PREVIOUS EVENTS
Potlucks and Tours
Open-house potlucks were every other month until COVID, 4-8 pm. We invited people to come if interested in living and/or farming at Listening Tree, or just to connect, stay in touch, enjoy the farms and home, and hear more about what we are doing. Tours started at 4:10ish.
About accessibility at Listening Tree
Icky Ticks: For all Listening Tree events, please take tick precautions. The woods and fields do have ticks, and some of the ticks do carry Lyme disease and possibly co-infections. Please tuck pants into socks, use repellent. When you get home, shower using a washcloth to rub off any ticks crawling around looking for a prime bite site, and check your skin for ticks, some of which may be pin-head sized. Some folks recommend you wash clothes before wearing them again. More info at www.tickencounter.org.
We released 30 native bobwhite quail to the farm last July, which we hope will bring the tick population back into balance.
The Work That Reconnects
with Jim Tull and Karina Lutz
May 2, Westminster Unitarian Church. Listening Tree date TBA
This one-day deep ecology workshop to help us heal our world was facilitated by Listening Tree members Karina and Jim. Using the Work that Reconnects spiral approach, we faced the world’s environmental, social, and economic crises and come out stronger and clearer in heart and mind, to avoid burnout and be more effective in our efforts to preserve the well-being of the earth and humans.
Karina can still bring the workshop to your group.
Spoken Word! @ Listening Tree
Sylvia Ann Soares–riveting readings opening our hearts, our inner light on January 11, 2019 7pm @ Listening Tree Co-op. Outcries and love poems on war, humanity, the environment, and refugees by Sonia Sanchez, Craig Perez, Mary Oliver, Charles Bukowski, US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, and Kahlil Gibran. Performed by Sylvia Ann Soares, CCRI; Brown ’95, actor/writer/historian/activist; SAG-AFTRA, AEA. Free but RSVP to 401-710-9784.
Our second Spoken Word! event will be Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 at 7 pm, and feature Listening Tree co-founder Karina Lutz followed by an open mic in the intimate setting of the community’s great room. Karina will be reading from her forthcoming poetry chapbook, Post-Catholic Midrashim. Details about the book and sample poems can be found here.
Harvest Feast 2019
Our annual harvest feast for volunteers, former WWOOFers, associate members, et al, will be Sat., Nov. 16. Carpool may come from Providence/East Providence/Pawtucket. Save the date!
National Solar Tour
Oct. 5, 2019. See solar panels up close, ask questions about how solar works, learn about why people in your community made the choice to go solar, and connect with other people in your community who support solar energy.
This event is free and open to the public – everyone is welcome to attend. Whether you are a solar owner, completely new to solar, or somewhere in between – this event is for you. Stop by for a few or stay for a while!
Listening Tree Cooperative is an intentional community, folks voluntarily living together simply and cooperatively, on a permaculture homestead, with the purpose of (re)creating sustainable culture in this time of energy transition. Our photovoltaics power the home, farm, electric car and tools.
Our cooperative home includes a house with a shared kitchen, living areas, bathrooms, etc., and private bedrooms and/or cabins around the property for those who seek more privacy. These cabins don’t have plumbing, and so have passive survivability, and don’t need to be heated if no one is using them, allowing “task heating.” One cabin and the vermiculture operation building are passive solar heated.
Karina Lutz, one of the co-op co-founders, is former editor and publisher of Home Energy magazine, and co-founder of People’s Power & Light, the green power nonprofit now known as Green Energy Consumers Alliance. She’ll be leading the tour, so it’s sure to be an energy nerds’ delight.
Our solar system was installed by Sol Power cooperative in 2015.
https://www.nationalsolartour.org/open-houses/3168/
August Sustainable Living Workshops
A limited number of spaces are available to the public to join Jim Tull’s Providence College students at workshops during their Sustainable Living class residency at Listening Tree. Workshops will be held weekdays Aug. 19-23 for 3 hours each (2-5 pm).
Workshops include:
- Mon. permaculture with Chris English
- Tues. plant identification and native plant restoration with Hope Leeson
- Wed. wild edibles with Brett Mayette
- Thurs. medicinal herbs with Maggie Hatzpanian
- Fri. composting and sustainable living with Ben Goldberg
Cost: $25.
All kinds of compost: from verimcompost to humanure
July 6, 2-4 with Conor Lally
Take a whirlwind tour of compost – including various backyard methods, worm composting at the home and farm scale, composting humanure and the many options for eco-toilets and urine diversion. We will discuss the basic science of composting, various technologies and methods, and how to select a system that best meets your needs and preferences. We’ll cover some key points on how to get started and how to approach misinformation and misconceptions that persist. We’ll take a look back at the history of synthetic fertilizer, waterborne sanitation, and industrial farming to better understand how we arrived at our current state, and how we can shift towards a better system that eliminates pollution, protects water, and builds healthy soils.
