with Clive and Philippa Hedger

7.00pm, Tuesday 22nd March
Herb Garden Café

An illustrated Talk on Natural, Sustainable, Bee-Centred Beekeeping  and Bee Guardianship

Clive and Philippa currently look after 14 colonies of naturally kept bees in Builth Road.

In this talk they will share the wisdom and insights gained from their own experience and stress the importance of having the 'right relationship' with the bees.  The talk will also include practical information on first steps, equipment and skills needed to set up a hive and specific approaches to managing naturally kept hives.  They believe the heart of this is supporting bees as pollinators rather than honey producers.

Over the last 8 years they have helped many people to set up and keep bees in their gardens, and given on going mentoring along their journey as beekeepers. They promote a simple and easy, low maintenance approach to natural beekeeping.

They created a Sussex based natural beekeeping group that still meets regularly every month, with over 100 members and In 2014 successfully set up a British Black Bee sanctuary as part of a Sussex school, with 8 hives and an area for the creation of a bee friendly garden.

They work specifically with promoting a world where bees can thrive.

Clive and Philippa will be happy to answer your questions.

A talk by Tao Wimbush, Lammas Eco Village

Tuesday 26th January from 7pm to 9pm
at the Herb Garden Café, Llandrindod

The Lammas Eco Village in Pembrokeshire received planning permission in 2009 under the Welsh Government's One Planet Development Policy. The policy essentially allows development in the open countryside provided that applicants can demonstrate that they are living a sustainable lifestyle, achieve greater productivity of the land than its former agricultural use, and use low carbon natural building materials.

Tao Wimbush, one of the original founders of the Lammas community, was a guest speaker at the recent Powys REconomy conference organised by the Powys Transition and Low Carbon Communities Network (PTLCC). In this video of his talk, Tao describes the planning process and the experience of living sustainably and answers questions from the audience.

We'll also show a couple of short videos showing how Lammas has developed over the past six years.

Free admittance includes cake and hot drink served at 7pm.

Further reading:

The Welsh Government One Planet Development Policy
The One Planet Council
Lammas Eco Village

A poster to help promote this event is available to download.

Free Film Night - Short films on UK Permaculture projects

Tuesday 24th November from 7pm to 9pm
at the Herb Garden Café, Llandrindod

Produced by Permaculture People for Permaculture magazine, these 9 short films showcase a number of projects in the UK that demonstrate ecologically sound and regenerative land based practices.  The film on Natural Building is presented by Grand Design's Kevin McCloud. The films were released to coincide with the 12th International Permaculture Convergence held in London this September.

Discover how regenerative agriculture can rebuild soil and repair damaged farm ecosystems, see urban permaculture in action with permablitz and watch natural buildings being made from local resources in front of your eyes.  Get informed, get inspired, and get involved!  (Read more below for details)

Admission to the meeting is free. A donation will be requested to contribute to the costs of refreshments.

A poster to help promote this meeting is available to download.

Guest speaker: Tony Davies

Tuesday 27th October from 7pm to 9pm
at the Herb Garden Café, Llandrindod

The uplands of the Elan Valley has areas of an under-utilized grass, 'Molinia caerulea' (Purple moor grass, Molinia).  Molinia is a dominating species, and the spread of Molinia is having a damaging effect on species diversity, habitat quality, fire risk, access for recreation and agricultural productivity.

A project funded by the Welsh Government has been completed to look at methods of reducing the dominance of Molinia and the improvements to the habitat created by this removal. Experimentally processing the harvested biochar into Biochar has also been part of the project.

Biochar is produced through a process called pyrolysis that heats biomass with limited amounts of oxygen present. The carbon rich biochar resists degradation and can lock up carbon in soil for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Soil rich in biochar has improved water and nutrient retention and has potential commercial usage within the market garden and other growing sectors.

About the speaker

Tony Davies is a tenant farmer at Henfron Farm in the Elan Valley with a passion for renewable energy and sustainability. Tony is the fifth generation of the Davies family to farm at Henfron Farm, his ancestors having first moved to the farm in 1860. For more information please visit the Henfron Farm website.

Admission to the meeting is free. A donation will be requested to contribute to the costs of refreshments.

A poster to help promote this meeting is available to download.

Guest speaker: Andrew Twigger
Emergency Planning Officer, Powys County Council

Tuesday 22nd September from 7pm to 9pm
at the Herb Garden Café, Llandrindod

Pandemic Flu, Flooding, Severe Weather, and loss of Energy sources are among the major risks to the community. In his talk, Andrew will describe the various organisations that are involved nationally and locally in dealing with these risks. In particular he will cover the Dyfed Powys Local Resilience Forum, which has the responsibilty to plan for, respond to, and recover from emergencies in our area.

The Community Risk Register for the Dyfed Powys area assesses the most significant risks to the community, and Andrew will go through those that are most relevant in the Llandrindod area. As well as describing how the Emergency Planning services prepare to deal with these issues, he will look at how individuals and households can best prepare themselves to mitigate the impact of major events.

Admission to the meeting is free. A donation will be requested to contribute to the costs of refreshments.

A poster to help promote this meeting is available to download.

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Image link to Llandrindod Acorns project page