Archive for the ‘Gathering Summaries’ Category

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Event Summary: Herb Walk, with Tom Tracey of Swan Valley Herbs, May 23, 2014

Friday, June 6th, 2014
Ripening Hawthorn Berries (C. Haug photo)

Ripening Hawthorn Berries (C. Haug photo)

by Catherine Haug, June 6, 2014 (Photo, right, by C. Haug)

Tom Tracey presented his spring herb walk at Wayfarer’s Park in Bigfork, on May 23, 2014. Tom is an herbalist, dietitian and nutritionist who is very knowledgeable about native edible plants and healing herbs.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but the Bigfork Eagle had an article about the walk, that included interviews of Tom Tracey, and of Ronny Honthaas who was in attendance. Yesterday the article was posted on the Eagle’s website:

On a related topic, Ronny Honthaas gave an excellent presentation to a July 2010 ESP Gathering, on Herbs & Their Traditional Uses. Read on for link to a printable pdf version, and links to other presentations by Ronny. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Gathering Summaries, Health, Remedies | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary, Fall Garden Preparation by Ronny Honthaas, October 16, 2013

Friday, October 18th, 2013

by Catherine Haug, October 18, 2013

Ronny provided a presentation outline at the event; I’ve included its text in the summary, below.

For those who don’t know Ronny, she keeps bees and horses, both of which are major contributors to her wonderfully lush garden in the Columbia Falls area. In the past she has given two  other presentations for ESP:  Managing an Organic Beehive, Herbs and Their Traditional Uses, and she participated on the Sourdough Panel.

She titled her presentation, “Fall Garden Prep Talk, or Starting your Garden.” That subtitle needs a bit of explanation. If you do all the work to start your garden in the fall, it saves you a lot of work in the spring. The amendments (compost, manure) and mulching added in the fall, work through the cold months to make your garden fertile and ready for germinating seeds in the spring. Plus there are lots of seeds you can plant in the fall, for spring and summer harvest.

Read on for Ronny’s handout/outline, with my notes added.

(more…)

Posted in Compost, Gardening, Gathering Summaries, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary: Rendering Animal Fat for Soap Making with Sheree Tompkins, June 19, 2013

Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
Melting fat, with Cracklings

Melting fat, with Cracklings

by Catherine Haug, June 23, 2013

(photo, right, by C. Haug)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file: [a link will be added here when available]. Sheree had two handouts:

See also related photo-essay on The EssentiaList: Rendering Lard in a Crockpot: The Process

From the Gathering Notice about this event:

Sheree discussed equipment and materials needed to render fat, as well as an overview of the process with a dry demonstration. She also discussed how this fat is used in soap making, and the properties they contribute to the soap; this topic brought the most discussion.

While soaps made from vegetable fats and oils are popular right now, animal fats have served humans well for eons, and they are much less expensive than imported vegetable fats, especially if the fat is from wild game from the local area. Additionally, it is an efficient use of what would otherwise be waste from the butchering of animals.

Animal fats have many other uses, especially in cooking, as they generally tolerate high-heat than the fragile polyunsaturated vegetable oils. (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Food-Nutrition-Health, Gathering Summaries, Home & Ranch, Kitchen Hints | 2 Comments »

Gathering Summary: Survival Skills: Water in the Wild and at Home, by Doug and Chelsey Luehr, May 15, 2013

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

by Catherine Haug, May 23, 2013

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file: [a link will be added here when available]. See also presentation handouts:

This presentation was in two parts:

  1. Doug Luehr on water gathering and purification methods when in the wild or away from home; and
  2. Chelsey Luehr on how to live without running water, specifically hygiene and waste management at home.

See also their business website SurvivorGeek.com.

Posted in Compost, Emergency Preparedness, Gathering Summaries, Home & Ranch, Survival; Primitive Living | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary: Nutritional Value of Herbs with Linda Peterson

Friday, April 26th, 2013
Linda Peterson

Linda Peterson

by Catherine Haug, April 18, 2013

January Update: Linda has published her book: Nutrify and Detoxify: Manage Today’s Health Challenges, by Linda Peterson and published by VBW Publishing (1) and available on Amazon.

(photos by Edd Blackler)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file: [a link will be added here when available]. Linda had one handout, but requested I not make a digital copy for the website, as her info is copyrighted and will be included in her upcoming book. (more…)

Posted in Food-Nutrition-Health, Gardening, Gathering Summaries, Health | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary: Container and Strawbale Gardening, with Mary and James Laud

Monday, April 15th, 2013
Straw Bale Garden (Wikipedia)

Straw Bale Garden (Wikipedia)

by Catherine Haug, April 15, 2013

(photo, right, from Wikipedia)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file:

Gathering Summary: Container and Strawbale Gardening, with Mary and James Laud, March 20, 2013.

There were no handouts, but a photo-board with some great photos was included in the presentation; I will add the photos to the summary as soon as I receive them.

Just prior to our event, we had a HUGE rainstorm all across the valley, but Mary and James braved the weather and gave a great presentation. They had intended to bring some straw bale garden examples, but were unable to do that because they were too saturated from the storm. They did have photos of straw bales in various stages of gardening, so we could get the general idea. They also brought some clever artistic examples of container gardens.

Presentation Topics

  • bag gardens
  • straw bale gardens
  • roof-top gardens
  • their greenhouse construction
  • container gardens
  • various methods of making organic fertilizers for container gardens
  • outdoor wood-fired pizza oven made on-site from fiber brick and fire clay or cob

Read on for audience comments and Q&A. (more…)

Posted in Gardening, Gathering Summaries, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

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