Starting at 11 AM this Saturday Dr. Fred Wiseman and Vermont Organics Reclamation will host a bicentennial commemoration of the Year Without A Summer -- or “1800 and froze to death” -- when a volcanic eruption on the other side of the world caused plummeting temperatures worldwide and drastically shortened New England’s growing season. The climate-induced crop shortages and ensuing famine forced many Vermonters to leave the state and seek better lands to the south and west. (PLEASE NOTE: Seating for Dr. Wiseman’s presentation is limited to 50 people. Please RSVP to wisem@vtlink.net, timc@vermontorganics.com, or leont@vermontorganics.com.)
Dr. Wiseman's talk will be followed by a free lunch of traditional native American foods.
The meal will feature native squash, as well as pork products from VOR, and will include a 'bean hole dinner' of baked beans prepared in a fire pit in the tradition of local Abenaki tribes.
There will also be displays for Dr. Wiseman's Seeds of Renewal Project, which has just completed a "cold-hardiness" analysis of more than 35 regional, native crops that range from the early 19th century to over 500 years old.
After lunch the focus will shift to the Abenaki-style agroforest. The new agroforest will be officially named Olakwika Alnobaiwi (a good forest in the Abenaki tradition) in an Abenaki ceremony. It is the first part an agroforest project that will run throughout VOR’s 185-acre campus. The agroforest, the crops in it, and an effort to raise pigs humanely and naturally, are all part of VOR’s new Rugg Brook Campus initiative, which addresses the impaired Rugg Brook watershed, its history, and its future.
Following the dedication there will be guided tours of the agroforest.
We hope to see you this Saturday. To secure a seat for the lecture please contact timc@vermontorganics.com, or leont@vermontorganics.com. Even If you can't make it to the lecture, please come for lunch (at noon) and the agroforest activities (starting at 1:30).
Directions: Go south on Rt. 7 toward Georgia. At the town line turn right onto Wilder Rd. Follow the signs to VOR (just over a mile from Rt. 7)
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