Thank you for contacting us!

Please read the contact options below so you can find what you’re looking for…

1. If you want general information about Permaculture and Permaculture related resources please visit our ‘Resources and Links’ page and check the resources available there first. If you are looking for organizations that are involved with sustainability issues and the ‘green’ movement we highly reccomend checking in at www.sustainabletucson.org  This website contains a link to just about every organization doing Green work in the Tucson area, as well as many other resources for getting involved in the Green  movement.

2. If you want to be added to the Sonoran Permaculture Guild e-mail tree to receive future announcements for our courses, events, and workshops please send your e-mail address to dorsey@dakotacom.net

3. If you are looking for information about a workshop or to register for one, please check under our ‘Courses and Workshops’ page. There will be contact information for each workshop at the bottom of the workshop listing.  You can also check our ‘Calendar’ page for other upcoming events.

4. If you are looking for Permaculture design services or tours of individual sites please look through our ‘Members’ page and contact our members directly.

5. Please direct any other inquiries or questions to our Central Office near downtown Tucson by e-mailing dorsey@dakotacom.net

we look forward to hearing from you.

Ecologically minded and socially responsible credit union:

Permaculture Credit Union. 4250 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505. (505) 954-3479. Email: perma@pcuonline.org. Internet: www.pcuonline.org. A new credit union striving to forward the principles of permaculture in the financial world and beyond. A great credit union to support. Although they are not yet in Tucson, there is hope for eventual expansion.

The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection In 1997, big news hit Tucson. The cactus ferruginous pygmy owl had received protection under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. But the pygmy owl was only one of many plants and animals in the Sonoran Desert that are in trouble because rapid population growth is causing their habitat to disappear.

Over the next year, more than 40 conservationists and neighborhood groups got together to form the Coalition for the Sonoran Desert Protection Plan, as it was then called. The Coalition included everyone from the Neighborhood Coalition of Tucson to the Tucson Herpetological Society.
Great local source for quality irrigation supplies:

Irrigation & Sprinkler Supply Inc. 2130 E. 12th St. Tucson, AZ 85719. 792-4652.

American Minor Breeds Conservancy, Box 477, Pittsboro, NC 27312. (919) 542-5704. www.albc-usa.org. Email albc@albc-usa.org. A great non-profit working to protect nearly 100 breeds of cattle, goats, horses, asses, sheep, swine and poultry from extinction. Great resource for notifying you of the breeds that meet the characteristics you seek - and where you can find them.

California Rare Fruit Growers, Fullerton Arboretum - CSUF, PO Box 6850, Fullerton, CA 92834-6850. www.CRFG.org. Great resource on more obscure edibles.

Free service marking of existing utility lines - so you don’t hit them! Bluestake. Call 1-800-782-5348. Tell them what you want marked (property, City right-of-way, utility easements, etc.) and they will mark them all for free. As long as you do your digging within 14 days of marking - and you avoid the marks - you will not be liable if you hit a utility line. Always call bluestake before you dig!

Society of Primitive Technology, PO Box 905, Rexburg, ID 83440. (208) 359-2400. dwescott@aol.com. Amazing biannual journal on primitive skills and primitive technology. BACKTRACKS (at same contact info) organizes great
gatherings of primitive skill practitioners and hobbyists. Skills include ceramics, basketry, tracking, fire making, shelters, cooking, stone work, braintanning buckskin, useful plants, and more.

Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School, www.hallow top.com. 12 Quartz Street, PO Box 691, Pony, MT 59747-0691. (406)685-3222. Great website connecting to many primitive technology organizations and interests.

Tucson Safety and Medical, 329 E. Grant Rd 628- 7267. They have extra thick work gloves which are great for handling cactus.

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, PO Box 2209, Grass Valley, CA 95945. 1(888) 784-1722. www.groworganic.com. Contact them for a free catalogue. Good source of innoculent for pelletizing seed and self opening and closing vents for cold frames and greenhouses.

Wild Food Adventures, http://www.wildfoodadventures.com/. Email John Kallas & Wild Food Adventures at mail@wildfoodadventures.com. John Kallas, Ph.D., Wild Food Adventures, 5036 SE Mitchell St, Portland, OR 97206-4814. (503) 775-3828

Wild Food Institute, PO Box 156, Port Wing, WI 54865. 715-74-3634. They put out a quarterly newletter intended to provide information on the use of wild foods, sustainable food production, and related subjects, while establishing
a standard of excellence and credibility for the science and craft of foraging. Most of the information seems geared to parts of the U.S. receiving more rainfall than the deserts of the southwest.

