Past Courses
Re-skilling classes are typically held on weeknights for 2-3 hours and focus on teaching skills that have been forgotten over generations like herbal remedies, wild edible foods, grafting, rain water harvesting, preserving food, soil nutrition and more. These skills are all part of living permaculture.
Workshops, hands-on activities, field trips, and meetings are also part of our educational programming. The TRI Co-op offers members opportunities to socialize, work on projects, and be part of a local permaculture community. Check the calendar for TRI Co-op meetings and Permablitz events to join us for community work days where anyone interested can volunteer time, energy, and skills to work on a permaculture project.
Location: Most courses, unless otherwise noted, will take place on The Conservation Foundation's McDonald Farm at the Clow Education Center. To read the full description and register, click on the hyperlinked title. We'll see you on the farm!
Payment: We accept payment via PayPal, check or cash. Checks and cash can be brought to class, but please register online. Walk-ins are invited to all non-PDC classes, we just ask that you pay via cash or check. If fewer than 8 people register online, then the class is cancelled, so be sure to register to save a spot and check online before you come! Make checks payable to The Resiliency Institute and, if mailing, send to The Resiliency Institute, 10S404 Knoch Knolls Road, Naperville, IL 60565.
Refund/Cancellation Policy: Money will be refunded for any class that we cancel. A refund for 2-3 hour classes will be offered up to 48 hours prior to the class. A refund for full day or weekend courses will be offered up to 1 week prior. Please email us at [email protected] to let us know you need to cancel. If you have registered for the class, do not show up, and do not communicate your absence prior to the class, then you will be charged the class fee. Instructors are compensated for teaching so it is important that we respect their preparation and teaching time.
- View Courses in a Calendar format
| Wed, July 23, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM |
Instructor: Patricia Armstrong
This is a great class for people interested in foraging! What you think are weeds might just be wild edibles. Learn how to identify 25 common wild edible plants most people can find in their own yards, followed by a field trip to the instructor’s home to see how to grow wild edibles in a suburban yard.
Permaculture Garden Walk & Learn
| Mon, July 21, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM |
Instructor: Bill Scheffler
This is a “What, Why, How” do I do this in my yard class. The Hills are both permaculturalists and will be explaining their design process and Bill Scheffler will be offering his 30+ years of garden problem solving expertise that can be applied in a permaculture or any garden setting. They will all be answering your questions as well.
TRI Co-op Solar Dehydrator - Planning Meeting
| Wed, July 2, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM |
CANCELLED DUE TO LOW INTEREST
We would like to organize a workshop where TRI Co-op members work together to build 2′x4′ solar dehydrators. If you are interested in serving on a committee to organize this workshop, assemble materials, and are good at managing people with tools, then please RSVP. Since we would like to host the event on July 27th, please respond by June 28th and let’s plan to meet on July 2nd at 7 pm.
Here is the Solar Dehydrator PDF of the model we are using. Adjustable legs that collapse for storage will be a nice addition.
RSVP if you are interested in serving on the planning committee, not for the event!
Fall Fundraiser - Committee Meeting
| Tue, July 1, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM |
CANCELLED DUE TO LOW INTEREST
Volunteer to organize a Fall Fundraiser in late September/early October. We would like include a community plant and seed exchange, potluck, permaculture plant and pumpkin sale. RSVP if you are able to volunteer your talents to organize this event. The first meeting will be Tuesday, July 1st at 7 pm.
Foundations in Herbal Remedy Making
| Sun, June 22, 2014 | 09:00 AM - 04:00 PM |
Instructor: Linda Conroy
Join herbalist Linda Conroy for an introduction to herbal remedy making. We will identify a wide spectrum of remedies you can make at home and participants will be introduced to the foundational questions that need to be asked in order to produce the most effective remedies at home.
We will make several remedies including a tincture, salve, cream, infused oil, syrup and will discuss many more.
Fermenting Wild & Whole Food for Health, Nourishment and Fun!
| Sat, June 21, 2014 | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
Instructor: Linda Conroy
Join herbalist and wild forager Linda Conroy for this fun and inspiring class. This class will introduce participants to the concept of fermentation as a preservation technique first and foremost and as a nourishing tonic when herbs and wild food are incorporated.
We will make a wide variety of fermented food that will include wild plants and herbs for specific health enhancing purposes. We will make several varieties of fermented vegetables, fermented fruit and berries as well as beverages. Participants will leave with several of the items we make as well as a beverage culture to get them started at home.
