10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Sat. Aug. 28, 2021, Bill McBride Studio and PrairyArt Path
In a fitting finale to our Summer Series, Tony Capizzo, Flint Hills Initiative manager for the Nature Conservancy, gave a studio presentation on prairie restoration then led a seed gathering walk on the PrairyArt path.
4:30-6:30 p.m., Sat. Aug. 21, 2021, Bill McBride Studio
A sold-out happy hour presentation by Diana Campbell Werts and Don Wolfe examined the lore, techniques, tools and recipes for making sourdough bread and pastries. Highlights included stretch-and-fold demos, samples and starter to take home.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Sat. Aug. 21, 2021, Bill McBride Studio and Prairy Art Path
Bill McBride’s in-studio artist talk was followed by a walk on the PrairyArt Path he created and opened to the public on his private land. We were gifted with appearances by a guest sculptor-in-residence, old and new friends from Canada, Wichita, Manhattan and Kansas City — and kittens.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sun. Aug. 15, 2021, Bill McBride Studio
“Mother Nature bats last. And Mother Nature always wins.” — Gail Fuller at a sold-out Meet the Producers lunch talk that where regenerative farmers and ranchers met with prospective customers. Lunch was pork burger and lamb burgers made with Gail and Lynnette’s pastured chemical-free meat.
8-10 p.m. Sat. Aug. 14, 2021, Timber Arches on the PrairyArt Path
At the tail end of the Perseid Meteor Shower, Teresa Kelly wowed us with the ceremonial and participatory approach of stargazing offered by Shamanic Astrology. In reading everyone’s birth charts to locate what house Venus was in at their birth, we learned we had participants born in Moscow, Mexico City and Guam as well as coast to coast in the U.S. We blew way past the posted end time watching shooting stars on a warm, clear night.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sat. Aug. 14, 2021, Pioneer Bluffs
Among the oversold guestlist for our women’s drumming circle was a new friend came from Ashland, Kansas, 4 hours away. The happening, where women connected to their inner energy and joy, started outdoors at idyllic Pioneer Bluffs, then moved indoors into the airy hayloft of the renovated barn on the historic ranch.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sun. Aug. 8, 2021, Bill McBride Studio
Matfield Green’s unofficial historian Linda Ayala presented a fun and fragmented look back at the town’s earliest settlers, including her ancestors, and major events that shifted the town’s trajectory. The oversold lunch talk was an enchanting mix of truth, lore and unsolved mysteries, including: Who was the lady that raised hundreds of canaries selling them to?
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sat. Aug. 7, 2021, Bill McBride Studio
Charcuterie from Eagle Hill Ranch paired with cheeses from The Vault in Emporia was a perfect ending for a Meet the Producers talk by Sarah and Zack Bell about raising bison, beef, sheep, hogs, chickens and turkeys on pasture. Keller Wine & Feed rounded out the meal with Elote Street Corn Salad and Mexican brownies.
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sun. Aug. 1, 2021, Matfield Green city and township
Visitors from Kansas City, Lawrence, Wichita and surrounding counties toured seven food gardens in Matfield Green to learn about soil building, polyculture, trellising, drip irrigation, succession cropping, aquaponics and keeping chickens.
4-6 p.m., Sat. July 31, 2021, Beck Studio 108
Train aficionado, educator and Matfield Green property redeveloper Floyd Beck shared his deep knowledge of the history and future of the railroad that is an essential part of the town. Floyd cleaned his outhouse and restocked it with city toilet paper for visitors, and BNSF opened their office next door for visitors who prefer modern plumbing.