SOURCE OF HIGH QUALITY NAVAJO-CHURRO WOOL AND TRADITIONAL WORKSHOPS SHEEP IS LIFE. www.recursos.org/sheepislife

SOURCE OF LOCALLY HAND-SPUN WOOL Howard’s Handwerk Haus. 3119 N. 1st Ave. Tucson, AZ 85719. 882-7012.

Sources for solar ovens:

Kansas Wind Power, 13569 214th Road, Holton, Kansas 66436-8138. phone 785-364-4407. A great mail order company with the best price I’ve ever seen for the “Sun Oven”, which I believe is the best solar oven available! Its very lightweight and easily heats up to 450 degrees F.

Solar Cookers International, 1724 11th St., Sacramento, CA 95814. phone 916-444-6616. Email sbci@igc.apc.org. They have directions for making your own solar oven and solar oven cook books.

Sources for local solar hot water heater workshops:

Tobin Schneider or Solar Toby as he is known holds workshops in which you will build your own solar hot water heater.292-9020.

Sources for highly efficient tankless hot water heaters:

Aquastar hot water heaters built by the Robert Bosch Corporation areextremely efficient as they only heat water as you use it, and you never run out of hot water. Models range in price from $350 to $950. “S” models can take a solar pre-heat. Real Goods 1-800-919-2400 and Kansas Wind Power 785-364-4407 distribute the water heaters.

Source of highly efficient, CFC-free, recyclable refrigerator:

Vestfrost refrigerator from Denmark is marketed as only costing $47 per year to run. I’ve had great performance from mine. Check the internet for a local supplier. Last I heard David Tagget and his non-profit the Dorothy Foundation were distributing them here in Tucson 881-2650 or 325-9943.

Solar Cooling

Bill Cunningham of Southwest Solar sells high efficiency cooling systems.
http://www.southwest-solar.com

Solar Install

Technicians for Sustainability  www.tfssolar.com

Sources of native plant seed:

Wildlands Restoration, 2944 N. Castro, Tucson, AZ 85705, ph.(520) 882-0969. A great local business providing habitat restoration mixes, native grass mixes, wildflowers, butterfly mix, etc.

Southwestern Native Seeds, PO Box 50503, Tucson, AZ 85703. No phone, you’ve got to work with them through the mail. Interesting selection of some harder to find seed. A local couple run the whole show.

Wild Seed, Inc., PO Box 27751, Tempe, AZ 85285, ph. (602) 345-0669 wildflower mixes, native grasses, revegetation mixes, bird and butterfly mix

the best seed is that collected around the area you’ll be seeding. Existing plants and their seed are best adapted to the specific conditions (climate, soil, etc.) where they are found.

Sources of native seeds and more:

Plants of the Southwest, Agua Fria, Rt 6 Box 11A, Santa Fe, NM 875051-800-788-SEEDtrees, shrubs, wildflowers, grasses, vegetables, herbs, etc.

Native Seeds/SEARCH, 526 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705, ph. 520-622-5591 open-pollinated, native edibles (domesticated and wild) - your best bet for desert gardening. Free seed available for Native Americans in the Southwest.

Seeds of Change. 621 Old Santa Fe Trail, #10, Santa Fe, NM 87501 ph. 1-888-762-7333. Numerous, open-pollinated organically grown veggies, herbs, and flowers. Look carefully throughout their catalog and you’ll find such wild edibles as portulaca, lamb’s quarters, amaranth, epazote, and more. They have a seed “donation” program for worthy causes (such as community gardens) with which you can obtain year old seed at greatly reduced prices

Sources of local soil amendments and mulch:

Desert Compost, 571-1575. Desert Compost is a subsidiary of the Groundskeeper Landscaping Company. They take “green waste” (plant prunings and cuttings) from the Tucson area and compost it with reclaimed water. I find the product works best as a mulch. It is a uniform product that should appeal to most folks aesthetics. You can pick it up yourself or have it delivered, but delivery is not cheap.

Manure/Compost U of A research farm, Ken Kriederman 405-1879. $5 per cubic yard of manure or $10 per cubic yard of compost. They will load your truck with a front loader. Call to find out if there is material and when you can pick it up.