Herbs and Fermentation for Digestive Health
| Fri, June 20, 2014 | 06:30 PM - 09:30 PM |
Instructor: Linda Conroy
Join herbalist Linda Conroy, as she shares her 5 point approach to improving digestive health. Participants will learn how to make fermented food, beverages, herbal infusions and tonics for improving digestive health. This class will offer samples and a hands on demonstration on how to make an herbal carrot kraut. You will delight in the flavors and your body will thank you!
Fee: $35 for this class only, $195 for the full weekend, $100 for Friday & Saturday
Edible Wild Plants Potluck & Graduation Party
| Tue, June 10, 2014 | 06:00 PM - 09:30 PM |
Come join us in celebrating the first graduates of the Edible Wild Plant Certificate! Invite family and friends to enjoy community and learn a little about edible wild plants. We will organize casual edible wild plant walks around the farm led by the graduates, weather permitting.
The festivities will begin with a welcome social and shared meal. We request that people bring a dish to share - main, side dish, dessert, or beverage. We encourage you to prepare something using seasonal, local ingredients and wild plants. Graduates will prepare a wild plant dish to share and as a demonstration of their achievement. The Resiliency Institute will supply plates and silverware. Please bring your own cup/water bottle.
After dinner we will recognize the graduates, award their certificates and distribute their recipe book containing all of the recipes students prepared for classes throughout the year.
Bugs - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
| Thu, June 5, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM |
Instructor: Fredric Miller
During this class you will learn what insects are desirable for your garden and landscape, how to distinguish pests from beneficial insects, and how to attract beneficial insects. Sustainable pest management strategies will be discussed for dealing with “the ugly” pests.
| Wed, May 14, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM |
Instructors: Jodi Trendler
Begin your edible forest garden with a fruit tree guild this spring. Imagine harvesting apples, pears, peaches, apricots, nectarines, and plums from your own yard. In this class you will learn how guilds reduce the work you have to do and support a healthy mini-ecosystem. With resources provided and instructor guidance, you will complete a fruit tree guild design for your own property.
| Thu, April 24, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM |
Instructor: Patricia Armstrong
What you think are weeds might just be wild edibles. Learn how to identify 25 common wild edible plants most people can find in their own yards, followed by a field trip to the instructor’s home to see how to grow wild edibles in an urban yard.
Spring Edible Wild Plants - Graze on Greens
| Tue, April 22, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:30 PM |
Instructor: Pat Armstrong
Native Americans did not have supermarkets or drug stores, yet they met their food and medicinal needs with more than 500 species of wild plants. This class, Graze on Greens, will focus on the many tender greens and spring bulbs that can be found at this time, primarily in the Aster, Carrot, Lily, Mint and Mustard families. Students will be encouraged to prepare a recipe using edible wild plants that is shared with the class.
Grafting Fruit Trees - Whip & Tongue
| Sat, April 5, 2014 | 09:30 AM - 11:30 AM |
Growing fruit trees is so rewarding, but don’t limit yourself to the varieties available from local nurseries and stores. When you learn to graft you can create your very own fruit tree to meet your specifications. Do you want the size to be miniature, dwarf, or semi-dwarf? Do you want to espalier? Or maybe you want to grow a rare variety. Well all of this can be achieved when you learn to graft.
| Tue, March 18, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:30 PM |
Now that you have made the commitment to raise chickens, you are ready to get into the details and who better to learn from then our very own Naperville backyard chicken farmer, Angel Whitt. Angel will teach you all about daily and seasonal care, housing options, bedding options, waste disposal, organic standards, feed and supplements and more. Chickens are not only a great source of local eggs & meat (it doesn’t get more local then your own yard), but they also play an important role in a sustainable garden - foraging for bugs, eating food waste, and providing fertilizer.
Permaculture Design Certificate Course
| Thu, March 13, 2014 | 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM |
Over three weekends (4-3-3) we will cover the core permaculture ethics, principles, and practices. In your time, you will be begin to appreciate, understand, and be able to replicate natural processes that not only heal the land, but provide rich contexts for restoring a permanent culture. We will introduce you to good design through classroom experiences, field trips, and hands-on activities.
