David Shaw of Santa Cruz Permaculture’s talk and tour turned into an extended one when the official event ended. Due to enthusiasm the talk portion ran long and the tour ran out of time. Attendees still had many questions, so David graciously agreed to travel directly to the Community Orchard where he continued answering pruning-related questions. As one participant noted, “That was so killer. I think I’ll be taking David’s permaculture course.”
What he was referring to was David’s quick overview of permaculture principles. What was an hour talk with handouts quickly blossomed into a nearly 2-hour one, complete with poetry recitation, and an explanation of how permaculture was similar and different to academic-based agro-ecology (he teaches at UC Santa Cruz in agro-ecology as well), and Q&A. There were over two dozen attendees, with several steadily streaming in after the talk began, and space became so limited that attendees joked about huddling together on the “huddle corner” of the living room couch, attendees sat on the floor and on pillows, and many stood.
The tour portion of the day commenced with only 15 minutes left, but the hosts Kirsten and Nick were amenable, and curious to learn about pruning their lovely fruit trees, so they extended the tour by half an hour. Yet even running half an hour over, attendees were delighted when David agreed to continue the talk at the Community Orchard and expressed his wish to stay for lunch and see more of the town.
Permaculture isn’t just about plants and trees, the self-proclaimed tree nerd and orchardist said, it is about community, resilience, and re-energizing. When someone asked why he didn’t use the word sustainability, he countered with a brief anecdote: “Well, look, if someone asks you about your marriage, would you want to say, ‘It’s sustainable’ or would you want to say, ‘It’s renewing and re-generative?'” And it seemed that many of the people who attended the even found it very much so.
Please note: For those still interested in a more in-depth workshop on pruning, the Community Orchards is hosting Ann Ralph of Grow a Little Fruit Tree on February 11th. The workshop is free from orchard members, $40 for non-members. There is a 20 person limit. More information and registration can be found here.
Our next stop is February 25th, at “Greyhawk Grove”, another one of our original installation food forests, with Lydia Neilson of the Regenerative Institute. The event is FREE, but you must pre-register for the location. More information can be found here.
Sustainable Solano would like to share a video that a friend, Kristian, made! It certainly highlights the most meaningful moments and makes us reflect on how moving of an experience this was for us.
“Permaculture gives us a toolkit for moving from a culture of fear and scarcity to one of love and abundance.” Toby Hemenway
April 23, 1952 – December 20, 2016
December brought a sad news: Toby Hemenway, permaculture activist, the author of Gaia’s Garden and The Permaculture City, and a supporter of our permaculture educational efforts in Solano County lost his battle with cancer.
We had the privilege to welcome Toby to Benicia in 2014 when he came to meet with our Benicia Sustainable Backyard team and to deliver a talk on permaculture to the community. We were just embarking on this journey of sustainable landscaping informed by permaculture, and to have this world-renowned author sit down with us and guide us was an important milestone for the organization.
I spoke with Toby for the last time in August, at one of his last public lectures. He was noticeably not feeling well, but still inquired about our progress in Benicia and was glad to hear the program was expanding to the entire county. He promised to recommend a few good speakers (which he did the following week!). It was Toby we always knew: inspiring, kind, attentive, warm and interested in the world…This is how we will remember him.
Toby’s legacy and his life’s work will continue to live in numerous permaculture gardens throughout the world, his books, his students, some of whom live and work in Solano, and through all the people he touched and inspired. Thank you, Toby.
You can view a video of when Toby’s talk with us here.
Sustainable Solano presents 2017 sustainable landscaping classes for general public in Vallejo and Benicia Community Centers.
SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPING FOR YOUR HOUSE
Adults and teens
Winter is a good time to start dreaming and planning about our garden renewal.
This is the perfect class for homeowners who are thinking about replacing a lawn or who would like to make their current landscapes resource-wise.
You will learn about sustainable landscaping: beautiful, productive, life-supporting ecosystem featuring trees and a variety of perennials fed by “secondary” water (greywater and rainwater). We’ll discuss edible landscaping, examine a few simple design plans, look into current turf replacement rebates and tell you about sustainable landscapers in our area.
Class is taught by local landscapers promoting sustainable landscaping practices.
Benicia Community Center: Thursdays, February 2 Thursday, March 2
Both classes are 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Cost: free ($5 administrative fee charged by the Community Center)
Would you like to become a demonstration food forest keeper?
Would you like to convert your thirsty lawn into a thriving food-producing ecosystem fed by the laundry-to-landscape greywater system? Do you enjoy sharing your knowledge and resources with your community? Are you interested in sustainable landscaping, edible gardens, and especially permaculture? Do you own a house in Vallejo or Fairfield? Would you like to be a part of a growing permaculture community in Solano County?
If you answer “yes” to all of the above, you can be a good candidate to become a demonstration food forest keeper in 2017!
Imagine a thriving, vibrant eco-system in your front- or backyard! A few fruit trees surrounded by native and Mediterranean plants, berries, perennial vegetables, flowers, with enough space for your annual favorites.
How does this work?
We’ll design and facilitate an installation of a Seed Plot on your property. You provide volunteers (your friends and family make the best team: you learn and work together, and then you celebrate); we provide design, plants, material and expert advise, all free for you. During the installation, your laundry will become a classroom for “How to Install a Greywater System” hands-on workshop, and your yard will be open for public workshops. You then share with the community the progress of your Seed Plot for at least next 5 years: we’ll take pictures of your growing and evolving Seed Plot and advise you on maintenance and future design, while you let community in once or twice a year for a tour of your Food Forest.
We’ll have an open application process; the preliminary dates are February – March 2017 for Vallejo and June – August 2017 for Fairfield. You’ll be able to download the Application Form from our website. The Application includes a very detailed study of your proposed location for a Seed Plot and a legal part that defines parties’ roles and responsibilities.
Every application will be evaluated by our Advisory Board – a group of people with a Permaculture Design Certificate and experience in designing and building permaculture sites. The Program team will visit your site for an extensive survey and a conversation with you and your family about your potential Seed Plot.
Sustainable Solano is looking for Benicia homes to host public Laundry to Landscape workshops (and install simple “laundry-to-landscape” greywater systems in, as part of our continuing Benicia Sustainable Backyard Program funded by the Community Sustainability Commission).
If your home meets the following requirements and you’re interested in participating in our program, please email to us at info@sustainablesolano.org asap. The workshops are scheduled for February 4 and March 4, 2017.
Requirements:
• Homeowner in Benicia
• Laundry room has an exterior wall or accessible crawlspace
• Landscape is within 50 feet of the washing machine with trees, bushes, or larger perennials to irrigate
