The Center for Sustainable Living is located at 90 Cabbage Lane in Bethlehem.  The Center offers a variety of classes, workshops and certification courses in topics related to self-reliance – gardening, Permaculture and sustainability in our homes and communities.  The following two workshops kick off the 2014 season.  For a listing of all classes being offered in 2014, please visit the website at www.connsoil.com.

For questions or more information, please contact Cynthia Rabinowitz at cynthia@hgconnsoil.com or 203-266-5595.

To register for classes, please visit www.connsoil.com for a registration form.

Both of these classes will have some time spent outside.  Please dress accordingly. 

Hot and cold beverages and snacks will be provided.

Seed Starting
February 2, 2014
1pm -3pm
Fee:  $25.00

Lecture and Demonstration.

The class will be split between the classroom and the greenhouse.
In this workshop, you will learn about the correct type of seed starting media (soil) to use, both purchased and home made ones; suitable containers;  the temperatures, light, watering and fertilizing needs for germinating and growing seeds and how to provide those necessities.  We will also discuss hardening off and transplanting. 


Planning Your Permaculture Home
22 February 2014
10:00 am-4:00 pm

Fee: $75.00

Lecture and Practicum

This seminar will introduce you to Permaculture and to give you the basic tools you need to get started designing your own home site to become more self-reliant, resilient and healthy.

In this seminar, we will cover the basics of Permaculture, especially the principles and ethics. We will also discuss elements of a Permaculture design and show examples of designs done for different kinds of locations, which will help you to think through what your own site could become.

You will learn how to do a site assessment and determine the assets and limitations of a site. You will practice depicting this information in sketches to develop a visual record of the information you gather.

Then you will have an opportunity to develop a preliminary Permaculture plan for your homesite, incorporating the various elements we have explored.

Workshop attendees are encouraged to bring maps of your own home or land, if you have them. If not, please bring a hand drawing showing the shape of the property, approximate location of buildings and other structures or developments, including ponds, driveways, etc.  The drawing should be to scale, as close as possible.  1 inch = 10 feet or 20 feet is suitable for smaller properties and 1 inch  = 100 ft is suitable for larger properties.

If you do not have a site in mind, you can still participate and use sample properties and maps which we will provide.