Our most recent training at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center brought students together to learn about solar water pumps and sustainable agriculture.
Workshops like this would not be possible without our generous donors. Thank you to everyone who supports the Tribal Renewable Energy Program!
With the help of our friends at Solar Energy International (SEI) and Lakota Solar Enterprises (LSE), students installed a solar water pump at our recent Sustainable Agriculture and Solar Water Pump Workshop. Powered by a solar array, the pump pulls water from the nearby creek and feeds into a gravity drip-irrigation system to water our garden at Solar Warrior Farm. Now that is sustainable!
The training also included an overview of drip irrigation systems and vermicomposting with John the Worm Man. Thanks to everyone who made this training a success!
Trees, Water & People, Lakota Solar Enterprises, and Solar Energy International are working together to bring you a training on sustainable agriculture. Key components of the training will be instruction in installing a solar powered water pump and drip irrigation system to water your garden. Hands-on instruction takes place at the Solar Warrior Farm on the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The training costs $850 per student, which includes instruction, food, and lodging for the duration of the course. For more information, download our registration form.
We are also very happy to be able to offer three scholarships for this training, with preference given to veterans scholarship application. If you are a interested in receiving a scholarship, please download our scholarship application.
We are excited to welcome a new member to the Trees, Water & People (TWP) Team! Ferlin Hopkins, our new Garden Coordinator, will be managing the Solar Warrior Farm, located at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Ferlin grew up throughout the United States and Guam. He is responsible for the horticultural success of Solar Warrior Farm, as well as serving as the volunteer and outreach coordinator for the Food Security Program. Ferlin has a rich knowledge of organic and sustainable farming from several years of working on an organic farm. Before joining TWP, Ferlin was working with the Guam Plant Extinction Prevention Program to identify, locate, and propagate rare and endangered plant species with less than fifty individuals in the wild. He is almost finished with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Guam. In his free time, Ferlin loves to go running, swimming, and hiking.
The Food Security Program’s Solar Warrior Farm, located at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, grows a wide variety of native and heirloom fruits and vegetables. We nurture this space with raised garden beds, protected by hoop houses to extend the growing season. These small plots have become living examples that Native Americans can visit and learn from. In addition, we offer the fresh produce, grown at Solar Warrior Farm, to Pine Ridge residents in need.
Help the Food Security Program thrive! Make a donation today.
Our Food Security Program provides a functional and educational example of sustainable food production to tribal communities. The program empowers Native Americans to grow their own nutritious and traditional foods, an important step toward tribal food independence. By bringing together the tools and knowledge needed for sustainable food production, Trees Water & People will directly strengthen the relationship of one’s food, one’s body, and the connection that Native Peoples have with Mother Earth and her ability to sustain life.
This past weekend, we had a second group of volunteers join us to break ground on the gardens and work on greenhouse structures at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The Food Security Program’s Solar Warrior Farm will have a wide variety of native and heirloom fruits and vegetables. We will nurture this garden space by building raised garden beds, protected by hoop houses to extend the growing season. These small scale gardens will become living examples that Native Americans can visit and learn from. In addition, we will offer the fresh produce, grown at Solar Warrior Farm, to Pine Ridge residents in need. The farm will be open for harvesting as needed.
The Food Security Program will also improve the lives of vulnerable Oglala Lakota youth using a community-based approach, empowering families with the confidence, knowledge, and ability to produce healthy sustenance for themselves and their extended families. By promoting self-sufficient food production within the Pine Ridge community, children and youth will learn all the benefits that accompany producing food for themselves and their families, as well as the importance of nutrition and the negative health effects of processed foods. By volunteering their time in the educational garden space, they will learn self discipline, the rewards of hard work, and the importance of understanding the cycles of Mother Earth that their ancestors knew so well.
Sustainable Development, Sustainable Livelihoods 