Manure. Stables all around town are trying to get rid of their manure and would love for you to come by and pick it up – this means you can usually get it for FREE. Some may even deliver it to you. Get out the yellow pages and call around. It would be best if the manure were aged (fresh stuff can burn your plants), not sprayed (some folks spray manure piles with pesticides to keep down flies), and did not originate from a feed mix that included bermuda grass/seed.

The University of Arizona research farms just south of the Rillito River off Campbell Ave. is selling compost and manure. The nice thing is they will load your truck. Prices range from $5-$10 per cubic yard. Call Ken Kriederman at 405-1879 to find out when you can pick some up. The Tucson Organic Gardeners may also have some source tips at 670-9158.

Straw. Just check your local feed stores. Always ask for broken bales, or water damaged stuff as it will be cheaper or free - and works great as mulch. If you know of any straw bale building sites you can often ask for surplus broken bales. Halloween Night pumpkin stands will probably be looking to get rid of their decorative bales too.

Tree bark. Call up local firewood distributors as bark is often a waste product and can be obtained for free. I’ve had good luck with Nordstrom Firewood Company at 1107 E. 23rd. They just pile it up by the street and you can take all you want for free. \

Sources for unmilled lumber (for building watos, fences, etc.): A huge amount of lumber is mulched and taken to the dump every day as landscape crews, Parks and Recreation Departments, and tree companies cut down old or dying trees from our communities. Much of the larger trees could be cut into posts for watos (traditional ramadas), fences, or vigas in buildings thus utilizing local materials for building materials and cutting down on our waste stream. Agave, sotol, and yucca flower stalks could also be saved for fencing and latillas. Contact local tree service companies, your Parks and Recreation Department, Transportation Department, and Solid Waste Department to encourage them to stockpile larger, unmilled lumber for sale or redistribution. The following companies sometimes provide this service: Affordable Tree Service, Inc. 579-2193. Sometimes thier mesquite wood has been bladed from rural lands, so I don’t feel comfortable supporting that. Although they often have pecan wood gleaned from prunings of pecan orchards - this is truely turning a waste into a resource and is worth supporting.

Trees for Tucson. Call 791-3109 and ask for Doug Koppinger. This is a fantastic organization that provides free or very inexpensive low-water use trees for neighborhoods, community organizations, non-profits, and groups of people. They have a shade tree program (for trees to shade buildings) and a street tree program (to shade streets and sidewalks). Any low water use native tree can be obtained from them, but sometimes you need to specifically ask for it (them) as the list of trees they give you is not as comprehensive as what they can get. They will help you organize a neighborhood tree planting, which is one of the most amazing and gratifying things you can do!

Dunbar/Spring Organic Community Garden and Mini-Nature Park, at the northwest corner of University Blvd. and 11th Ave. (just north of downtown Tucson). This is an all volunteer run neighborhood organic park and garden. While the western end of the garden is the mini-nature park and features multiple use native plants found in the Tucson area, the rest of the garden features an organic orchard of fruit tree cultivars and understory plantings appropriate for the Tucson area (plants are identified with signs), and individual garden plots with passive water harvesting elements. Periodically check the north side of the bulletin board for community workshops and volunteer days.

Farmacy Garden, located off Cottonwood Lane, along the west side of the Santa Cruz river and just south of Silverlake Rd. Call Jeremy or Donna at 622-2241. This organic garden is part of the non-profit Spirit of Service Clinic, Inc. a group striving to provide affordable alternative health care. Clients can pay for health care services by working in the garden which raises medicinal herbs and food. They conduct gardening workshops and have volunteer days. They are also setting up a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program where you can subscribe to receive weekly boxes of locally grown, organic produce.

Native Seeds/SEARCH. 622-5561 A non-profit growing out Native American crops in order to preserve and promote their genetic and cultural diversity. Call about their volunteer opportunities at the Sylvester Gardens/Seed Bank and the Patagonia Farm. They also have a great store at 526 N. 4th Ave.

Soto’i Gardens, ask for Henry or Dee Soto 749-5503. A local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program where you can subscribe to receive weekly boxes of locally grown, organic produce. With a prolific garden off Tanque Verde Creek on Tucson’s east side, Henry and Dee often include native crops such as itoi onions and tepary beans into their offerings.

Southside Food Production Network/Tucson Urban Gardeners, Southside Food Production Network, Community Food Bank, P.O. Box 26727, Tucson, AZ 85726-6727. 622-0525 extension 242. Email sfpn@communityfoodbank.com. A GREAT program setting up food gardens more sustainable food distribution, and building community on Tucson’s south side. They manage a number of wonderful community gardens including the Community Food Bank Garden at 3003 S. Country Club Rd. where they sell organic produce grown at the garden to those using the Food Bank’s services. You can help creating new community gardens, working existing gardens, and/or go to their Back Yard Garden Parties which helps folks set up gardens in their own back yards! They have plenty of volunteer opportunities.

