Coopering Tools- Class #455a and Coopering- Class #445a Date Change
Due to a scheduling conflict with our coopering instructor, we have had to change the date for the May coopering classes. The new dates will be Coopering Tools May 9-10, 2012 and Coopering Buckets May 11-12. We apologize for any inconvenience. Remember, there is another Coopering Buckets class in July and another Tools class in October. See Coopering Tools and Coopering Buckets for details and registration information.
The SeatWeavers' Guild Gathering and Chair Caning Exhibit
July 30th-August 1st, 2010
The SeatWeavers' Guild is holding their annual gathering at Tillers this weekend. The gathering will feature a museum exhibit of chairs, stools, etc. on Saturday, July 31st from 10 am to 3 pm. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Tillers featured on the front page of Greenstone Farm Credit Services Partners magazine
Tillers staff, interns, and ox team Herschel and Walker travel to Horse Progress Days this weekend. The event is a remarkable gathering of primarily Amish horse farmers and equipment manufacturers, showcasing the latest and greatest developments in horse-drawn equipment. The Horse Progress Days community has generously showcased Tillers' international work, leading to collaboration between Amish equipment manufacturers and Ugandan engineers. This year the event will be held in Topeka, Indiana.
Beef available in July! Call to reserve yours today!
July, 2010
Tillers grass fed beef will be available again this July and portions are still available for reservation. Reserve a whole, half, or quarter beef to fill your freezer! Reserve larger portions at lower prices to split with friends and family, saving everyone money! Check out the Food and Farm Products page of our Store for more information!
Kalamazoo Community Foundation Match Day
June 23rd, 2010, 11:00 am-6:00 pm
The Kalamazoo Community Foundation is celebrating its 85th birthday this year and has given Kalamazoo's nonprofit community--and generous donors like you--85,000 reasons to celebrate with them on Match Day!
Match Day is a very special event designed to help nonprofit organizations like Tillers International build the endowment fund established for our benefit at the Community Foundation. On Match Day, which will take place on June 23 in Bronson Park, the Community Foundation will match each dollar donated to the Tillers Growth Fund with 50 cents that will be available for us to use immediately. There are $85,000 in match dollars available!
On Match Day, you are invited to come to the park anywhere between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and make a donation to the Tillers Growth Fund. Donations must be made in person and can be made by cash, check or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express). You can come to the park and donate anytime throughout the day, but we encourage you to come early, because while donations will be accepted all day, they will only be matched until the $85,000 is exhausted.
For complete Match Day details, including information about maximum donations, how your gift will be receipted, and Michigan Community Foundation Tax Credit eligibility, please visit the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's website at www.kalfound.org.
Director Dick Roosenberg travels to Haiti
June, 2010
Dick traveled to Haiti last weekend to work with World Hunger Relief, Inc. on the use of oxen in their SRI rice production, inland from Cap Haitian. He will exchange ideas with a local group, GRADES, that is building farm implements for oxen in the community. Dick will be back as in instructor in next week's Oxen Basics class and for the MODA Gathering.
Developing a Mulching Roller for no-till weed control
May, 2010
Tillers now has a Cafe Press store!
May 19th, 2010
Now offering a wider range of apparel desings, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, tote bags, and more! Check out our new Cafe Press store. Profits benefit Tillers' Cook's Mill Learning Center facilities and international projects. Want to see something special on our Cafe Press store? Just call or email with your request!
Tillers staff and volunteers worked to put a new metal roof on the Abbey Draft Animal Barn this month. The barn looks great and is now protected from the elements. Thanks to Graber Post Buildings of Montgomery, Indiana for generous help with the roofing metal!
Tillers’ Springhill Barn, donated by the Mawby-Tatroe family, has been named the 2010 Michigan Barn Preservation Network (MBPN) Barn of the Year in the non-profit use category. A celebration ceremony will be held during the MBPN annual conference on March 12, 2010.
Criteria for selecting the Barn of the Year include quality of restoration, maintenance of historical integrity, documentation of restoration, and the setting and visual appeal of the barn. Winners receive a plaque, media coverage, recognition at the annual conference, and a one-year membership in the Michigan Barn Preservation Network.
Thanks to Russ Mawby for helping us compile a history of the Springhill Barn and its use, and congratulations to all who helped with the project!
UN declares 2010 "International Year of Biodiversity"
February, 2010
Biodiversity is at the heart of healthy ecosystems, including agricultural ecosystems. The protection of heritage livestock breeds ensures the intrinsic value of animals resulting from so many years of careful breeding for so many diverse desirable traits, as well as increasing the security of agricultural systems by reducing vulnerability to diseases and pests that may strike at only one or a few breeds and species. When agricultural or natural systems are widely populated by animals with low genetic diversity, such diseases and pests spread more rapidly amongst the population. Diversity may isolate such epidemics to one population pocket. Support your local farmers raising heritage breeds! For more information on heritage livestock, visit the ALBC's website, www.albc-usa.org.
Abbey Draft Barn to be featured at 2010 MBPN Conference
March 13th, 2010
Dick Roosenberg, Rob Burdick, and Tom Nehil will be giving a presentation on the deconstruction, relocation, and reconstruction of Tillers' Abbey Draft Animal Barn at the 2010 Michigan Barn Preservation Network annual conference at Michigan State University. Click to view conference information.
New Tillers YouTube video: Caning Chairs Class!
February 1st, 2010
New Tillers YouTube video: Appalachian Broom Making Class!
Tillers eNews is a fast and inexpensive way of keeping our friends informed. Our goal is to keep it to the five minutes of reading that is most newsworthy and absolutely electrifying!
Published quarterly, the Nigh Ox keeps Tillers' friends and members abreast of our news, events, and classes. Click for color PDFs of our back issues. (What is a nigh ox?)
