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Does Nature Love Us Back?

Everyone says they love nature, but does nature love us back? And how would we know?
This topic will be explored at an upcoming Chautauqua program on Saturday, November 4 at the Syracuse Community Center.
The program will be a fun, educational, and interactive session co-hosted by Diane Hunter, Cliff Kindy, and John Edgerton who have spent their lifetimes working with plants, animals, water, and soil. Each of the program leaders will focus on a different topic in addressing the question “Does Nature Love Us Back”. The program is a family event and is free to attend.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Diane Hunter has served as the Myaamia Heritage Preservation Specialist for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and is a citizen and elder of the Tribe.  Her expertise is in the history of the Myaamia People, their cultural experience, artistic and story-telling nature. Earth-centered wisdom has been a part of Myaamia culture and life since time immemorial.
Cliff Kindy is an organic farmer who does all his gardening and life needs on captured and recycled water and without using fossil fuel. Cliff has, over thirty years, traveled with Christian Peacemaking Teams worldwide to stand with indigenous people in the face of violent, unjust regimes.
John Edgerton has done organic market gardening and community-supported agriculture based on limited and appropriate technology. John and his partner Amy co-teach Slow Farming at Kalamazoo College to give fourth-year students a hands-on immersion in farming and gardening skills. Their passion is saving and stewarding seeds.
WHEN: Saturday, November 4th -6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
WHERE: Syracuse Community Center 1013 N Long Dr, Syracuse IN
COST: FREE!
Gardening in the face of a changing climate

John Edgerton of Shelbyville, Michigan returns to Syracuse for a second workshop to explore wholistic, resilient, sustainable techniques for gardening and small farming. He will share his experience and practical knowledge on the importance of healthy soil, healthy plants, and helpful insect habitats. Other topics will include variety selection and ways to account for climate-related imbalances of diseases and insects. He will share what others in the bioregion are doing to address these issues. The Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation and the Syracuse-Wawasee Garden Club are jointly sponsoring this program with Chautauqua-Wawasee.

What: One hour presentation, followed by deeper discussion.

When: April 24, 1:00 – 4:00

Where: Syracuse Community Center, 1013 N. Long Dr, Syracuse, Indiana

Cost: Free to the Public. Please register to help us estimate attendance.

About the Presenter

John Edgerton lives with his partner and fellow farmer, Amy Newday. Together, they have done both market gardening and community-supported agriculture. John has done dozens of workshops on gardening and seed saving, most recently, at conferences sponsored by the Michigan Food and Farm Alliance, Michigan Integrative Food and Farming Systems, and KEEP GROWING DETROIT. He and Amy have worked with the Inter-Tribal Food Summit to grow out and repatriate several varieties of indigenous Northern Flint Corn. They also work with a network of northern gardeners to perform grow-out trials of Upland Rice varieties to determine suitability for our northern bioregion. John and Amy co-taught a course for seniors at Kalamazoo College on “Slow Farming” a form that is committed to limited and appropriate technology. John co-founded a local community garden in Martin, MI. He has also served as a schoolteacher in the Martin Michigan public school, and, long ago, at The Learning Center, a parent-teacher non-public cooperative elementary school, in Fort Wayne.