Tucson Organic Gardeners began more than 20 years ago as a club where people who chose to use organic methods to maintain their gardens could exchange ideas and enjoy fellowship. Today almost 200 members, associates and friends continue this tradition through frequent lectures, potlucks, and hands-on advice in the monthly newsletter, The Composter, all for a modest membership fee. Your source for organic gardening and composting in Tucson–we’ve been soiling our hands since 1971.

Miramonte Gardens Community Garden Project, located at the northwest end of the St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church grounds at 3809 E. 3rd. Lori 325-1001. This is both a Community Garden and a Home/Demo site of the Tucson Organic Gardeners. The garden is still being created, but well underway. Every Saturday from 9am - noon members of the Tucson Organic Gardeners are there - they would love your help, and will teach you a thing or two.

Zuni Ave. Community Garden, 6054 E. 30th. 512-0154. A great community garden working in partnership with a Peace Center, a Mennonite Church, and the Zuni Ave. bike club.

LocalHarvest.org, a web based resource that provides a comprehensive directory of gardeners/farmers selling produce through farmers’ markets, farm stands, U-pick farm stands, and Community Supported Agriculture programs.

Places to see some of our local native vegetation where plants are marked:

Tohono Chul Park

7366 N. Paseo Del Norte (northwest of Ina and Oracle intersection). 575-8468. They have extensive gardens and a plant nursery. The path in the southwestern section of the park highlights vegetation native to the Tucson Basin, plants have identification signs.

Dunbar/Spring Organic Community Garden and Mini-Nature Park

At the northwest corner of University Blvd. and 11th Ave. (just north of downtown Tucson). This is an all volunteer run neighborhood park and garden. The western end of the garden is the mini-nature park and features multiple use native plants found in the Tucson area. The plants are marked with identification signs that also highlight some of the plants’ ethnobotanical uses.

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum,

2021 N. Kinney Rd. 883-2702. Extensive gardens and exhibits. They have an excellent plant sale that is more or less an annual event.

Tucson Botanical Gardens

2150 N. Alvernon Way. 326-9255. The northeastern corner of the park features more plants native to the Tucson area with a small south west ethnobotanical exhibit.

Desert Botanical Garden

, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix. They have an excellent ethnobotanical exhibit called the “Plants and People of the Sonoran Desert Trail”.

Good local plant nurseries for natives and edible exotics:

Bach’s Cactus Nursery, Tucson. 744-3333. many cacti, ask which have the tastiest fruit.

Catalina Heights, Tucson. 298-2822. a gentle, family run operation with good fruit tree selection. Some native plants.

Civano Nursery, Tucson. 5301 S. Houghton Rd. 546-9200. good nursery on the southeast side of town with natives and fruit trees.

Coronado Heights Nursery, 882-0969. Owner Bernie operates this nursery in her back yard beside her husband’s native seed company – Wildlands Restoration. They’re great people and Bernie can take contract grow-outs. She propagates her plants in extra deep pots which encourage deeper root growth and greater success in survival rates. This is not typically a retail business.

Elephant Tree Greenhouses, 130 West Armijo Street. 882-8335. Call Marya Olsen for hours. Sonoran perennials and odd desert scrub are the specialties and grown on site.

Desert Survivors, Tucson. 791-9309. a non-profit nursery offering many native plants.

Mesquite Valley Growers, Tucson. 721-8600. the largest nursery in our area.

Plants for the Southwest, Tucson. 628-8773. knowledgeable owners and interesting selection of natives and dryland plants.

Tohono Chul, Tucson. 742-6455. many natives, some you don’t usually find elsewhere. They have extensive gardens where you can see mature specimens of all the plants they sell. Tucson Botanical Gardens Nursery, Tucson. 326-9255. At their plant sales you can often find some selections that you can’t get elsewhere.

Good plant nurseries for higher elevation

(3,500′ +) native plants:

Arizona Cactus & Succulent Research, Inc., 8 South Cactus Lane, Bisbee, AZ 85603-6306, (520) 432-7040. Email: azcactus@primenet.com. Website: www.arizonacactus.com. This site has the Arizona Cactus’ Botanical Garden, extensive library, and guided tours.