Conor Lally of Nutrient Networks will introduce principles and practices, with an insiders view of all three types of composting in action at Listening Tree Co-op.
$20
Register here.
Young Farmer Night @ Listening Tree
June 10, 6 pm with Young Farmer Network
This growing season, Young Farmer Network is hosting a series of Young Farmer Nights focused on the theme of land access and land tenure.
We’re thrilled to be part of it, because a big part of our mission here at Listening Tree is to make housing and land permanently affordable, and help farmers be able to live on their land, with ownership, yet without the full cost of buying a farm by ourselves. That is why we chose the model of a “limited equity cooperative,” and are selling shares that include land tenure protections for farmers’ long-term viability–and for the sake of the soil.
No RSVP required. Will be a tour, talk about land access and Listening Tree’s model, a potluck, and finally a fire circle, weather permitting.
Young Farmer Nights are open to ANYONE and EVERYONE, all ages and backgrounds and farming experience levels are welcome. children are welcome! 2019 is the tenth consecutive year that we have been running these tours!
Read more about the history of YFN here (http://www.youngfarmernetwork.org/about-our-network/#/yfn-story/) .
Each YFN is structured as a tour followed by a potluck and hang time. Please bring a dish to contribute to the potluck dinner, as well as a plate and fork for yourself.
Tours begin at 6pm.
If you’re running late, it’s still worthwhile to come! We will try to wait for stragglers, but if we have to get moving we’ll leave a note of where you can find us on the tour.
Re: the potluck — if you’re farming all day and are busy and manage to tear yourself away but can’t bring a potluck item, you are still welcome! we understand!
Foraging and Planting Wild Edibles
Sunday, June 2, 2-5 PM with Russ Cohen
Northern Rhode Island is home to over 70 species of edible wild plants, some of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts. Join Russ Cohen, expert forager and author of Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten, on a 3-hour ramble to learn about at least two dozen edible plant species. As each species is encountered, Russ will present information on identification tips, edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods. Russ will also provide general guidelines for safe and environmentally-responsible foraging. Last but not least, Russ will also share details about propagating native edible species from20 seed, and how to identify appropriate places in the landscape to plant them.
$20
Making Ways for Pollinators
Sat., May 18, 2019 (rescheduled) with Tom Sullivan
Pollinators are essential to healthy agriculture–yet they are threatened, in part due to losing habitat to monoculture farming, which grows acres and acres of only one plant and displaces the diversity of flowering plants that keep pollinators fed and healthy all season long.
Making a difference in the ways we support native bee pollinators is what this full day workshop is all about. Led by Tom Sullivan, owner of Pollinators Welcome, who has been designing beautiful pollinator habitat landscapes since 2009. A graduate of the Conway School of Landscape Design and designer of the first pollinator habitat nursery in Massachusetts, Tom teaches folks how to design and create pollinator habitats that meet pollinator biological needs by: appropriate siting of gardens in the landscape, choosing plants well suited to soil and sun, creating significant nesting opportunities and choosing pollinator life cycle protection through freedom from pesticides.
$50 Find out more and register here.
Songs and Stories for a Small Planet
April 6, 2019, 2-4 pm with Jackson Gillman and Pierre Giono
Celebrate the season of tree planting with an afternoon of Songs & Stories for a Small Planet. Jackson Gillman will be performing along with a visiting colleague, Pierre Giono, who will recount his grandfather Jean’s story of The Man Who Planted Hope. In it, Giono retells his moving encounters with Elzeard Bouffier, a reclusive shepherd/tree planter in Provence. Wendell Berry said, “In the figure of Elzeard Bouffier, Giono summarizes the best that can be said of our species.”
Jackson Gillman’s ecology background from the College of the Atlantic informs much of his work, with a wide variety of nature-oriented programs in repertoire. He has performed for many environmental groups including the North American Alliance for Environmental Education. And when all is said and sung, it is apparent that there is an underlying foundation of beneficence, hope, and spirit infusing his work.
After Jackson’s performance, we’ll kick off the first potluck of the year and open the (virtual) mic for participation of any poets, storytellers, stand-up comedians, and other stand-up folx and Wordy Rappinghoods. Come for the performance, the potluck, or both.
$15 donation requested for Spoken Word. Registration here.
Potluck free. Please RSVP (401)710-9784.
The Work That Reconnects
This one-day deep ecology workshop to help us heal our world was held not at Listening Tree, but facilitated by Listening Tree Co-op members, Jim Tull and Karina Lutz, in Connecticut in January. Using the “Work that Reconnects” spiral approach, we faced the world’s environmental, social, and economic crises and come out stronger and clearer in heart and mind, to avoid burnout and be more effective in our efforts to preserve the well-being of the earth and humans.
