2020 Travel & Speaking
JANUARY
1/7 - 10 2020 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), Las Vegas, NEVADA
John Ivanko and Liam Kivirist will be researching articles (and taking photographs) for PC Lifeline, TechSocket.net and Mother Earth News
FEBRUARY
2/7 You Grow Girl! Celebrating Hawai’i Women in Agriculture, Kō Hana Rum Distillery, Oahu Island, HAWAII
Lisa Kivirist keynotes on Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers
2/7 MOSES Organic Farming Conference, LaCrosse, WISCONSIN
Lisa Kivirist facilitates In Her Boots women farmer break-out sessions, covering topics ranging from farm sabbaticals, diversification and speaking to the media.
MARCH
2/22 Launch a Bakery from Your Farm Kitchen: Recipes & Resources, Wegmueller Dairy and FarmStay, Monroe, WISCONSIN
Time: 1 - 3pm
Lisa Kivirist and a team of women farmers share their North Central SARE Farmer Rancher project with ideas to use your abundant seasonal produce in baked goods that sell. Packaging and market stand ideas will be on display along with recipe sampling. Free to attend, registration required and space is limited.
APRIL
4/9 Start a Home-based Baking Business Workshop, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Launch a baked product food business from your home kitchen in Wisconsin! Based on the recent judge ruling in Wisconsin, you can now make "not-hazardous baked food products" made in your home kitchen and sell them to the public. Join award-winning co-authors Lisa Kivirist (also one of the plaintiffs in the successful legal battle with the State of Wisconsin) and John Ivanko as they offer a crash course to get food entrepreneurs going in their home kitchen, especially with baked goods like cookies, breads, rolls and muffins. Both baked goods and high-acid canned food products will be addressed in this hands-on session. Finally, "homemade" and "fresh from the oven" on the package means exactly what it reads. Space is limited. CANCELLATION POLICY: NO REFUNDS. You can, however, transfer your ticket to another person, provided that person is in possession of the ticket at the time of the workshop.
Time: 10 am - 12 noon
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI
Cost: $50 per person. A DISCOUNT of $10 per night of lodging if you would like to stay in the B&B.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
4/18 Start a Home-based Baking Business Workshop, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Launch a baked product food business from your home kitchen in Wisconsin! Based on the recent judge ruling in Wisconsin, you can now make "not-hazardous baked food products" made in your home kitchen and sell them to the public. Join award-winning co-authors Lisa Kivirist (also one of the plaintiffs in the successful legal battle with the State of Wisconsin) and John Ivanko as they offer a crash course to get food entrepreneurs going in their home kitchen, especially with baked goods like cookies, breads, rolls and muffins. Both baked goods and high-acid canned food products will be addressed in this hands-on session. Finally, "homemade" and "fresh from the oven" on the package means exactly what it reads. Space is limited. CANCELLATION POLICY: NO REFUNDS. You can, however, transfer your ticket to another person, provided that person is in possession of the ticket at the time of the workshop.
Time: 1 pm - 3 pm
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI
Cost: $50 per person. A DISCOUNT of $10 per night of lodging if you would like to stay in the B&B.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
4/24 Women Caring for the Land, hosted by the MOSES In Her Boots project, USDA Office, Prairie du Chien, WISCONSIN
11 am - 1 pm (complimentary lunch included)
Lisa Kivirist facilitates a learning circle and resource sharing for women landowners. Free to attend, registration required and space is limited.
4/26 Soil Sisters: How Women Transform our Food System, McHenry County College, Crystal Lake, ILLINOIS
2 pm (Free, but registration required)
What's the key ingredient to healthy communities? Women leading food system change. Women make up one of the fastest growing segments of new farmers today, and they come from a long and deep history and tradition of cultivating the soil. This fresh crop of women farmers is finding innovative ways to champion local agriculture and foster greater collaboration and cooperation. Collectively, they improve the health of our environment, stimulate the economy, build a greater sense of community, and nurture a more vibrant food system. What does our future hold and how can we support more women taking on leadership roles to change what's on our plate? Come celebrate the historic roots and inspiring stories of women farmers today — and in the future. Following Lisa's presentation, we'll hear from three farmers, each with different challenges and successes linked to their location, product mix, experience level, identity, and pathway into farming.
MAY
5/8 Women Caring for the Land, hosted by the MOSES In Her Boots project, USDA Office, Onalaska, WISCONSIN
11 am - 1 pm (complimentary lunch included)
Lisa Kivirist facilitates a learning circle and resource sharing for women landowners. Free to attend, registration required and space is limited.