Spadefoot Nursery, Pearce. 824-3247. A wholesale nursery. Many natives, Peter (Petey Mesquitey) really knows his plants and is a wonderful storyteller and guide. A good source of higher elevation plants.

Flagstaff Native Plant Nursery, 400 East Butler, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. 520-773-9406. fax: 520- 773 0107

Out of town nurseries with interesting edibles:

-when mail ordering plants be sure they can take our extreme growing conditions. Ask before you order-

Oregon Exotics Nursery, 1065 Messinger Road, Grants Pass, Oregon 97527. www.exoticfruit.com. Edible and medicinal plants from around the world, including some interesting edible cactus. (Cat. $4)

Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery, PO Box 160, Vista, CA 92085. (760) 724-9093. They don’t have any plants native to the Southwest, but they do have a great diversity of edible exotics including hard to find pomegranate cultivars that are much sweeter than those found locally. Everything grown organically…and guarded by wild butterflies.

Edible Landscaping, PO Box 77, Afton, Virginia 22920. 1-800-524-4156. www.eat-it.com. Good selection of edible exotics.

Pacific Tree Farms, 4301 Lynwood Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91910. (619) 422-2400. Good selection of edible exotics including fruiting olive trees!

Sources of locally grown organic produce and other foods:

Food Conspiracy Co-op. 412 N. 4th Ave. 624-4821. A great member owned co-op offering organic and natural foods/products. They support local growers and suppliers by carrying their goods, and they generously sponsor local organizations and events.

Source of locally and organically raised free-range beef: Chet and Debbie with the Saguaro/Juniper Association. 520-212-4769. They raise the cattle and then take them to slaughter. The animals never leave local hands as all the meat is processed by a local butcher. The meat is very lean and in 2001 averaged just over $3/pound of mixed cuts.

www.DesertHarvesters.org. a grassroots organization promoting the sustainable
growing, harvesting, processing, and eating of native foods.

Source for information on organically grown foods and policy:

Organic Consumers Association (OCA). www.organicconsumers.org.

Sources of grain mills (for grinding mesquite pods and the like): R & R Mill Company, Inc. PO B0x 187, 48 West First North, Smithfield, Utah 84335-0187. (435)563-3333. A good supplier of hand and electric powered grain mills.Local source of a hammermill for use of grinding your own mesquite pods:

Once a year David Omick and Pearl Mast host a mesquite bean milling day in Cascabel, Arizona (just north of Benson) with the community hammermill (a mechanical mill that easily breaks up the mesquite pod and some of the hard seed to produce quality flour). It’s a small, but festive, event, usually held in late September/early October, so we’re out of the humid monsoon weather and the beans have a chance to dry well. They send out a notice a couple weeks before the event. The only stipulation is that the milling be for home consumption (non-commercial) use only. Bring as many beans as you like. Contact them via email at david@omick.com. or regular mail at David Omick and Pearl Mast, 5780 North Cascabel Road, Benson, AZ 85602. phone (520)-212-4628.
Here are their mesquite harvest recommendations:

– Pick beans off the tree rather than the ground to help prevent getting moldy beans. Ripe beans will come off the branch easily, with just a gentle pull.

– Wash beans (we dunk them in a tub of water).

– Spread beans out thinly on a clean surface to dry for several days in direct sun. (It’s important that the beans be crispy dry for milling - they should snap in two if you try to bend them.)

– In storage, the beans may hatch insects, but we mill them anyway (it’s just a different form of protein). Some folks prefer to store them in the freezer or heat them in an oven and then seal them to prevent insects.

– After milling, put the meal into jars and heat (we use a solar oven) to about 150 degrees for a couple hours to kill insect eggs. Seal the jars with a tight fitting lid, and the meal will last indefinitely without bugs.

– About 30 gallons of plump dry pods will mill down to about 5 gallons of seed coats/chaff and 5 gallons of mesquite meal (which you quickly and easily separate from the chaff with a window screen).

Sources of native edible foods:

Native Seeds/SEARCH, 526 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705, ph. 520-622-5591 They have packaged mesquite flour, tepary beans, cactus jelly, chia seeds, and more!

San Xavier Farm Cooperative Association, Inc., 8100 S. Oidak Wog, Tucson, AZ 85746. 520-295-3774. A great local source of native mesquite flour, tepary beans, roasted wheat flour, corn meal, roasted corn, squash, and more!

