Happy New Year Homesteaders!
I hope this first newsletter of 2015 finds you well celebrated and well rested and that you are looking towards an excellent year of food abundance, ecological common sense and new skills gained. Of course the latter is important to us here at the Institute and we all hope you will join us in class as the season goes on. We'll keep this newsletter short and sweet as we are attending to start of year tasks and scheduling.

2015 will be a bit different here at IUH. After seven years full-steam, we are looking towards the next step in sustainability education. Founder Ruby Blume (that's me) will be taking a 4 month sabbatical this summer to write and research new directions. So we'll be squeezing most of our core curriculum into a few months in the Spring and Fall. During the summer months IUH will, offer a selection of land-based classes as part of out pilot project "institute North" Look for The Whole Pig Experience and Wine & Cheese Demystified, two weekend courses offered in collaboration with Groundswell Institute in Boonville, CA. Our 2015 class schedule will be posted on February 15th. We'll send an extra mid month announcement about that. Next month we'll also be announcing the schedule and locations of our new and extended Urban Farm Tours. In the meantime please do check out our winter session and register for some of these awesome seasonal courses.

Taking Stock
2014 was overall a good year at IUH. Some of the initial excitement seems to have waned, but we had slow and steady enrollment in most of our classes. At the same time, there were more cancellations that we like to see. If you believe in the Institute and the work we are doing to preserve and maintain urban agriculture, heirloom kitchen skills and skills to reduce our resource footprint please do help us spread the word! Your recommendation to a friend is our best advertising!

total classes scheduled 90
total classes held 72
total classes cancelled 18
total classes taught by ruby 44
classes taught by others: 28
total public events 6
April 8. Movie Night & Urban Ag Social. Showing of the documentary Growing Cities as our season kick off
June 7. Farm Tours Berkeley Oakland An amazing array of homescale farms from Central Berkeley to East Oakland was featured in this day long event
June 8. Farm Tours Vallejo The first satelite tour--a great learning experience for all
July 24 . Every Day Cheesemaking Book Release Party In collabortion with the Ecology Center, we milked goats on the sidewalk and offered a wide selection of homemade cheese to taste.
November 1 Day of the Dead celebration. This years celebration included music and enetertainment, a sweet processiong and a meal.
December 13 $ 14 Winter Open House. Our year end party!

Seeking Interns, Teachers, Mentees & Farm Tour Sites
Now is the time to get involved for 2015!
Api-centric Beekeeping Mentorship Can start any time but best to inquire before January 31. See page: Urban Animal Husbandry
Three Springs Internship Deadline to Apply: Feb 15, Notification of Acceptance March 5 Internship Begins March 26 See page> Volunteering at IUH
Teaching at IUH Deadline to Apply January 15 See page > Teaching at IUH
Farm Tour Sites We are looking for sites in West Oakland, East Oakland, Hayward, Concord/Walnut Creek (if we have already been in touch, no need to contact us--we'll get in touch soon) and Napa. Sites should include gardening, animal husbandry and other unique sustainability features. To be considered please send your name, name of site, size of site, full contact info, short description and photos.

Scion Exchange & Dormant Season Grafting
The institute will be tabling at this years scion exchange on Sunday January 11. This fabulous local event is a great place to visit with like-minded folks and grab some scion wood for grafting later in the season. Grafting is a wonderful way to increase varieties in a small space as well as an inexpensive way to increase and control your urban orchard. Anyone can offer or take scion wood at the event. To offer, clip last years growth with a clean knife or pruner, label well, wrap in a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator. If you come to the exchange it is helpful if you bring your own bags, masking tape and sharpie. We'll be offering a grafting class a bit later in the season where you will have the opportunity to practice several test grafts as well as grafting apple onto rootstocks (see below February 21) .
We are also looking for a volunteer or two to help table for an hour--please reply here if you have time and interest. Free admission to the event for volunteers.

photo courtesy Jreed