More thoughts as we work to ‘reconnect’, build ‘imagination infrastructure’, and celebrate the possible…
A reflection on weekend two of the Permaculture Design Course by Gail McNulty
June 7, 2022
Tag: watersheds
Rainwater Harvesting: Brush Check Dams and Gabions
In these articles, we’ve covered various ways to slow, sink, spread, and store rainwater. Gabions are another way to do this on landscapes that have eroded gullies or existing seasonal drainages. Creating brush gabions also puts to good use onsite fuel load you’ve reduced from your forest–all the branches, bushes, and small trees that are cleared to create defensible space and reduce fire fuel load in forested areas.
January 28, 2021
Preparing for winter rains after the fires
Now is the time to prepare for the coming winter rains to prevent additional damage to the recovering forest while simultaneously preparing the ground to receive much-needed rains to help the forest regrow. Even if your home wasn’t affected by the fires, you can still prepare for the coming rainy season with some of the suggestions outlined below.
December 8, 2020
Regenerating Watersheds & Soils PDC Homefun
Homefun resources related to Regenerating Watersheds & Soils from our Permaculture Design Certificate course.
November 2, 2019
Rainwater Harvesting: Berms and Swales
In the fourth post in our Rainwater Harvesting series, learn how to design and build berms and swales to slow, spread, and sink water on sloped landscapes.
August 12, 2019
Rainwater Harvesting: Storing Rainwater in Tanks & Cisterns
The third in our Rainwater Harvesting series, this post about tanks and cisterns discusses how to catch and store rainwater for potable use and washing.
June 17, 2019
Rainwater Harvesting: Surveying
by Giovanni Castaldo, Santa Cruz Permaculture Design Course participant This series of blog posts about Rainwater Harvesting provides an overview of some of the key practices. It’s informed and guided by the book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, one of Brad Lancaster’s approachable and inspiring works. As discussed in the prior post in this series, the first principle of
June 4, 2019
Save Water & Money with Home Water Conservation Projects
The content in this post was written by Golden Love in the April 3 Love’s Gardens newsletter. We found it so useful, we wanted to share! It is reprinted with his permission.
May 13, 2019
Restoring Watersheds & Soils: PDC Reflections [Part 3/8]
This series of eight blog posts by Melissa Ott about the Santa Cruz Permaculture fall-winter 2017 Permaculture Design Course was originally posted on the Green Gal blog in April 2017.017. Weekend Two: November 5-6, 2016 The second weekend of the Santa Cruz Permaculture Design course, we explored watersheds, water catchment, understanding climate and microclimates, and the characteristics and management of
April 2, 2017
Techniques for storing water in the soil for the dry days ahead [Santa Cruz Sentinel]
“SANTA CRUZ >> When landscape designer Lydia Neilsen mentions rainwater harvesting, the permaculture expert thinks raised earthwork gardens full of …”
January 31, 2016
Will Conservation Really Work in Santa Cruz? [SantaCruz.com]
The walk to the San Lorenzo River from David Shaw’s backyard is surrounded by banana, avocado and bamboo trees that have all turned yellow from frost damage after one of the driest, coldest fall seasons the county has ever seen.
January 4, 2014