Bake Mixes by Junie. Junie Hostetler, Owner, POB 41591, Tucson, AZ 85717-1591. 520-360-7613. Email: bakemix@bakemixesbyjunie.com. Junie specializes in quality dry baking mixes using Southwest ingredients such as
chile poweders, blue cornmeal, mesquite flour, native herbs, and popped amaranth.

Hot Springs Canyon Herb Co. 6055 N. Canyon Rd., Benson AZ 85602. Organic, hand processed prickly pear syrup along with organically grown exotic veggies and fruits.

Sources of native crafts, books and videos:

Native Seeds/SEARCH, 526 N. 4th Ave., Tucson, AZ 85705, ph. 520-622-5591

Silverbell Trading, 7007 N. Oracle Rd. 797-6852. They’re great about special ordering anything they don’t have in their well stocked selection.

Dawn Southwest offers books and videos on natural building and permaculture

Buy local - you can also try Tucson’s other great local, independent bookstores such as Antigone’s, Readers’ Oasis, the Tucson Audubon Nature Shop, and others. They love special orders!
Reading list

Water Harvesting:

www.HarvestingRainwater.com. Water-harvesting resources that help you turn
water scarcity into water abundance.

Sourcebook for edible plants:

CORNUCOPIA II - A Source Book of Edible Plants. by Stephen Facciola. Published by Kampong Publications, 1998. Very comprehensive guide telling you what parts of 1000s of wild plants and rare cultivars are edible and where you can find nurseries that grow and sell them.

Edible flowers:

Creasy, Rosalind. THE EDIBLE FLOWER GARDEN. Boston: Periplus Editions, 1999. Learn what flowers you can eat to extend and diversify your harvest!

Native plant identification: Bowers, Janice Emily. SHRUBS AND TREES OF THE SOUTHWEST DESERTS. Tucson: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 1993. Great guide for the low desert with clear line drawings.

Elmore, Francis H.. SHRUBS AND TREES OF THE SOUTHWEST UPLANDS. Tucson:
Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 1976. Another great guide for
higher elevations than the Tucson valley.

Elpel, Thomas. BOTANY IN A DAY - Herbal Guide to Plant Families 4th Edition.
Pony: HOPS Press, 2000. A guide for identifying native and exotic plants.
Rather than by teaching you the plants individually it teaches you to learn
patterns of plants so you can easily figure out the plant’s family and
potential uses.

Epple, Anne Orth. PLANTS OF ARIZONA. Helena: Falcon Press Publishing,
1995. Good guide with color photos of all the featured plants.

Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., and collaborators. ARIZONA FLORA.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1951. A big fat academic book
that is as dry as it is informative.

Parker, Kittie. AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO ARIZONA WEEDS. Tucson: University
of Arizona Press, 1972. Great illustrations. It seems this book was geared
to those keeping cattle, yet if you keep in mind that many of these plants
have many more uses and benefits than the book mentions, it works great for
identifying plants.

Books on wild plant propagation:
Young, James, Young, Cheryl. COLLECTING, PROCESSING AND GERMINATING SEEDS OF
WILDLAND PLANTS. Portland: Timber Press 1986.

Forest Service. SEEDS OF WOODY PLANTS IN THE UNITED STATES. Washington,
D.C.: Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook
No. 450, 1989.

Ethnobotanical uses of native plants including cooking, eating, medicinal
use, and more:
Cocannouer, Joseph. WEEDS - Guardians of the Soil. Old Greenwich:
Devin-Adair Company, 1950. Out of print book that informs us of the many
benefits of “weeds”. A good local used book store should be able to locate
it for you.

Curtin, L. S. M. HEALING HERBS of the Upper Rio Grande - Traditional
Medicine of the Southwest. Santa Fe: Western Edge Press, 1997.

Dahl, Kevin. WILD FOODS OF THE SONORAN DESERT. Tucson: Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum, 1995. A brief and informative book on some of our local wild
foods.

Dunmire, William and Tierney, Gail. WILD PLANTS and NATIVE PEOPLES of the
FOUR CORNERS. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1997.

Ebeling, Walter. HANDBOOK OF INDIAN FOODS AND FIBERS OF ARID AMERICA. Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 1986. Great out of print resource.

Felger, Richard Stephen and Moser, Mary Beck. PEOPLE OF THE DESERT AND SEA.
Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985. Very informative book on many
Seri uses of their local plants - many of which are found in southern
Arizona.

