Workshops and Classes 2023

Unless noted, all workshops take place at Sustainable Settings Ranch in Carbondale, Colorado. To reserve a spot in one of our workshops we request a non refundable(unless we need to cancel the class) 50% deposit of total workshop fee one month before the workshop starts. If you need to drop out of a class we require one month notice in order for you to receive a refund. To register for any class call 970-963-6107 or email rose@sustainablesettings.org More will be added monthly so check back often!

We have WORKING RANCH DOGS on the premise, Please leave your dogs at home. Sustainable Settings is not responsible for damage to your property if you have an animal with you.

All Biodynamic classes are taught by Lloyd Nelson, with contributions by Brook LeVan founders of Biodynamic Source
Previous guest mentors have been – Pat Frazier, Dawn Rains, Stone Hunter, Jared Minori, Megan Miller, Red Horse, W. Jason Harris.

 

BD tree care March 11 2023

 Biodynamic Tree Care
 Saturday March 11, 
 10am-4pm 
 Cost $120

to register, call 970-963-6107 or email rose@sustainablesettings.org

This hands on workshop will include ways to bring heath and vitality to fruit trees using the Biodynamic method. Pruning of young and old tree will be demonstrated. BD treatments of common pests and disease will be discussed. We will be making and application of Biodynamic Tree Paste, and you will be able to take some home for your trees. Even if you have already pruned your trees, this tree paste is still beneficial to apply at this time.

Light Lunch Provided (Soup bread and salad)
Take home 1 gallon of tree paste for your own fruit trees, bring a bucket!
Bring:  gloves, a 5 gallon bucket, old paint brush and/or scrub brush, sun hat water bottle, dress for any kind of weather. 

 

Biodynamic 101
April 1, Saturday, 10am-4pm, $95

This is a foundation course and is highly recommended before participating in other advanced Biodynamic courses offered at Sustainable Settings. The history of Biodynamics and the significance of the nine Biodynamic preparations. Designing a farm as a whole living organism.
Learn about the core principles of Biodynamics including:
~ Overview of the key principles of Biodynamics.
~ The practical application creating regenerative on farm fertility.
~ Recipes and methods you can use at home.
~ Planting with the moon, and optimum astrological times for agricultural activities.
Biodynamic compost is a fundamental component to vitalize the farm. It serves as a way to recycle animal manures and organic wastes, stabilize nitrogen, build soil humus and is essential to soil health. Biodynamic compost is
unique because it is made with BD preparations 502−507. Together, the BD preparations and BD compost may be considered the cornerstone of biodynamics. We will make BD Compost, and you’ll get to take some home, bring a 5 gallon bucket.

Biodynamic Agricultural Astronomy
Saturday, April 29, 2023   4-7pm $60


Working with the Rhythms and Biodynamic Planting Calendars    
Lunar, Planetary and the Zodiac’s Influence on Plant Growth
Ever wonder what phase of the moon is more beneficial for planting or harvest?  Or what the optimal dates and times are for applying Biodynamic preparations?  Biodynamic consultant, Lloyd Nelson, will lead this journey to help you better understand the planetary influences on plant growth and help you formulate your own planting calendar for the 2023 season. Learn how to decipher and interpret Biodynamic planting calendars. Discover the optimum days and times to plant seeds, to cultivate, to harvest and store your crops. The Maria Thun calendar will be reviewed and used for the course.  

 

2023 Bee Guardians
with Corwin Bell
Session l, May 20, Saturday,
Session ll, May 21, Sunday

register for session I online here
register for session II online here

Lunches both days are Pot Luck please bring a simple dish to share.

Session I : This class is for those just getting started. We will cover basic bee ecology, how the bees communicate with each other in the hive, explain why bees are a super-organism, and the importance of honeybee genetic diversity.You will learn how to set up the hive for bees, obtaining bees, catching a swarm and getting the bees into the hive. You will learn the reasoning behind treatment-free, natural beekeeping (it may surprise you). We will demonstrate how to work with the bees in an altruistic, gentle manner so that a symbiotic relationship is formed with the bees. And if there are combs to harvest, we will demonstrate how to harvest and process honey comb.

Session II: This class is for the bee guardian who has taken the beginner class and has a colony of bees. In this class you will learn an in-depth working relationship with the bees. The class will cover a deeper understanding of the intimate workings of the colony and the brood nest, so that the bee guardian can confidentially work their hive and feel comfortable with interacting with the bees. We will cover queen-less hives, over wintering, processing all comb types and spring harvesting.

Dowsing 101   
the Practical Art
with Maestro di Niente
June 3, Saturday, 1pm-4pm $80

This is a prerequisite for Advanced Dowsing on July 15.

