Date: Sunday, September 21, 2014
Times: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Marfa International School
Address: 800 East Galveston  |  Marfa, TX 79843
RSVP &/or FMI: Contact Chris Hillen at hillen.christopher@gmail.com. Space is limited.
How to Plant the Rain (and Other On-site Waters) to Grow Sustainable Abundance
In order to better see the whole and our place within the hydrologic cycle, each earthworkshop begins with participants learning the Water-Harvesting Principles; basic watergy facts; integration of sun, water, and community; oasis zones; how to think like a plant; and various earthworks strategies. We then assess the site, identifying water resources and watersheds, asking and answering relevant site-specific questions, and testing our observations with simple tools. Equipped with a deeper understanding of the site and its water, we then place and create water-harvesting earthworks, guided by the Principles, key integration techniques, and the goal of living within the site’s sustainable water budget. Depending on the site, typical earthworks created in an workshop can include infiltration basins/rain gardens, one-rock check dams, contour berm ‘n basins/swales or boomerang berm ‘n basins, and terracing. Time and resources permitting, we will plant guilds of vegetation within/beside the earthworks and view a presentation of earthworks from around the world. This duration of this workshop is typically 6–7 hours.
Note: There will be another hands-on earthworkshop in Alpine on Saturday, September 20.