Create a labyrinth
Sept. 29, 2018, 10-3
Learn and do @ Listening Tree! In September it was why and how to build a temporary labyrinth of natural materials. When it was complete, we walked the labyrinth in a guided meditation.
Jenn Nino of Jenza’s Garden led us through the whole process.
Our meditation focused on making peace with the land we walk on. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, you’ll “walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
Click on the link below for details.
Growing Vegetables in Raised Beds
Aug. 19, 2018
Hocus Pocus Farm, currently located at Listening Tree Co-op, will be hosting a workshop on how they have been growing vegetables in raised field beds for their CSA and markets.
Details and registration here.
“Midwifing the Great Turning”: A Work that Reconnects workshop
June 30, 2018: 9:30-4:30
One-day deep ecology workshop to help us heal our world. Using the “Work that Reconnects” spiral approach, we’ll face the world’s environmental, social, and economic crises and come out stronger and clearer in heart and mind, to avoid burnout and be more effective in our efforts to preserve the well-being of the earth and humans. Details on the blog page: listeningtree.coop/2018/06/25/workshop-the-work-that-reconnects/
Wild Summer Greens @ Listening Tree
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Wild foods chef Brett Mayette comes back to Listening Tree this year to show how to ethically wildcraft and cook the abundant wild foods to be found in our gardens–before we even plant a seed. Join us to learn how to harvest before you weed and how to prepare those delicious weeds for dinner.
Brett is an amazing chef, and his favorite ingredients are of the wild and freshly foraged variety. We at Listening Tree are looking forward to learning about all the nutrition our fields have to offer us!
Conscious Cuisine, based in Rhode Island, is Brett’s “evolutionary nutrition” company and its focus is to help people develop diversity in their diets and enjoy wild foods for better health.
Brett will be taking us on a walk through the fields and forests here at Listening Tree, he will help us identify the nutritious plants, teach us about them, and show us how to harvest them. Then we will all gather as he prepares a meal for us–using the plants we just harvested!
Class will start at noon, and including our walk, plant harvest and meal, will wrap up at 3pm.
It will be a fun and informative class, with a delicious meal, and your own harvest to bring home for only $20. Registration here.
Anti-ableism in Daily Life
Sunday, February 25, 2018, 3-5 PM @ Listening Tree
Learn about structural oppression of disabled folks and how we each can counter this through our language, thoughts, and behaviors, including evaluating our own needs and capacities for care. Anti-ableism topics include types of ableism, addressing our discomforts, ask vs. guess culture, de-stigmatizing help, mobility device etiquette, and other topics as folks request.This workshop will include journaling, discussion, and original content, and optional video.
The presenters:
Verge Steinman (xe/xir/xirs or he/him/his): a queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, HoH (hard of hearing), working-class artist & activist who is passionate about improving xirself, our communities, and our planet. Xe believes we are all still learning and welcomes respectful feedback, and is happy to offer additional resources whenever possible.
James Downey (xe/xir/xirs or they/them/theirs): a gender non-binary activist currently studying to become an American Sign Language interpreter, a language in which xe is conversationally fluent. Xir past work includes web accessibility engineering and public health programming. James currently works part-time as a home health aide for Verge, and ’round the clock on trying to make the world a better place. Xe believes in using whatever tools we have, wherever we are, on working for peace and justice.
FREE! Please RSVP to 401-710-9784.
Composting with worms for soil healing
Saturday, March 3, 2018 at 11 AM – 1 PM @ Listening Tree
Composting with worms is practical, easy, educational, and fun. Red wiggler worms efficiently convert food scraps into a rich soil amendment, a nutrient- and organisms-rich compost. On top of that, worm ecosystems provide a remarkable glimpse into the natural world.
This workshop will cover various worm bin designs, worm ecology, care and feeding, and separating the castings for use. This will be an interactive workshop, to be held on site at Listening Tree’s large-scale vermiculture operation run by Ben Goldberg and Conor Lally. For more see the blog post.
The presenter:
Ben Goldberg has been keeping worms and making worm bins since 1995. He has presented workshops on worm bin ecology and composting for schools, agricultural conferences, and community groups. Ben holds degrees in both Environmental Education and Ecology from College of the Atlantic and The Audubon Expedition Institute.
Ben will teach us and entertain us all at the same time! You will certainly leave with hands-on knowledge of worm farming, as well as a new appreciation for the little things in life.
DONATION: $10 (suggested). Please RSVP to (401)710-9784.
Listening Tree Cooperative 
I’d love to visit. What days and times can I do that?
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Open house potlucks are scheduled usually for the first Saturday of the month, as listed on this page. Next one is Sept. 7. If those dates don’t work, give me a call at (401)710-9784, and we’ll see if we can set up another time.
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