Register by calling 970-963-6107, email rose@sustainablesettings.org

Half day of introductory practical dowsing skills that will change your known world.
Enhance your Agrarian toolbox, as we are all Agrarians, like it or not. This workshop offers hands-on practical experience in the fundamentals of the ancient art and practice of dowsing. Often called divining rods, these tools can assist in your development as a confident dowser. Learn how to communicate with the Life in the land and search for answers in your own life. We will show you how to make your own rods and have copper dowsing rods available to purchase.

In my mind dowsers were borderline mystics contacted to find water when your well was dry. I attended Dowsing 101 curious but skeptical and came away with my eyes open to how much there is to learn when you tap into the natural world all around us.” 

– Allison Patrillo

 

Biodynamic Spring Prep Intensive
June 16 & 17, Friday & Saturday, 9am-4pm  $400
lunch included both days
to register, call 970-963-6107 or email rose@sustainablesettings.org

Hands-On Practicum:
· Making BD 501 Horn Silica and BD 502 Yarrow
· Unearthing the preparations buried last fall ; BD 500x Horn Manure, BD 503 Chamomile, BD 505 Oak Bark, BD 506 Dandelion
· Practical training in dowsing and homeopathic potentization

Lecture topics:
· Demystifying the preps -the significance of the materials
· Describing the physical and subtle cosmic forces of each prep

 Tour of Biodynamic ranch systems
This workshop is intended to bring Biodynamics into your daily farming and gardening practice, introducing you to the main Biodynamic land therapies, and best dates for working with positive astronomical influences for the whole farm.

 

Advanced Dowsing the Practical Art
with Maestro di Niente 

July 15, Saturday, 1pm-4pm $100 – Limited to 8 participants.

*Prerequisite for this course is Dowsing 101 and minimum of one month of personal practice.

We are truly amazing creatures and can do so much more than we are taught in conventional educational frameworks. In this advanced intensive we will delve deeper into the multiplicity of possibilities in communicating beyond this limited horizontal realm of what we think of as our reality. Dowsing offers us a point of entry into what we might call the real psychic neural network of Nature herself. Depending always on your evolution of course, be prepared to tap into Nature’s Cosmic and the Earthly rhythms. Come work and learn with your dowsing rods as we advance into other realms of inquiry. Participants must have taken Dowsing 101 and personally practiced for a minimum of one month. Bring your dowsing questions and experiences to share. Buckle up for this afternoon of expansive dowsing and energy shifting skill development.   

“The Internet and A-I are child’s play.” – Maestro di Niente

 

Biodynamic Fall Prep Intensive – 3 DAY $600
September 28,29,30, 2023, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 9am-5pm
to register, call 970-963-6107 or email rose@sustainablesettings.org


2023 Biodynamic Fall Prep Intensive – 3 DAY
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 9am-5pm. Lunch will provided.  Please let us know if you have any dietary needs.
Camping available. Please call to reserve a spot.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity in North America. This is our 18th year of
bringing together Biodynamic mentors that collectively have over 4
decades of experience in the making and uses of the Biodynamic
Preparations in farm field and forest, orchard, vine, medicinal herbs, for
broad scale farms and ranches to smaller scaled homesteads.
Join us at Sustainable Settings for this illuminating 3-day intensive of on-
ranch Biodynamic (BD) preparation making. Participants will help make the
Biodynamic preparations and through whiteboard talks and demonstrations
learn the history, and the who, what, and why of how Biodynamic
Agriculture can enhance the quality and quantity of life in/on your garden,
farm, ranch, orchard or vineyard.
These preparations will be made with native foraged and specifically grown
flowers, herbs, tree barks and sheaths to create homeopathic remedies
that regenerate soil and heal the land. Third party scientific laboratory soil
tests and empirical testimonials from chefs and customers as well as
recommendations on how to begin to establish a Whole Farm Organism
will be shared.
The learning continues during meals and in the evening around the camp
fire. Bring your yarns, poetry, songs and musical instruments to share.
——- What you need to know——–   Local Biodynamic and organically sourced
lunch provided Thursday and Friday, continental
breakfast and a lunch will be provided Saturday.
Limited reserved camping is available.
If flying or driving in from afar feel free to call about suggested best airports,
land routes and accommodations.
Call with any dietary concerns 970-963-6107. *Limited Work Study
Scholarships available call for more info. Register early, this course sells
out.

 

Sustainable Settings verified Regeneratively Grown

A Member of the North American Fellowship Preparation Makers, has been Demeter Certified Biodynamic, and approved mentor ranch for North American Biodynamic Association Apprenticeship Program (NABDAAP), was a founding member of the Central Colorado Biodynamic group (CCBD),  past member of the BDA. 

 

 

 

DETAILS YOU NEED TO KNOW
unless noted all classes are held at
Sustainable Settings
6107 Highway 133

Carbondale, CO 81623
We require a 50% non refundable(unless we need to cancel the class) deposit at least one month before a class date to hold your spot in any class. Full payment is due when you arrive for the class.

Please note: we have working ranch dogs here, please leave your dogs at home.

For more information or to register for any class call 970-963-6107  or email rose@sustainablesettings.org