Hodgson, Wendy. FOOD PLANTS OF THE SONORAN DESERT. Tucson: University of
Arizona Press, 2001. Should be out any day. I saw an early manuscript and
it was amazing!

Kay, Margarita Artschwager. HEALING WITH PLANTS in the American and Mexican
West. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996.

Moore, Michael. LOS REMEDIOS - Traditional Herbal Remedies of the Southwest.
Santa Fe: Red Crane Books, 1990.

Moore, Michael. MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE DESERT AND CANYON WEST. Santa Fe:
Museum of New Mexico Press, 1989. One of the best for identification and use
of our native medicinal plants.

Nabhan, Gary Paul. GATHERING THE DESERT. Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 1985.

Nabhan, Gary Paul. CULTURES OF HABITAT: On Nature, Culture, and Story
Counterpoint, 1997.

Niethammer, Carolyn J. AMERICAN INDIAN COOKING: RECIPES FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
New York: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. A great guide on how to
prepare foods from a number of native plants in our area. This book used to
be called “American Indian Food and Lore”.

Niethammer, Carolyn J. THE TUMBLEWEED GOURMET - COOKING WITH WILD
SOUTHWESTERN PLANTS. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1987. How to do
it all in your kitchen.

Nyerges, Christopher. GUIDE TO WILD FOODS AND USEFUL PLANTS. Chicago:
Chicago Review Press, 1999.

Rea, Amadeo. AT THE DESERT’S GREEN EDGE. Tucson: University of Arizona
Press, 1997. I can’t recommend this one enough ,wonderful stories in the
Gila Piman’s own words and great info!

Ethnobotanical uses of native and exotic plants with a bent on cooking and
eating:
Clayfield, Robin. YOU CAN HAVE YOUR PERMACULTURE AND EAT IT TOO. Crystal
Waters: Earthcare Education, 1996. A permaculture book for gardeners and
cooks.

English, Sandal. FRUITS OF THE DESERT. Tucson, The Arizona Daily Star,
1981. Many recipes for native plants and exotic edibles commonly found in
and around Tucson, AZ.

Henderson, Robert K. THE NEIGHBORHOOD FORAGER - A Guide for the Wild Food
Gourmet. White River: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2000. Most of the plants
in this book are not in our area, but the art of foraging in your
neighborhood is beautifully described.

Madison, Deborrh. VEGETARIAN COOKING FOR EVERYONE. New York: Broadway
Books, 1997.
A great resource from which Barbara Rose derives much inspiration. Barbara
substitutes many native foods for the ingredients many of these recipes.

Mollison, Bill. THE PERMACULTURE BOOK OF FERMENT AND HUMAN NUTRITION.
Tyalgum: Tagari Publications, 1993. An eclectic book teaching you to
process and store your own food and how to make your own ingredients.

Eating locally:
Nabhan, Gary Paul. “COMING HOME TO EAT”. Orion, Summer 2000. pp. 32-40.
Great article on how the author and his partner made sure at least 4 out of
every 5 of their meals for a year came from food produced within 250 miles of
their home. Their Sense of Place, awareness of the seasons, and connection
to our food distribution system were all enhanced.

Nabhan, Gary Paul. COMING HOME TO EAT – The Pleasures and Politics of Local
Foods W. W. Norton & Co. 2002. Wonderful book taking the above article much
further.

Great guide to eating insects found on or around plants:
Menzel, Peter and D’Aluisio, Faith. MAN EATING BUGS - The Art and Science of
Eating Insects. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1998. I cannot recommend this
book enough. Great stories, recipes, and color photographs that will change
the way you interact with insects forever!

Dyeing with native plants:
Las Aranas Spinners and Weavers Guild, Inc. DYEING WITH NATURAL MATERIALS.
Albuquerque: Las Aranas Spinners and Weavers Guild, Inc., 1995. Dyeing with
plants common in the Southwest U.S.

Basketry:
Jensen, Elizabeth. BASKETS FROM NATURE’S BOUNTY. Loveland: Interweave
Press, 1991. An illustrated how-to guide on basketry.

Primitive skills:
Blankenship, Bart and Robin. EARTH KNACK - Stone Age Skills For the 21st
Century. Layton: Gibbs Smith, 1996.

Olsen, Larry Dean. OUTDOOR SURVIVAL SKILLS. Chicago, Chicago Review Press,
1997.

Wescott, David. PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY - A BOOK OF EARTH SKILLS. Layton:
Gibbs Smith, 1999.

