Classes and Other Updates
Sharon June 9th, 2008
Astute readers may have noticed the dearth of complex analyses in my posting recently. There are two explanations for this. The first is that I think I may have broken my brain writing _A Nation of Farmers_. The second is that it is bloody hot here. The last few days I’ve started and abandoned half a dozen posts dealing with complexities - it just feels too hard 
. You see, I am not, as the saying goes, from hot weather. I do not like it Sam-I-am. I’m very good about going out the morning and evening, but the rest of the time I sit around and feel like a wrung out sweat sock. Fortunately, I believe the heat is set to break tomorrow, and one can only hope that my ability to write a coherent sentence will return around the same time.
So it seems a good time to talk about my summer class schedule. I’m going to offer two online courses. The first will be a repeat of the Food Storage and Preservation class I ran in March, with more of an emphasis on preserving the Harvest, season extension techniques for fall and winter gardening etc…
In August and into early September, I’m going to run a class on Adapting in Place, with an emphasis on low energy life, keeping warm, fed and secure with minimal or no fossil fuel use. The idea is that most of us are going to end up staying where we are, or in very similar places, and we need to know how to get along in the new realities.
Both classes will have several components. I’ll produce a series of posts here at the blog on a variety of related topics. There will be a discussion group for class members, and I’ll be available by email for personal consultation. The feature I’m adding is that I’ll also be available by phone for one 20 minute consultation with each participant over the course of the month (and if you took my last class and are feeling cheated because you didn’t get that, I’m also going to offer it as a back option over the next few months for those who participated last time - more on this by email later).
The cost for the class is $125 for a month long, 8 session course, and I’ll accept up to 30 participants. I also have five free spaces reserved for low income participants , and, of course, I’ll be putting tons of free material up on the blog as well. If the class doesn’t fill up, I’ll offer additional free spots.
The Food Preservation Class will run for four weeks in July, every Tuesday and Thursday, from Tuesday July 8 - Thursday, July 31.
The Adaptation in Place Class will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Tuesday August 5 to Thursday September 4, with the EXCEPTION OF AUGUST 19 and 21 (Eric and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary by actually going away from the children for 3 whole days!).
And, just in case you actually want to meet me in person, if you live in or near New York City, you should definitely come attend the coolest, funniest, most entertaining doom experience you’ll ever have. I’m appearing as one of the Four Panelists of the Apocalypse with James Kunstler, Colin Beavan and Mike Hogan, discussing the future, and what we can do to avoid it . Seriously, I’ve never looked forward to any event this much - this is going to be fun - and the panel is just the icing on the remarkable exhibit. I think the panel is 6-8, although I’ve got to confirm that. Come learn the answer to a host of questions…Can we avoid the TEOWAKI? What hope is there in an increasingly bleak world? Will there at least be cake at the crack of doom?
Sharon, hot and silly.