RAINWATER CUTTER GARDEN SYSTEM - This is a photo of the rainwater gutter garden system put together by Donna Best of the Woodlawn community. This system incorporates a series of plastic buckets with holes drilled in the side to allow for "air-pruning" of the roots while resting on top of a rainwater gutter that provides a source of water that is "wicked" up into the the growing medium for each bucket. Best, who is also a Master Gardener, will be among the new presenters at this year's Arkansas Homesteading Conference set for Saturday, March 29, at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Rison. (Photo compliments of Donna Best)
RISON - The Arkansas Homesteading Conference will be returning to the Cleveland County Fairgrounds on Saturday, March 29, organizer Britt Talent has announced.
This year's conference will feature some returning speakers as well as some first-time presenters, including one that is from Cleveland County.
Donna Best of the Woodlawn community will be discussing how to build a rainwater gutter garden system. Her system incorporates a couple of the most popular gardening concepts: a "wicking" system that provides a steady source of moisture for the plants as well as an airpruning system that "prunes" the plant's roots in order to encourage more rigorous root growth overall.
Best's systemn uses a series of buckets that sit atop a rainwater gutter that essentially serves as a water reservoir for the system. Each one of the buckets has several holes cut into the side to allo air to penetrate into the growing medium to "air prune" the roots.
"Donna is a great example of how I come across a lot of my speakers," Talent said. "She has been a regular attendee at the conference for the past few years, and then one day she made the mistake of showing me some photos of her garden at home. It was impressive, and I immediately knew I wanted to have her speak at this year's conference." The Arkansas Homesteading Conference is entering its 11th
year. Talent started the event in 2014 at the Pioneer Village in Rison with just four educational sessions related the homesteading. Talent explained that the homesteading is essentially the practice of becoming more self-sufficient, which can include gardening, food preservation, small scale livestock, alternative energy, herbal remedies and more. "When I put these conferences together, I want to have something that will appeal to people who have about 5 acres of land or less," Talent said. "In fact, many of these ideas discussed in these sessions can be practiced in a suburban setting." Talent said that gardening is always a popular topic since nearly everyone who wants to homestead can garden in some form or fashion. He said that is what is so appealing about Best's raingutter garden system - it can be practiced anywhere and it is a very productive system.
Along that same line of thought, Talent said he will be leading a session on building a "hybrid" air-pruning raised bed. This system uses cattle panels and hardware cloth to create a 2foot deep garden bed that allows air to penetrate through the sides for air pruning.
"Thanks to Les Walz, our for(see (contined from page 1) mer Extension agent here in Cleveland County, he has developed a hybrid system that incorporate hugelkultur and lasagna gardening into the system. He's had some great success with that method and we'll be going over how he did it at the conference." Hugelkulture, which is the German word for "hill" or "mound culture," is a method where tree trucks, branches and other woody material are buried and a garden is planted on top of it. During the rainy season, that buried wood retains moisture which is released during the dry months to help provide an undergroun source of moisture for the plants. In addition, as the woody material breaks down over time, it enriches the soil to support plant growth.
Talent said one of the reasons for the rise in popularity with homesteading is that more people want to grow their own food, especially without the use of pesticides or herbicides often used in commercial fruit, vegetable and even meat production. That will be a major theme at this year's conference.
Kevin Jones of Blackjack Blooms and Berries, a regenerative farmer/rancher from near Mansfield, and Logan Duvall of the Sowing Prosperity podcast/ YouTube channel will be speaking back-to-back at this year's conference.
Regenerative agriculture is a holistic and conservation-focused approach to farming that puts a high emphasis on creating and sustaining healthy soils that produce more nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables as well as forage for livestock. Regenerative farming uses a no-till approach to gardening that also includes the use of cover crops and livestock to improve soil quality.
Jones, a former agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, has been using regenerative practices at his farm for five years.
Duvall, meanwhile, will be speaking on the health benefits of foods grown via regenerative methods. He and his family operate Me & McGee Market just outside of North Little Rock that offers a variety of meats and other foods produced through regenerative methods.
Duvall began his journey on learning about the impact of food on health after his son was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer at a young age. He has interviewed some of the giants in the regenerative farming movement like Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm in Virginia and Will Harris of White Oak Pastures in Georgia, as well as some of the leading scientists around the globe who have studied the link between food and health.
Another new presenter this year will be Sona Gardner of Puddin' Ridge Fibers at Ozark. She spins yarn from primarily natural fiber, especially from llama and alpaca fur, and will give go over the basics of converting fibers into products during her presentation. She is also affiliated with Southeast Llama Rescue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of abused, neglected, unwanted and behaviorally unmanageable llamas and alpacas in the U.S.
Another new presenter this year will be Dr. Yong Park of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, who will be discussing beekeeping. He is a regular presenter for the Arkansas Beekeepers Association. Some of the conference's longtime presenters will be back as well: • Gary "Pa Mac" McWilliams of Caddo Gap will be discussing how trees on your homestead can be put to practical use. His "Farm Hands Companion" YouTube channel and website has gained visitors and followers worldwide. The Voice of Amercia did a short documentary on McWilliams and his homestead five years ago.
• Ashley Thompson Sweet T Farm in Jefferson County will be back again, this time discussing and demonstrating how to convert goat milk into soap. Thompson makes a variety of natural skin products from goat's milk and other prodcuts that she sells through her store on Hwy. 63, just north of the Cleveland County line.
• Cindy Faulk of C the Difference Boutique in Hot Springs and Angelina Boiles of Garden of Love at Royal will be discussing spring and summer herbs and mushrooms.
• Tim and Amy Kinnard of The Kinnard Homestead outside of Sherwood will do a presentation on "Saving for a Living." The Kindards will offer some practical ways they have saved enough money that they could leave their professional jobs to become full-time homesteaders with five children.