5/17 - 18 National Restaurant Show, Chicago, ILLINOIS
John and Lisa will be exploring the latest innovations in food and beverage industry and the hottest new culinary trends for Mother Earth News magazine.
5/23 Start a Home-based Baking Business Workshop, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Launch a baked product food business from your home kitchen in Wisconsin! Based on the recent judge ruling in Wisconsin, you can now make "not-hazardous baked food products" made in your home kitchen and sell them to the public. Join award-winning co-authors Lisa Kivirist (also one of the plaintiffs in the successful legal battle with the State of Wisconsin) and John Ivanko as they offer a crash course to get food entrepreneurs going in their home kitchen, especially with baked goods like cookies, breads, rolls and muffins. Both baked goods and high-acid canned food products will be addressed in this hands-on session. Finally, "homemade" and "fresh from the oven" on the package means exactly what it reads. Space is limited. CANCELLATION POLICY: NO REFUNDS. You can, however, transfer your ticket to another person, provided that person is in possession of the ticket at the time of the workshop.
Time: 1 pm - 3 pm
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI
Cost: $50 per person. DISCOUNT of $10 per night of lodging if you would like to stay in the B&B.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
JUNE
6/13 Sustainable Living in the 21st Century Workshop, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Experience a "hands-on" approach to sustainable living by spending an afternoon at Inn Serendipity, an organic farm and B&B. This 1/2-day workshop includes resources to get started and a hands-on tour of the farm, growing fields, a straw bale greenhouse and various renewable energy systems. Topics include: buying farm property; organic food production using French style raised beds; using renewable energy to completely power the farm; developing a diversified business from a rural setting; raising a family on the farm; paying off the "death pledge" (mortgage) and other financial matters. Registration fees cover a copy of ECOpreneuring (a $17.95 value), hands-on instruction and refreshments. Lodging is additional. If you opt to stay as guests while taking this workshop, we offer a $10 discount per night of lodging. Space is limited. CANCELLATION POLICY: NO REFUNDS. You can, however, transfer your ticket to another person, provided that person is in possession of the ticket at the time of the workshop. If you cannot attend after registering and cannot find a substitute attendee, please let us know and we are happy to mail the ECOpreneuring book to you.
Time: 1 pm - 4 pm
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI
Cost: $50 per person (includes a copy of ECOpreneuring ($17.95 value)). A DISCOUNT of $10 per night of lodging if you would like to stay in the B&B.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
| 6/26 - 28 Midwest Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair, Custer (near Stevens Point), WISCONSIN
Catch Lisa and John's many workshops at the Energy Fair, plus their promotional book giveaway of ECOPRENEURING and Renewing the Countryside: WISCONSIN, plus special book discounts to fair-goers at their booth at the Fair.
*** Thanks to Lisa Kivirist's victorious lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin, stop by their booth to sample some of their baked food products, like crackers, cookies and breads! ***
Lisa and/or John may be presenting on:
- Farmstead Chef: Organic Eating on a Dime
- Sustainable Living Simplified
- Launch a Food Business from your Home Kitchen
- Start your Organic Farm
The Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) is a non-profit network for sharing ideas, resources and information with individuals, businesses and communities to promote a sustainable future through renewable energy and energy efficiency. The fair, held in Custer, is the world's largest renewable energy educational event with hundreds of workshops and demonstrations on solar and wind energy, alternatively fueled vehicles, sustainable living and more.
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JULY
7/8 In Her Boots: Sustainable Agriculture for Women, By Women Held on the Oneida Nation, Oneida, WISCONSIN
Time: 10 am to 3 pm
Host farm: Lady Fern Flowers and Two Pony Gardens
Focus: "In Her Boots: Sustainable Agriculture For Women, By Women" workshops are facilitated by the MOSES In Her Boots Project, providing educational outreach, resources and networking opportunities to support women farmers and food-based ecopreneurs. Join Lisa for this unique session at the Tsyunhehkw Organic Farm on the Oneida Nation to learn about indigenous plantings and the inspiring role women play.
