillsborough\, NC\n\n\n\nThis workshop is part of our 2026 Permaculture Skills series.  After this morning workshop\, we’re offering an afternoon workshop on Growing Mushrooms at the same location.  Come for one or stay for both! \n\n\n\nYou Can Grow Way Too Many Trees in a Small Space!\n\n\n\nAmorpha fruitcosa\, aka False Indigo Bush\, aka River Locust – a wonderful and easy-to-grow food forest companion small native tree.  Fixes nitrogen\, attracts butterflies\, builds soil\, adds beauty.  What if you could grow them from seeds yourself?\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nLearn from an experienced tree grower how to start some of our most valuable local trees from cuttings and seeds! \n\n\n\nWith air prune beds you can start a whole lot of trees for free.  This is one way to make forest gardening and Permaculture much more affordable.   \n\n\n\nAir prune beds help trees develop strong root systems perfect for planting out in Spring. They require little maintenance and work with even a small space. \n\n\n\nSoon\, you’ll have more trees than you know what to do with…!    \n\n\n\nFeaturing an Experienced Tree Nursery Grower\n\n\n\nFor this workshop\, we’ve asked Nick Wrenn from Living Soil Tree Farm to guest teach.  He brings a whole lot of experience propagating healthy trees and building and using air prune beds.  He also knows a bunch of about our native trees and after this workshop\, so will you! \n\n\n\nIn this workshop\, for a small materials fee\, you’ll also be able to take home your own air prune bed.   Add some compost and you’ll have everything you need to begin this year.   \n\n\n\nAnd\, because this is one of our workshops\, there will be a whole lot of learning about the uses / gifts of trees\, ways to plant them for windbreaks\, hedge rows\, privacy screens\, to restore land\, and in a food forest. Really\, with Nick and Matt together\, try to make us stop talking about trees. We can’t. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTopics:\n\n\n\n\nThe basics of propagating your own trees from seeds and cuttings\n\n\n\nSome of the best native trees to propagate\n\n\n\nUses for some of our favorite trees for humans and the wild\n\n\n\nBuilding and using an air prune bed that you can take home and begin using this Fall with all the knowledge you need to use it!!\n\n\n\nPlanting trees – when\, where\, how\n\n\n\n… and all kinds of other tree tales and rooted tree wisdom.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue and Workshop Details:\n\n\n\nOur Saturday afternoon workshop will be held at Jubilee Healing Farm – a beautifully tended small farm located on 10 acres in Hillsborough\, NC that supports volunteer and community-building activities and workshops for people seeking healing. \n\n\n\nWe’ll have the workshop outside unless the weather is truly extreme.  Please wear comfortable clothing for the day. If it’s going to rain a little\, bring rain gear. \n\n\n\nWe may do a little forest walking.  Good to wear compatible footwear.  If you’re concerned about ticks or other itchy expressions of the local ecology\, please bring non-toxic insect deterrent. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nWhat to Bring:\n\n\n\n\nJournal and pen\n\n\n\nWater bottle\n\n\n\nWork clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty\n\n\n\n\nAlso: \n\n\n\n\nOpenness to different ways of seeing and living\n\n\n\nKindness towards the plants\, animals\, soil\, water\, and other people here\n\n\n\nInclusivity and welcoming spirit towards the people in the workshop\n\n\n\nWillingness to put your phones away and tune into your senses\n\n\n\nCuriosity about life and what each other and the land has to say\n\n\n\n\nSign-Up\n\n\n\nFor this workshop\, we are including a materials cost for an air prune bed.  One air prune bed can grow a lot of trees!  \n\n\n\nThe workshop ticket is for attendance\, and you can choose one of the materials fees for a pressure treated frame or a hardwood frame.  The cost is based on what we pay for the wood and hardware.  \n\n\n\nIf you have any questions\, please reach out to workshops@silverbranchpermaculture.org   \n\n\n\nIn the afternoon after this workshop\, we’ll be offering another on Growing Mushrooms from Logs and in the Garden.  Come to one or stay for both! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCheck out the other workshops in our Fall 2026 Permaculture Skills series\n\n\n\nAbout the Facilitators:\n\n\n\nNick Wrenn\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNick Wrenn has been in a deep relationship with trees for as long as he can remember. As a young child Nick could always be found in the woods playing amongst the trees. During high school and college\, he worked as a landscaper in the suburban environment just outside Philadelphia PA. College took him down a different road where he studied Civil Engineering and worked on highway projects. His formal work with plants began in earnest after leaving his job in construction management in early 2020.  \n\n\n\nSince that time Nick has been fully committed to working with plants\, especially trees. As he explored various plant-based careers\, he came across the work of Dr. Elaine Ingham and in 2021 completed the Soil Food Web School foundations courses. With an appreciation and understanding of the soil food web as a foundation Nick went on to research permaculture\, compost production\, regenerative agriculture\, plant breeding/seed saving and agroforestry.  \n\n\n\nOver the past 4 years Nick has filled various roles on small scale farms\, completed compost production trainings\, attended various workshops\, and co-run several seed swaps.  \n\n\n\nHis main work over the past two years has been to establish a tree nursery (Living Soil Tree Farm) and food forest on his grandparent’s farm in Cedar Grove NC where Nick grows 1000s of mostly native\, mostly food producing trees each year. These trees are offered bare root during the dormant season. The nursery also offers various tree seeds and cuttings. Nick uses the food forest site to explore various low input techniques for establishing trees and shrubs. \n\n\n\nMatt Tracy\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew “Watersong” Tracy started practicing Permaculture in 2011 and received his design certificate from Wild Abundance in 2015. He has been consulting and teaching as a Permaculture Designer since 2018. \n\n\n\nAlong the way\, he learned from numerous Permaculture teachers\, tended land with minimal inputs\, worked with around 70 clients on their land\, lived off-grid for a decade\, and made (… and still makes!) a whole lot of humbling and valuable mistakes on his way back to life in harmony with the earth.  \n\n\n\nMatt is also an herbalist (…in training\, like all herbalists..!) and has been putting strong-tasting plants in bottles to make helpful things happen since 2007. He prepares dozens of local herbal medicines for his community every year.  \n\n\n\nWith all that experience\, Matt is ever a beginner and student of the land. Nature is infinite. What can we do but listen and try? \n\n\n\nMatt is honored to be a Permaculture guide to anyone interested in coming a little closer to the earth. Becoming a father in 2023 has made passing down these teachings that always consider future generations more important than ever. \n\n\n\nRead the rest of Matt’s bio here.
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/permaculture-skills-propagate-your-own-trees-with-guest-teacher/
LOCATION:Jubilee Healing Farm\, 1009 Hi Mar Ln\, Hillsborough\, NC\, 27278\, United States
CATEGORIES:Permaculture Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/img_2286.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261107T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261107T170000
DTSTAMP:20260825T141055Z
CREATED:20260807T163034Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260825T141055Z
UID:3746-1794060000-1794070800@silverbranchpermaculture.org
SUMMARY:Permaculture Skills:  Growing Mushrooms!
DESCRIPTION:Hillsborough\, NC\n\n\n\nThis workshop is part of our 2026 Permaculture skills series.  In the morning before this workshop\, we’re teaching a separate class on propagating your own trees.  Come to one or both! \n\n\n\nMushroom Logs are One of the Easiest and Most Rewarding Elements to Add to Your Permaculture System\n\n\n\nShiitakes mushrooms are a delicacy.  Medicinal and delicious\, they’re able to be grown in a small space on almost any land.  Photo is from Mushroom Mountain in SC\, a highly recommended source of mushroom spawn.\n\n\n\nWhen I moved to totally wild land to homestead in 2017 in Cedar Grove\, mushrooms were the very first food I grew. \n\n\n\nBeing too busy building our shelter and learning to live off-grid\, I didn’t have time for a garden.  Though I pined for to plant my forest garden\, the necessities of a first year homestead made me have to wait.   \n\n\n\nYet while I carried lumber and swung hammers\, the mycelia were silently “gardening” for me\, turning some of the wood we cleared into the source of some of the most delicious homegrown food I could ever imagine. \n\n\n\nIf you’re too busy for a full garden or just want to add some different\, healthy food into your forest garden\, mushrooms are one of the best and simplest things you can do.   \n\n\n\nIf you have a lot of shade and don’t know what you can grow in it\, Mushrooms are a terrific answer. \n\n\n\nThe cost of a pound of organic shiitake mushrooms ranges from $12-$24.  