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   Happy Dancing Turtle is offering a new program this spring that will help homesteaders create plans to meet goals such as generating income, building the health and resilience of their land, and creating a network with other homesteaders.

   Through workshops, field days, and site visits to individual homesteaders’ property, this Collective is designed to guide landowners through developing realistic plans for farm production systems. Those plans may range from self-sustenance to profit centers, large or small operations. Methods for adopting agroforestry/acroecology will be showcased as well as overall good stewardship of natural resources.

   Homestead Stewards Collective is a joint project between the Savanna Institute and Happy Dancing Turtle. “During these in-person workshops we will share planning resources and techniques, assist with goal setting, and help you develop an overall farm plan and an agroforestry business plan,” said Happy Dancing Turtle staffer Jim Chamberlin, who will be a co-leader of the Collective. “Farmer-to-farmer networking opportunities like this and field days are a great way to learn what works and how to avoid mistakes, saving time, money, and other resources.” Chamberlin has owned Island Lake Farm, with his wife Audra, for 30 years. 

   Registration deadline is April 1. Sign up online at bit.ly/HomesteadStewards. If you have questions, contact Jim Chamberlin at [email protected]

   Happy Dancing Turtle is located on the Hunt Utilities Group Resilient Living Campus, located at 2331 Dancing Wind Rd SW in Pine River. Happy Dancing Turtle is a nonprofit dedicated to growing good stewards of the planet by providing education, programs, and experiences for youth and adults that inspire wonder and empower change. The Savanna Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works with farmers and scientists to lay the groundwork for widespread agroforestry adoption in the Midwest US. Inspired by the native savanna ecosystems that once covered much of this region, the Savanna Institute conducts research, education, and outreach to support the growth of diverse, perennial agroecosystems.

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