Registration taken through MOSES In Her Boots Project
Cost: $25 (includes lunch)
7/11 ECOpreneuring - Launching your own Small (green) Business Workshop, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Say good-bye to corporate cubicles and job descriptions void of meaning. Learn how self-employment entrepreneurs are creating and managing business endeavors while meeting the social and environmental priorities they have set for themselves. Join Lisa and John as they facilitate this 1/2-day interactive workshop, focusing on finding right livelihood, understanding the basics of business start-up, strategies for income diversification, simplifying expenses, stimulating creativity and innovation, and balancing various life roles. Registration fees cover a copy of ECOpreneuring (a $17.95 value), hands-on instruction and refreshments. Lodging is additional. If you opt to stay as guests while taking this workshop, we offer a $10 discount per night of lodging. Space is limited. CANCELLATION POLICY: NO REFUNDS. You can, however, transfer your ticket to another person, provided that person is in possession of the ticket at the time of the workshop. If you cannot attend after registering and cannot find a substitute attendee, please let us know and we are happy to mail the ECOpreneuring book to you.
Time: 1pm - 4pm
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI
Cost: $50 per person (includes a copy of ECOpreneuring ($17.95 value)). DISCOUNT of $10 per night of lodging if you would like to stay in the B&B.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
AUGUST
8/7 In Her Boots: Sustainable Agriculture for Women, By Women Held on The Old Smith Place, Brodhead, WISCONSIN
Time: 10am - 3pm
"In Her Boots: Sustainable Agriculture For Women, By Women" workshops are facilitated by the MOSES Rural Women's Project, providing educational outreach, resources and networking opportunities to support women farmers and food-based ecopreneurs. Join Lisa and the Soil Sisters team to kick off this weekend with this all-day, on-farm workshops for women farmers. Focus on diversified meats, funding and resource connections, B&Bs, on-farm food service, cottage food value-added products.
Cost: $25 (includes lunch)
8/7 - 9 SOIL SISTERS (3 days of events, tastings, dinners, tours & celebration of farm life), Monroe, Brodhead and surrounding communities, WISCONSIN
8/7 - 9 SOIL SISTERS: Green Acres Workshops, Monroe, Brodhead and surrounding communities, WISCONSIN
Fun, hands-on workshops experienced on-farm. These are be ticketed events; prices vary.
8/7 Powering your Home or Farm with Renewable Energy Workshop at Inn Serendipity, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Build self-reliance at your home or on your farm with renewable energy. Join John Ivanko as he explains how to completely power your home or farm with the sun, as he and his wife, Lisa Kivirist, have done since 2003 and get paid by your utility. Explore your options with a solar electric (photovoltaic) system, wind turbine system, solar thermal system for domestic hot water or in-floor radiant heating. Also covered are plug-in chargers for electric vehicles, the use of Sun Ovens, and EPA-certified woodstoves. Funding options, real-world experiences and actual costs for renewable energy systems will be addressed, as well as a hands on tour of the operating systems. Children (ages 13 and over) welcome with adult supervision and own paid ticket (for the child).
Fee: $50 (Includes a tour of the renewable energy systems), plus ticket service charge
8/8 Start a Food Business from your Home Kitchen Workshop at Inn Serendipity, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Join award-winning co-authors Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko as they offer a crash course to get food entrepreneurs going in their home kitchen. Every state in the USA (except NJ) now have "cottage food" laws that apply to high acid foods like pickles, preserves, jams and jellies, or baked goods. Based on the HOMEMADE FOR SALE book.
Fee: $50, plus ticket service charge
8/8 "Pizza on the Farm" Fundraiser Meal at Inn Serendipity, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Pack up your blanket and picnic basket with your plates and silverware and join us on the farm for some delicious pizza, served "picnic-style". Savor hand-crafted pizzas cooked in a wood-fired oven.
Meal Ticket: $35/adult and $10/child (includes your own personal pizza (kids get 1/2 personal pizza), salads/veggies, cheeses and root beer float), plus ticket service charge
8/9 Introduction to Drone Photography Workshop at Inn Serendipity, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Whether you already have a drone or are thinking about buying one, join FAA-licensed drone pilot Liam Kivirist for a very introductory session on flying your own drone. "I'm still up in the clouds after this morning's "Intro to Drones" workshop! My instructors Liam Kivirist and John Ivanko did an incredible job of compressing a lot of practical information into two hours. I really appreciated that they tailored their presentation to my level of knowledge (I knew nothing about drones). And the best part was that I got to actually fly one! I left knowing a lot more about drones and feeling more confident when I'm ready to purchase one. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone, no matter how technically unsaavy you are." -- Linda Balek, Land Protection Specialist, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County
Fee: $50 (Includes some flight time with a Phantom 4 Pro+ Drone (if you're ready), plus ticket service charge
8/9 Sustainable Living Day-long Seminar & Tour at Inn Serendipity, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Pay off the mortgage. Completely power your farm or home with renewable energy. Grow your own food. Craft your version of the good life that's based on self-reliance, addressing food, energy, environment and personal finances. Join this lively timeline journey of how Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko did it, so you can too. Features a farm tour that covers the 10.8 kW solar electric system, solar thermal systems, growing fields, plug-in electric vehicle chargers, wood-fired outdoor pizza oven and greenhouse made from straw bales. Price includes a copy of Kivirist and Ivanko's award-winning ECOpreneuring book ($17.95 value) and complimentary refreshments.
