Orcharding 3D Skill Share

Orcharding 3D Skill Share with Leah Penniman & Jonah Vitale-Wolff

***50% of our proceeds from this workshop will go toward planting trees in Palestine.***

The 3D series is a multidimensional workshop series designed for B.I.P.O.C. (Black, Indigenous, & People of Color) to deepen skills in specific farming and land stewardship practices in a culturally relevant, supportive, and joyful environment.

The forest is a superorganism composed of trees and plants that “talk” to one another using the internet of fungal mycelium. They quite literally send warning messages, share carbon and minerals, and take turns helping each other out when environmental conditions are rough. Not only is the cooperation of the forest a profound guide for how we need to exist in the human community, it’s also a practical survival strategy.

In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to mimic the forest ecosystem in our orchards, agroforestry, and perennial systems. You will learn about:

• Planning landscape that captures carbon over the long-term
• Siting your orchard and selecting tree varieties
• Soil preparation and amending for woody perennials
• Intercropping herbs for pest and disease management
• Use of fences, tree wraps, paint and other herbivory protection
• Holistic foliar sprays for nutrition and disease prevention
• Integrating livestock, trees, and forage in a silvopasture system
• The orchardist’s calendar for the year - pruning, care, harvesting, etc.
• Afro-Indigenous agroforestry practices

Language: The instruction will be delivered in English.

Cost: The sliding scale is $15 -100. Please think generously - what could be more important to contribute to than living food, land sovereignty, and skilled farmers spreading love and knowledge?!

The workshop is designed to be a culturally relevant and safe space that centers Black, Indigenous and People of Color (read why here).

Registration closes Thursday, April 25th at 10pm Eastern Time.

Presenter(s):

Leah Penniman (all pronouns) is a Black Kreyol farmer, mother, soil nerd, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As Co-ED and Farm Director, Leah is part of a team that facilitates powerful food sovereignty programs – including farmer training for Black & Brown people, a subsidized farm food distribution program for communities living under food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system. Leah has been farming since 1996, holds an MA in Science Education and a BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a member of clergy in West African Indigenous Orisa tradition. Leah trained at Many Hands Organic Farm, Farm School MA, and internationally with farmers in Ghana, Haiti, and Mexico. She also served as a high school biology and environmental science teacher for 17 years.

The work of Leah and Soul Fire Farm has been recognized by the Soros Racial Justice Fellowship, Fulbright Program, Pritzker Environmental Genius Award, Grist 50, and James Beard Leadership Award, among others. Her books, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land (2018) and Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists (2023) are love songs for the land and her people.

Jonah Vitale-Wolff, Site Director, (he/him) apprenticed at Live Power Farm in CA after working on farms throughout New Zealand, Spain, and Central America through the WWOOF program, and was hooked. He returned to his northeast roots to build skills as a farmer in this particular climate by working over many seasons at Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, MA. Jonah also coordinated the city-wide community gardens program in Worcester, MA with the Regional Environmental Council, and later collaborated with Leah to start Youth GROW, making urban agriculture central to his understanding of the food system. Jonah is also an accomplished timber framer, natural builder and educator with his former company Hudson Valley Natural Building.

Find out more about Leah's and Jonah's work and follow them @soulfirefarm on Instagram.

About the organizer

Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous centered training farm committed to ending racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system. Our food sovereignty programs reach over 10,000 people each year, including farmer training for Black and Brown growers, reparations and land return initiatives for northeast farmers, food justice workshops for urban youth, home gardens for city-dwellers living under food apartheid, doorstep harvest delivery for food insecure households, and systems and policy education for public decision-makers.