I can’t think of a better place to earn a permaculture design certification than the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. Their PDC course starts up soon . . .
Events
Beekeeping Class at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano
I’ll be teaching a two hour introduction to natural no-treatment beekeeping at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano this Saturday at 1 pm. To sign up buzz over here. Here’s the class description:
Become a backyard beekeeper and enjoy a healthy garden full of pollinators. Understand beekeeping tools, materials, and techniques to get started.
Beekeeping, or apiculture, is said to have begun with the Egyptians who used logs, boxes, and pottery vessels to make hives. Today, with bees dissapearing at rapid and never before seen rate, the practice of caring for bees is needed now more than ever.
Join us for this workshop on all natural, no treatment beekeeping. Learn the basics of beekeeping including makeup of the hive, equipement, types of hives, where to get bees, and reasons for beekeeping.
Learn how you can support bees in return and join us for this special workshop!
The Ecology Center is located at 32701 Alipaz St in San Juan Capistrano. Phone: (949) 443-4223
Legalize Beekeeping in LA!
Action alert: LA City Council will vote on legalizing bees this Wednesday. I got the following note from Francesca De La Rosa–If you’re in LA please consider writing your councilcritter or attending the council meeting.
As you’ve heard, LA City Council is voting on 3 pending bee measures on Wednesday, February 12th (press conference at 9:15 am). These are the three items that will be voted on:
#1: LEGALIZE URBAN BEEKEEPING IN LOS ANGELES
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm? fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber= 12-0785 #2: SAVING AMERICA’S POLLINATORS ACT
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm? fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber= 13-0002-S134 #3 HUMANE POLICY FOR LIVE BEE REMOVAL
http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm? fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber= 13-1660 We hope to see you at City Hall on Feb. 12. But before that, we still need to build support and secure commitments from the Councilmembers. We urge you to reach out to the City Councilmembers by email, asking them to vote yes on all three motions.
Please send out a simple email to each of the Councilmembers with the following:
Greetings Councilmember __________,
My name is ____________, and I urge you to support Council Files 12-0785 (Legalize Urban Beekeeping in Los Angeles), 13-0002-S134 (Saving America’s Pollinators Act), and 13-1660 (Humane Policy for Live Bee Removal).
Bees are essential to urban food production, providing local environmental and economic benefits through pollination and honey production. Over the past several years, honeybee colonies throughout the United States have experienced high rates of loss and many are in danger of collapse. Los Angeles, with its diverse pollen sources, is an urban oasis for bees, which are also threatened by heavy pesticide application in rural areas. Legalizing beekeeping in our neighborhoods gives our communities a resource to humanely and non-lethally care for healthy bee colonies.
Emails and phone numbers:
Councilmember Gil Cedillo (CD-1): councilmember.cedillo@
lacity.org Councilmember Paul Krekorian (CD-2): councilmember.
[email protected] Councilmember Bob Blumenfield (CD-3): councilmember.
[email protected] Councilmember Tom LaBonge (CD-4): councilmember.Labonge@
lacity.org Councilmember Paul Koretz (CD-5): [email protected]
Councilmember Nury Martinez (CD-6): councilmember.
[email protected] Councilmember Felipe Fuentes (CD-7): councilmember.fuentes@
lacity.org Councilmember Bernard Parks (CD-8): councilmember.parks@
lacity.org Councilmember Curren Price (CD-9): councilmember.price@
lacity.org Council President Herb Wesson (CD-10): councilmember.wesson@
lacity.org Councilmember Mike Bonin (CD-11): councilmember.bonin@
lacity.org Councilmember Mitchel Englander (CD-12): councilmember.
[email protected] Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell (CD-13): councilmember.
[email protected] Councilmember Jose Huizar (CD-14): councilmember.huizar@
lacity.org Councilmember Joe Buscaino (CD-15): councildistrict15@
lacity.org Feel free to use your personal email address if you cannot send one from your work address.
Greywater Design and Installation Workshop
Learn how to install the popular “laundry to landscape” (L2L) greywater system in this design workshop presented by Laura Allen of Greywater Action and Leigh Jerrard of Greywater Corps.
Laundry to landscape greywater systems are simple, affordable, and easy to maintain. With your own L2L system you can irrigate your landscape each time you do laundry, saving you water, time, and resources. Experienced instructors will lead you step-by-step through the design process, tailoring a system to fit your home. This system is legal to install without a permit, just follow 12 basic guidelines you’ll learn about in class.
Learn
- How to design a system for your home and landscape
- How to build a system- you’ll create a “mock-up” of a real system with real greywater parts
- What parts you’ll need for your home
- How much greywater you produce and how many plants you can water
- What soaps and detergents are “greywater friendly”
Tour
- Real L2L greywater system
- Gravity “branched drain” greywater system from sinks
Date: February 22, 2014 – 10:00am to 12:30pm
Location: Los Angeles EcoVillage 117 Bimini Place LA, CA 90004
Cost: Sliding scale $15 to $40, limited work trade positions availableRegister HERE
Bring: Photographs of your laundry room and landscape. Site plan of your yard.
For more information on an L2L system refer to the SF Graywater Guide for Outdoor Irrigation, downloadable HEREPlease join our mailing list to be notified of upcoming workshops.
A long-submerged abandoned car is exposed at the bottom of the now-dry Almaden Reservoir
(January 16, 2014. Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle)
Drought-Proof your Landscape with Greywater Lecture
I’m sure that our drought will get a lot of people interested in greywater, If you’re in the LA area there’s a lecture coming up with Laura Allen of Greywater Action and Leigh Jerrard of Greywater Corps. They are also putting on a laundry to landscape workshop on February 22. Here’s the info on the first of the two events. For more information go to greywatercorps.com/whatwscurrent.html.
Interested in Reusing Greywater? Greywater is water from sinks, showers, and washing machines. Instead of sending it down the sewer it can be safely and simply redirected into the landscape for irrigation. Reusing household greywater saves water, saves time, and reduces water flowing into the sewer system. Find out if a greywater system is a good match for your home and landscape in our informative evening slideshow presentation “Drought-Proof Your Landscape with Greywater.”
Learn about:
- Common types of systems
- Advantages and limitation of different systems
- Plant friendly soaps and products
- How much water you may save
- System costs
- Codes and regulations
Location: 7pm-8:30pm at the Los Angeles EcoVillage. 117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles, CA 90004.
Date: February 19, 2014 – 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Cost: $5 to $15 sliding scale. No one turned away for lack of funds.
RSVP: For questions or to RSVP email [email protected]