Fee: $100 (Includes a copy of ECOpreneuring (a $17.95 value) and refreshments), plus ticket service charge
8/9 Bus Tour of Farms: Know Your Farmer!, Monroe area, WISCONSIN
Want to experience where your food comes from? Do you have a dream of running your own farm one day? Join this bus tour that will take you to three different farm businesses operated by soil sisters for a personal tour of their diversified farms, sharing their love for agriculture and the steps they took to launch and grow their business. INN SERENDIPITY WILL BE THE LAST STOP ON THIS BUS TOUR. The farmers will cover a variety of topics from small scale livestock, market gardening, CSAs (community supported agriculture), retrofitting a farmstead sustainably and running a farm on solar energy. Soil sisters will serve as your guides throughout the tour and on the bus, sharing stories and answering questions about our shared mission to steward our landscape and cultivate community.
Fee for Bus Tour of Farms: $60 Adults and kids ages 12 or older; $25 for Kids ages 2 - 11; ticket service charge additional
SEPTEMBER
9/12 Sustainable Living in the 21st Century Workshop, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Experience a "hands-on" approach to sustainable living by spending an afternoon at Inn Serendipity, an organic farm and B&B. This 1/2-day workshop includes resources to get started and a hands-on tour of the farm, growing fields, a straw bale greenhouse and various renewable energy systems. Topics include: buying farm property; organic food production using French style raised beds; using renewable energy to completely power the farm; developing a diversified business from a rural setting; raising a family on the farm; paying off the “death pledge” (mortgage) and other financial matters. Registration fees cover a copy of ECOpreneuring (a $17.95 value), hands-on instruction and refreshments. Lodging is additional. If you opt to stay as guests while taking this workshop, we offer a $10 discount per night of lodging. Space is limited. CANCELLATION POLICY: NO REFUNDS. You can, however, transfer your ticket to another person, provided that person is in possession of the ticket at the time of the workshop. If you cannot attend after registering and cannot find a substitute attendee, please let us know and we are happy to mail the ECOpreneuring book to you. This is a part of the Mother Earth News/Grit International Homesteading Education Month.
Time: 1pm - 4pm
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI
Cost: $50 per person (includes a copy of ECOpreneuring (a $17.95 value)). DISCOUNT of $10 per night of lodging if you would like to stay in the B&B.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
OCTOBER
10/23 - 25 Aspiring Innkeeper Working Retreat
at Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WISCONSIN
Dream of starting a B&B, but don't know where to start or whether it's right for you? Join this "short-course" on innkeeping from the award-winning innkeepers of Inn Serendipity. Covered are start-up considerations, "right-scaling" your operations, and marketing ideas. Included is a tour of the operations, a peek at the financials and plenty of time to address all the questions you might have. We keep these groups small and personal so we can address your questions and help you develop your ideas and vision.
Time: Friday night private reception, Saturday work sessions from 10 am to 4 pm; Sunday morning work session with Q & A, completed at 11 am.
Location: Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, Browntown, WI (see map and directions in links below)
Cost: $449, single; $549, two people, double occupancy (includes two nights' lodging) and working sessions.
Meals and Lodging: Registration fees cover Friday and Saturday night lodging, hands-on instruction, tour, refreshments and applicable taxes. Saturday evening dinner is on guests' own.
Instructors: Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-owners of Inn Serendipity and co-authors of Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, ECOpreneuring: Putting Purpose and the Planet before Profitsand Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life. Lisa is author of Soil Sisters.
Can't wait until the Working Retreat?
For a personalized, in-depth and honest examination of the operations, marketing and financial aspects of innkeeping, especially from the perspective of a small, 1 to 4 room operation, consider participating in a PivotPlanet consultation.
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
TBD
