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These Green Education Classes and workshops are planned for GreenLife EcoRetreat

_ The Sustainable Kitchen with Audra Sanderhoff: Learn how to dry and canning your home grown produce and farmer's market finds. Healthy and nourishing recipes and techniques that fit into your active lifestyle. Explore the tastes and options.

_ Green Gardens: Learn Pacific Northwest organic gardening techniques for forest land and city backyards. Find out how to choose your crops, care for plants, and techniques for harvesting and storage.

_ Permaculture - Expert Guest Instructor: Permaculture is the philosophy that farming and other forms of production can be achieved without damage to the water table and without soil erosion. The goal is to choose plant species and landscaping that interact synergistically. This enables bountiful harvests from year to year. Minimizing our footprint, and preserving natural forest open spaces is another benefit of this compact, ecologically efficient method of cultivation.

Mushroom Cultivation and Gathering - Expert Guest Instructor: How to grow mushrooms at home, and learning to spot specimens in the wild. Mushroom signs to look for and the best seasons for harvest. Favorite mushrooms of Washington and Oregon. Learn to identify the environments where mushrooms pop up. Learn about safety: Not all mushrooms are edible! You will leave with links to more sources of expert advice. Learning about species identification can be a lifelong adventure. This class is a step along the path.

_ Natural Earth Building/Lodging:- Expert Guest Instructor: Feel in tune with the Earth as your natural home, as you use green building materials to create a cabin. See the structure take shape, as you learn the natural technique of earth and cob construction from a master builder, and become part of building GreenLife EcoRetreat. These cabins are outfitted with natural bedding and solar lamps. BYOB - Bring your own bedding.

Off the Grid Electricity - Expert Guest Instructor: Our center plans to generate all of the power that we will need with solar electric panels, and hydro-electric turbines. Learn how to build solar or hydro power at home, how to choose energy-efficient appliances, and strategies for reducing your power needs.

Sustainable Wool Production with Audra Sanderhoff: Learn how to sheer alpacas, spin their wool, and knit this silky soft luxury yarn into mittens or blankets. Have you ever wanted your own llama or alpaca? Learn about the care and feeding of these incredible creatures.

Beekeeping Basics Commune with one of nature’s most amazing creatures, our bees. Learn to nurture and maintain this vital resource. Culinary and other traditional uses for honey.

Waste Management: Do composting toilets really work? What about the smell? Learn how to simplify plumbing construction and protect the environment.