Permaculture is an ecological design system for sustainability in all aspects of our lives. Permaculture teaches us how to build natural homes, grow our own food, restore diminished landscapes and ecosystems, catch rainwater, build communities, take care of waste and much more. Approved for 35 APLD CEUs
Peter Bane Talk & Book Signing
| Wed, March 12, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM |
Local food forms the basis of a new economy that will occupy most Americans for the remainder of the century. Author Peter Bane will discuss the emergence of garden farms in and around cities and how they can help us stabilize both our economy and the climate. Using permaculture, or ecological design, to create synergistic household systems, we can buffer our homes and families against the difficulties of volatile energy prices and future economic crises.
| Tue, March 11, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:30 PM |
Instructor: Angel Whitt
Have you been contemplating raising chickens in your backyard, but still have many unanswered questions? In this class, Angel, a Naperville backyard chicken keeper and breeder, will teach you what to consider when raising backyard chickens, from daily care, breeds, feeding, housing and more. You’ll also learn what to consider when raising chickens for eggs vs. meat. You’ll even have the opportunity to interact with a live chicken in class and reserve/order chickens.
Berries and Grapes- Recommended Varieties and Care
| Mon, March 10, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM |
Instructor: Bill Scheffler
This class will teach you how to maintain productive strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, currants, kiwi, elderberry, gooseberry and the four varieties of seedless grapes best for the Chicago area. We will demystify primocanes and floricanes, mother/daughter plants, pruning, pest and disease management, and learn how to grow great tasting fruit. It’s not hard once you know a few secrets to growing healthy plants.
| Sun, February 23, 2014 | 03:30 PM - 05:30 PM |
Join the TRI Co-op and attend our first 2014 meeting where we will get to know each other and decide on this year’s activities. We are already set to build a solar dehydrator this spring. Let’s see what else we can accomplish.
The Resiliency Institute Cooperative (TRI Co-op) is a membership group of people who support the suburban permaculture movement. Members receive benefits like discounted and free classes, help with a project, invitations to member only events and in return they promote permaculture within their community, promote TRI classes, and share skills with fellow members.
Winter Fruit Tree Pruning - Hands On
| Sat, February 22, 2014 | 01:00 PM - 03:30 PM |
Join Bill Lorch, MidFEx member and fruit tree grower, and The Resiliency Institute founders, Jodi and Michelle, for this hands-on winter fruit tree pruning class. The class will learn the what, why and how of winter pruning. After you learn about the proper tools to use in class, then we will head outside to learn how to revitalize two old fruit trees through pruning and how to shape several young fruit trees for maximum productivity.
Herbal Milk Based and Felted Soap
| Sun, February 16, 2014 | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
Instructor: Linda Conroy
Join herbalist Linda Conroy for this fun day of soap making. As a group we will make both hot and cold process soap and learn the benefits of each. Into the cold process we will learn to incorporate goat milk for a luxurious moisturizing effect.
We will end the day by learning how to both wet and dry felt soap. Felting soap creates a built in wash cloth, with a mild exfoliating effect. Participants will take home the soap that we make, soap that they felt as well as recipes for future use.
| Sat, February 15, 2014 | 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM |
Instructor: Linda Conroy
Join herbalist Linda Conroy for this fun day of soap making. We will start by learning about the herbs that can be incorporated into soap and how to best prepare them. We will learn the qualities of the herbs and what they lend to soap. After learning about the herbal component we will make a batch of hot process soap. Participants will take home the soap that we make as well as recipes for future use.
Edible Wild Plants Certification
| Tue, February 11, 2014 | 07:00 PM - 09:30 PM |
Instructor: Patricia Armstrong
Dig deeper into Edible Wild Plants through our certificate program. Discover edible wild plants each season to observe the full plant cycle, what part of the plant to harvest and eat when, and which plants to look for in each season. You will learn to identify over 200 species of edible wild plants from handling actual specimens and from seeing them growing in their natural environments. Learn recipes that use wild plants to make tasty food.
Beekeeping - Building your Hive
| Sat, February 8, 2014 | 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
Instructors: Bill Lorch, Michelle Hickey, Jodi Trendler
This is a hands-on workshop to build your hive. You will be taught and guided through the process of building supers, assembling frames with beeswax foundation and wire, and putting it all together. When the class ends you will have a completed hive ready for bees!
| Sun, February 2, 2014 | 01:00 PM - 03:00 PM |
Winter is a perfect time to get those tools ready for Spring. Let’s get together and learn how to sharpen our shovels, pruners, loppers, and hoes. It is AMAZING to experience the difference of a sharp tool versus a dull tool. Sharp tools are essential for pruning. Dull tools will damage your trees and shrubs.
