PFG 2023: Non-food Crops for Agroforestry

Eric Toensmeier, Author, The Carbon Farming Solution
Annie Zylstra, Heartland Harmony
Katie Commender, Appalachian Sustainable Development
Rebecca Burgess, Fibershed
Moderator: Bill Davison, Savanna Institute
This panel includes experts from across the country who work with non-food crops. Eric Toensmeier, a lecturer at Yale and a Senior Fellow with Project Drawdown, will introduce the session which includes: Rebecca Burgess, founder of Fibershed, a nonprofit organization focused on education, advocacy, and research that directly drives economic development for decentralized fiber and natural dye systems; Anni Zylstra, a folk singer, basketmaker, farmer, and weaver of community, who will share her experience growing willows for basketry; and Katie Commender, who works for Appalachian Sustainable Development to train the next generation of forest farmers and will share her experience growing and marketing medicinal herbs.

Join us at the Perennial Farm Gathering in 2024! Sunday Oct 6th - Tuesday Oct 8th in Madison WI with farm tours in Spring Green, WI on Saturday, Oct 5th. Tickets go on sale in May at https://savannainstitute.org/pfg2024

0:00 Introductions
1:12 Eric Toensmeier: Non-Timber, Non-Food Agroforestry Crops
9:32 Annie Zylstra: Field to Basket Willow
22:30 Katie Commender: Forest Botanicals & the Appalachian Harvest Herb Hub
34:00 Rebecca Burgess: fiber & dye projects with agroforestry
47:00 Audience Q&A