“You can have your suburban landscape... and eat it too!” That was just one of the messages shared by Dave Jacke, nationally renowned author of “Edible Forest Gardens”, at the weekend workshop sponsored by Backyard Abundance and over a dozen local businesses and organizations.

People want to live by their values and make a difference when it comes to the problems of local food, pollution, degraded water sources, climate change and peak oil. Mr. Jacke gave participants practical, effective ways to care for the earth while caring for people.

The weekend began Friday evening with more than 150 people attending Jacke’s inspiring presentation on “Regenerating Communities, Ecosystems and Landscapes by Design” at the University of Iowa’s Pomerantz Center. Jacke shared many ideas and examples with participants to help them build resiliency into their yards, homes and communities.

Following the Friday evening presentation, nearly 50 residents and University of Iowa students participated in a fun and engaging 2-day "Principles and Practices of Regenerative Design” workshop. Jacke and 11 ecological designers led participants through experiential activities that helped them learn how to use the patterns and principles of a healthy ecosystem to build beautiful, resilient, self-maintaining landscapes. These ideas can be applied to neighborhoods and communities with amazing results.

Thanks so much to our sponsors of the weekend’s events: Devotay Restaurant, ECO Iowa City, Earl May Seed & Nursery, Hills Bank, Iowa City Landscaping & Garden Center, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Johnson County Master Gardeners, New Pioneer Food Co-op, Radish Magazine, Scattergood Friends School, Taproot Nature Experience, Transition Ecology, University of Iowa Office of Sustainability, and University of Iowa Environmental Coalition.

The weekend workshop was the first of many to be offered by Backyard Abundance this year. Future workshop dates have been set and can be found on our website: http://www.backyardabundance.org/ClassesandEvents/ClassCatalog.aspx.