Tuesday, August 21st 8:30pm at Salvage Bar
717 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017

TICKETS: http://mindshare.eventbrite.com

MC Douglas Campbell / Co-Founder & Curator, Mindshare LA

Getting back to the pleasures of a DIY lifestyle, without having to flee the city limits, is what urban homesteading is all about. This Mindshare salon will hook attendees back up to the natural world. Baking your own bread and feeding the chickens isn’t just for Grandma’s house anymore. Step away from your computer, put down the remote, and say hello to your new tomato crop – cuz it’s about to get messy.

Douglas is a community constructor, experience engineer and tuxedo traveler. He co-founded Mindshare LA in 2006 as well as the interactive collective Syyn Labs in 2009. He likes volunteering at an organic farm and wearing tuxedos for charitable escapades.

Let Your Land Be Productive Again – The Easy Way

Lara Hermanson / Urban Farm Consultant, Farmscape Gardens

Homegrown food tastes better, plain and simple. Angelenos of past were well aware of this, for LA has a richer agricultural history than most people know. But you can transform it back into your own urban oasis! Farmscape, the largest urban farming company in California, understands that the future of food is small and local…really local… like right from your backyard. Urban Farm Consultant Lara Hermanson discusses the process of bringing agriculture back to a city in love with freeways and strip malls.

A lifelong gardener, Lara began working on organic farms in 2007 before joining Farmscape in 2010. After serving as the San Fernando Valley Farmer and taking care of up 30 plots a week, she became a consultant focusing on the design and sales of urban homesteads. Her favorite vegetable is broccoli, and her favorite cabbage looper is a dead cabbage looper.

Ferment Your Way to Better Soil
Michelle Rainville / Co-Founder and Educator, Mobokashi

Good soil is happy, vibrant and a major building block for life on Earth. Sometimes, however, your soil is pretty much lifeless dirt. Beneficial microorganisms can bring your soil back to life making it possible that you can grow your own food. You can bring your soil to life by introducing the right kind of beneficial and synergistic microbes. Mobokashi is the local voice of bokashi composting and provider of bokashi innoculated material for Southern California. Co-Founder and consultant Michelle Rainville
discusses why compost, some of the history of the method, and what fermenting can do for your compost and soil.

Michelle has been fascinated by fermenting since her first bit of yogurt (and her first sip of wine). A lifelong gardener and cook, she (and her husband and co-founder, Mark) started researching a way to compost almost anything inside their apartment since moving back to Los Angeles in 2010. After keeping over 900 pounds of waste from the landfill, Michelle was inspired to spread the word, educating others about the simplicity of the process, ease of use, and results. Healthy carrots and legions of tomatoes don’t lie. Her favorite bucket is a full bucket, her favorite vegetable is Lacinto Kale, and her favorite Harlequin bug is a dead harlequin bug.

Backyard Beekeeping in Los Angeles
Susan Rudnicki / Head of Education, Backwards Beekeepers

The city is the last refuge for the honey bee. Its backywards are free of pesticides, there is pollen available year round, and thanks to some urban beekeepers, they are finding very comfy homes. In recent years, the sudden deaths of entire colonies of bees, leaving behind empty hives, has become a major problem for beekeepers. But, as Susan tells us, the phenomenon affects the world of industrialized beekeeping more so than those who keep bees in their backyards. You too can help maintain the balance of nature, and have a constant stream of fresh honey, right outside your kitchen window.

Susan Rudnicki is a bee enthusiast and a keeper of four hives at her home in Manhattan Beach. She heads up education for Backwards Beekeepers, who are a group of organic, treatment-free beekeepers in Los Angeles. They’re “Backwards” because they rely on observation and natural practices to keep their bees thriving rather than pesticides, chemicals, or treatments of any kind. They are continually growing as more and more people discover the enjoyment and worth of encouraging LA’s native feral bee population. Their goal is to do right by the bees so that the bees can return the favor. Susan’s home also plays host to chickens, ducks, and an abundant organic vegetable garden. You can catch her playing violin in theMarina del Rey Summer Symphony.

9:30pm – Late / Music, Networking & Interaction!

RSVP HERE: http://mindshare.eventbrite.com

Mindshare LA holds monthly workshops, salons and movie screenings that gather hundreds of Angelenos for evenings of inspiration and interaction. Our main, monthly salon event includes a curated program of short, eclectic presentations.

Over the years Mindshare has become a mecca for intellectuals, artists, scientists and other progressive characters to broaden their perspective and find community in this vast city.