Healing the Hydrological Cycle in a Time of Drought
Guest presenter: Gary Freeborg of BioDiversity
Wednesday, February 18, 7 - 9 pm
Casa de Luz Cielo Room, Austin, Texas
Free and open to the public; no reservation required
While we have finally received some rain recently in Central Texas, we are still in the midst of a drought cycle and desperately need to maximize the use of our water resources. We all know about the strategy of harvesting rainwater from rooftops, conveying it to a cistern, and then pumping it to where it is needed. To really maximize the benefits derived from the precious water that flows onto our site and into our homes and buildings, we can employ strategies that use the earth itself to capture and store that precious liquid.
Sculpting and preparing the earth to direct, absorb, and/or hold water is something that virtually anyone can do, whether their site is an urban lot, a commercial building landscape, or country acreage. These strategies can often be carried out at little or no expense.
Permaculture designer Gary Freeborg will introduce us to some of the land-based water harvesting approaches that he has used successfully in Central Texas. We will examine strategies such as:
Gary's has a rich background in the natural sciences, but an intensive Permaculture course with Bill Mollison in 1995 set him on a path of bringing a wide range of disciplines together with the goal of healing the land by jump-starting natures own cycles. His company BioDiversity offers large and small landowners a wide variety of revolutionary strategies to bring vibrant health back to the land, and increase the biodiversity in soil, plant and animal communities through consulting, education and research. Gary can be reached at biodiversity@inbox.com or 512-296-1831.
Permaculture site visit
led by Gary Freeborg
Sunday, Feb 22
11 am, Wimberley, TX (directions to be emailed to you)
Complete this one required step to get in:
Join Gary Freeborg and Design~Build~Live as Gary takes us on a tour of one of his permaculture sites that utilizes many of the water-harvesting strategies discussed on Wednesday. We will see:
Introduction to Natural Building
Friday, February 27, 3:00 - 4:30 pm
Creating deeper green homes with natural materials and systems
Straw Bale Construction
Saturday, February 28, 1:30 - 2:30
Straw bale construction for today's high performance home
Austin Green Living Expo @ Austin Convention Center
500 E. Cesar Chavez Street
Adult admission: $7.50 at the venue
inclusive
More info: http://www.showtechnology.com/shows/Austin_GreenLiving/AustinGreen.html
Wednesday, March 18, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - DBL Monthly Presentation
Introduction to Straw Bale Construction
Guest presenter: Ben Obregon of The Sustainable Design Center
Wednesday, April 15, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - DBL Monthly Presentation
Conserving Resources: Reduce, Reduce, Reduce
Guest presenter: Jenny Nazak of Austin Permaculture Guild
Friday, April 17, to Sunday, April 19, 2009 - DBL Special Event
Rainwater Harvesting Rockstar Comes to Austin: Brad Lancaster
A series of talks and events with the dynamic author of the Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands series
Prepare to be amazed. His site: http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/
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