On Saturday, Sept. 6, the University of Wyoming Extension will lead the Homesteading Rendezvous. The unique event will offer educational workshops for anyone interested in producing more goods at home, particularly food items.
The conference begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. It will take place at the Clay Pathfinder building on the Laramie County Community College (LCCC) campus, located at 1400 E. College Drive in Cheyenne.
The event will cover four broad subjects: livestock, food preservation, growing plants, and canning. Participants may attend up to six workshops on topics from beekeeping to making boxelder syrup to saving seeds.
“Homesteading by definition is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency,” says Hannah Mills, Laramie County horticulture program coordinator and co-organizer of the event. “It takes grit to live in Wyoming, and learning skills of food preservation or livestock husbandry with community is a great way to find joy where we live.”
At 12:15 p.m., keynote speaker Hudson Hill will discuss how to successfully produce food in Wyoming, drawing on his decades of experience with homesteading, agriculture, and research.
To view a full schedule of events, and to register, visit https://bit.ly/homestead25. The cost is $30, or $45 to attend a hands-on canning session. Lunch is included in the registration fee. Interested parties should pre-register for the event, as space is limited.
In the hands-on canning sessions, participants will practice boiling water and pressure canning during a three-hour workshop. Attendees will receive expert advice and go home with the canned goods they create during the workshop.
Interested attendees must register for the morning or the afternoon canning session when they register for the conference. Up to 12 participants may attend each canning session.
A vendor fair featuring local businesses will take place throughout the event. Vendors will showcase kitchen supplies, food items, and other products that may be used in homesteading activities.
The conference features a raffle. A 13-foot-wide geodesic dome greenhouse, which is valued at $2,500, will be disassembled and raffled off at the end of the event. To receive the geodome, the raffle winner must be present.
The Homesteading Rendezvous is funded by a USDA Wyoming Department of Agriculture specialty crop grant. Mills collaborated with fellow extension colleagues Sara Fleenor, Jedidiah Hewlett, Brenna Litynski, Abby Perry, Amy Smith, and Jennifer Thompson to organize the conference.
Contact Mills at hmorneau@uwyo.edu or (307) 633-4480 with questions.
