September 15, 2011

Continuing Education Funds: scholarship at Growing Power, Milwaukee,WI

After MESA coordinate and encouraged me to participate in Weekend Workshop, I feel exciting and challenge to go there. I talk with someone there and check on website. Many people registered in this workshop – more than 50 people. I join network and mingle with other participants all meals.

By the first morning is tour of farm and afternoon breakout sessions of participants.  I could take two of the following: Compost & Vermicompost, aquaponics, Hoop House construction, Year-round Greenhouse production, Community Project Design, Mushroom Cultivation and Renewable Energy with focus on Solar. Choose one each day. First I choose to learn Compost & Vermicompost because I just read and listen this story, it very interesting for me. When I will back to my country I could to continue and exchange more. About compost they teach an innovative approach to sustainable production. How to develop a comprehensive and sustainable system for growing food year-round without heat. And Vermicomposting learns how to construct and maintain a worm bin, how to use vermicompost for fertilizer and making money, and how plants and vermicompost remediate the soil. I try to understood goal to make fertilizer and more worms and important thing here engaging the community and neighbor for finding your food residue sources until action steps and time investment.

The second day I chose to learns mushroom cultivation. They teach how to growing mushrooms using materials that are readily available in urban, and how they help to remediate the soil. They show experiment with various substrate and strains of mycelium in our greenhouse.

Everything give power more to me. Healthy food and Healthy people. This is also a good time apart from learning research corn at MFAI. I meet many people went to Thailand and they try to talk to me with a friendly and help sometime if I don’t all understood. I meet and talk to neighbor country. They are Laos people make me the only Asian at the workshop.

Lastly! I need to say thank you MESA and coordinator for Opportunities for provide Stewards with another learning method Power and take care every step even to a hostel reservation for me.

Thank you MFAI and my host  to give time and to send  me to Tommy Thompson Youth and get me from Growing Power.

Thank you Growing Power with scholarship “From the Ground UP” workshop.