The Bluegrass Bioneers conference returns to Louisville this week. The local version of this national event is meant to emphasis nature as a solution to social and environmental problems.This is the fifth year Louisville has held a local conference in conjunction with the national Bioneersevent. Bluegrass Bioneers marries local talks and workshops with live-streaming of national speakers, as they address the main conference in California.Teddie Mower is a Bluegrass Bioneers co-founder. She says this year’s workshops run the gamut from the city’s tree canopy to aquaponics to a seed exchange.“It’s so much more than just seed saving and exchange,” she said. “The information portion is like grafting and pollination and fermentation and all these things, food preservation, and how can you do that at home. And all these people are willing to share with you.”The Friday night keynote speaker is permaculture expert Peter Bane. Mower says Bane’s talk on permaculture ties in several of the conference themes.“Some people call it ‘lazy gardening,’ but it’s so much more than just gardening and food,” she said. “We start with food because everybody needs to eat. And then from there we think about our homes, our neighborhoods and then our community. And how can we make it more resilient.”The conference runs Friday through Sunday. All but one of the Bluegrass Bioneers events are free—a $10 ticket is required for Saturday night’s dinner. Preregistration is suggested. For more information, visit the conference’s website.