In practice\, that means I’ve rarely been able to buy them.  Yet after innoculating even a small number of mushroom logs which took one day of work\, I filled bag after bag of mushrooms.  There was enough to share with neighbors and friends.   \n\n\n\nIn this workshop\, we’ll make our own mushroom logs to take home. We’ll also experiment with mushrooms you can grow IN your garden beds for another amazing crop that’s especially compatible with mulched perennial food forest beds. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWorkshop Topics:\n\n\n\n\nGrow your own mushrooms on logs and take one home!\n\n\n\nThe easiest types of mushrooms to grow and what trees to grow them on\n\n\n\nGrowing edible mushrooms in garden beds that also make great soil!\n\n\n\nForaging mushrooms – the easiest ones and a few intermediate as well\n\n\n\nMedicinal and edible uses of some of our commonly grown and found mushrooms\n\n\n\nSampling some Turkey Tail tea and tincture and how to make your own\n\n\n\nThe wisdom and mystery of fungi\n\n\n\n…plus the many benefits of fungal soils and how to cultivate it for healthier plants and people\n\n\n\n\nVenue and Workshop Details:\n\n\n\nOur Saturday afternoon workshop will be held at Jubilee Healing Farm – a beautifully tended small farm located on 10 acres in Hillsborough\, NC that supports volunteer and community-building activities and workshops for people seeking healing. \n\n\n\nWe’ll have the workshop outside unless the weather is truly extreme.  Please wear comfortable clothing for the day. If it’s going to rain a little\, bring rain gear. \n\n\n\nWe may do a little forest walking.  Good to wear compatible footwear.  If you’re concerned about ticks or other itchy expressions of the local ecology\, please bring non-toxic insect deterrent. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nWhat to Bring:\n\n\n\n\nJournal and pen\n\n\n\nWater bottle\n\n\n\n\nAlso: \n\n\n\n\nOpenness to different ways of seeing and living\n\n\n\nKindness towards the plants\, animals\, soil\, water\, and other people here\n\n\n\nInclusivity and welcoming spirit towards the people in the workshop\n\n\n\nWillingness to put your phones away and tune into your senses\n\n\n\nCuriosity about life and what each other and the land has to say\n\n\n\n\nSign-Up\n\n\n\nThis year\, we’re offering sliding scale tickets at two different prices. Please only take a reduced price ticket if you are in significant financial need. Full-price tickets make it possible for us to continue this work.    \n\n\n\nThis workshop costs a little more than our others because you’ll be taking home a mushroom log of your own and some innoculated spawn for the garden. \n\n\n\nIn the morning before this workshop\, we’re also offering a class on Propagating Your Own Trees.  Come to one or both workshops that day and check out our full list of Fall 2026 Workshops here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCheck out the other workshops in our Fall 2026 Permaculture Skills series\n\n\n\nAbout the Facilitator:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew “Watersong” Tracy started practicing Permaculture in 2011 and received his design certificate from Wild Abundance in 2015. He has been consulting and teaching as a Permaculture Designer since 2018. \n\n\n\nAlong the way\, he learned from numerous Permaculture teachers\, tended land with minimal inputs\, worked with around 70 clients on their land\, lived off-grid for a decade\, and made (… and still makes!) a whole lot of humbling and valuable mistakes on his way back to life in harmony with the earth.  \n\n\n\nMatt is also an herbalist (…in training\, like all herbalists..!) and has been putting strong-tasting plants in bottles to make helpful things happen since 2007. He prepares dozens of local herbal medicines for his community every year.  \n\n\n\nWith all that experience\, Matt is ever a beginner and student of the land. Nature is infinite. What can we do but listen and try? \n\n\n\nMatt is honored to be a Permaculture guide to anyone interested in coming a little closer to the earth. Becoming a father in 2023 has made passing down these teachings that always consider future generations more important than ever. \n\n\n\nRead the rest of Matt’s bio here.
URL:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/event/permaculture-skills-growing-mushrooms/
LOCATION:Jubilee Healing Farm\, 1009 Hi Mar Ln\, Hillsborough\, NC\, 27278\, United States
CATEGORIES:Permaculture Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://silverbranchpermaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/silver-branch-permaculture-6a75ff7b0bf79.jpg
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