with Kiani Conley Wilson & Tiffany Lashae
Thursday, August 6, 2020, 5:00 pm – 6:30 p.m EST / 2:00 – 3:30 p.m PST
Extending our season by harnessing the greenhouse effect allows us to enjoy our cultural crops in the environments to which we were transplanted and to reduce the environmental footprint of our food miles. ~ Penniman, Farming While Black
Our people have been season extension innovators and plant protectors for generations. From Indigenous underground planting structures to the extensive vegetable & medicinal plant trials conducted by our ancestors in the 18th century Plantation Greenhouses built with stamps of Eshu-Elegra on the walls.
In this virtual workshop Kiani and Tiffany will guide you through Greenhouse, High Tunnel, Low Tunnel & other microclimate tours and explore topics including:
- Greenhouse History & Cultural Significance
- Greenhouse Basics – Planning, Scheduling, Supplies, Equipment
- Growing Healthy Plants – Irrigation, Pest & Disease Management, Heating-Cooling Humidity, Shading, Ventilation
- Seed Starting & Seedling Care – Seeding Options, Growing Mediums, Germination Tips, Transplanting
- Greenhouse Design
Presenter Bios
Kiani Conley-Wilson, (she/her) is a grower, activist, and organizer based in Troy, NY. She is passionate about environmental justice, anti-racist, pro-feminist organizing, and the power of food across cultures, economies, and environments. Kiani is Soul Fire Farm’s Assistant Program Manager, and also organizes with local organizations to develop people-centered systems and spaces. During her time at RPI (B.S. Sustainability Studies) she discovered her passion for food systems and growing plants, organizations, and movements. With the School for Field Studies she conducted research on eco-tourism, biology, food, and culture in Panama and Costa Rica. After graduating she expanded on her knowledge of growing with the Urban Farming Institute of Boston (UFI), at community gardens, and Soul Fire Farm’s BIPOC immersion. These experiences lead her to start Common Greens Garden in North Central Troy. Her professional experience includes consulting for Ceres, Inc (on global food deforestation, and agricultural human rights issues) and working at the Research Foundation (on the Program Management team).
Tiffany LaShae (she/her) is a farmer, educator, activist and most recently – a beekeeper. Tiffany spends half the year growing food in the Midwest and the other half working in rural villages throughout Africa. Tiffany has a diverse background in food justice, regenerative ag, afroecology, agroecology, ‘permaculture’ & more. While farming with women in Mozambique, Malawi, Ethiopia & Ghana, Tiffany began working to undo the damaged health of communities and their ecosystems caused by commercial agro businesses and corrupt seed companies. This year she is working to create a African seed rematriation project – advocating food/seed sovereignty and returning indigenous seed to their mothers. Tiffany is currently fighting food apartheid and excessively weedy fields at a 5 acre urban farm in Frogtown (St Paul), Minnesota. She’s taking this time in an urban setting to become more involved in climate change & urban resilience strategy, local level policy & farm to school education. “To free ourselves, we must feed ourselves.”