Gardening (* means particularly good for our area):
Ashworth, Susan. SEED TO SEED - Seed Saving Techniques for the Vegetable
Gardener. Decorah: Seed Saver Publications, 1991.

*Cleveland, David A. and Soleri, Daniela. FOOD FROM DRYLAND GARDENS.
Tucson: Center for People, Food and Environment, 1991.

Mollison, Bill. PERMACULTURE - A Designer’s Manual. Tyalgum: Tagari
Publications, 1992.

*Murphy, Tim. “HACKBERRY / WALNUT GUILDS”. PERMACULTURE ACTIVIST Vol. V,
No. 2, May 1989: 1, 4

*Nyhuis, Jane. DESERT HARVEST - A Guide to Vegetable Gardening in Arid Lands
. Tucson: Growing Connections, 1982.

Rayner, Lisa and Rand Snyder. GROWING FOOD IN THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. 240
W. Saunders, #112, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, 1996.

Landscaping with native plants:
Mielke, Judy. NATIVE PLANTS FOR SOUTHWESTERN LANDSCAPES. Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1993. This book is very clear with color photos
and useful information. A number of plants are featured here that you won’t
find in other native landscaping books.

Water issues in the southwest U.S.
Bowden, Charles. KILLING THE HIDDEN WATERS - Slow Destruction of Water
Resources in the American Southwest. University of Texas Press, 1977.
Beautifully and powerfully describes our relationship with our most limited
and precious resource past and present.

Laney, Nancy. DESERT WATERS - From Ancient Aquifers to Modern Demands.
Tucson: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 1998. Short, clear booklet.

Looking at our cities, towns, and landscapes as watersheds:
SECOND NATURE - Adapting LA’s Landscape For Sustainable Living. Edited by
Patrick Condon and Stacy Moriarty. Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California, 1999. A great resource of a group in Los Angeles creating
cross-jurisdicitional and cross-disciplinary connections between the people
and institutions responsible for the infrastructure, planning, and ecology
of Los Angeles in order to view the city as a living watershed . Concepts
such as passive rainwater harvesting and multiple-use landscaping are
presented that could help improve the sustainability of the City and the
watershed.
Contact the organization at TREEPEOPLE, 12601 Mulholland Drive, Beverly
Hills, CA 90210. www.treepeople.org/trees

Video list
THE GLOBAL GARDENER. 1991. A great four part video showing how
permaculture/sustainable strategies have been applied throughout the world.
The parts are called THE TROPICS, DRY LANDS, COOL CLIMATES, and URBAN.

NOVA: SECRETS OF LOST EMPIRES - INCA. South Burlington: WGBH video, 1997.
A great video in which you see how a small Peruvian community builds a
suspension bridge out of nothing more than grass.

WILD EDIBLE PLANTS OF SPRING. Tucson: Tucson Public Library, 1978. A poor
quality, but informative video on common native edible plants found in
spring. Tips on how to prepare them.

RUTH STOUT’S GARDEN. Santa Rosa: Arthur Mokin Productions, Inc.. A
wonderful video about Ruth Stout, and how at 100 years of age she can still
effortlessly and productively garden by MULCHING

issaquah, washington. www.gardenworks.cc - ruth stout’s garden is available in vhs and
> dvd.

425-430-2446, (email) info@gardenworks.cc
Audio
THE PETEY MESQUITEY SHOW ON KXCI 91.3FM. A great 5 minute show on Monday
mornings and Friday afternoons where wonderful and informative stories are
told or sung about our Sonoran Desert. Call KXCI at 623-1000 for more info.
THE BEST OF PETEY MESQUITEY. Tucson: KXCI community radio. A CD put out by KXCI community radio compiling some of Petey Mesquitey’s best rantings, songs, and stories celebrating the wonder of our Sonoran Desert.

www.HarvestingRainwater.com. Water-harvesting resources that help you turn
water scarcity into water abundance. Brad Landcaster

Tank Town Of course, we think our rainwater is special…We live in the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin. Our data about rainfall amounts, problems with incredibly hard water, and xeriscape recommendations are all gleaned from our tiny spot on the planet. Because we have no problems here (yet) with acid rain or serious industrial air pollution or agricultural air pollution, we skipped right over these concerns, which could be limiting factors in other parts of the country or the world when designing rainwater collection systems.

WaterWiser Your premier water efficiency and water conservation information resource. For years now, WaterWiser has been faithfully serving the growing community of water conservation and efficiency practitioners and advocates by continually developing new services that will meet customers’ needs.

ARCSA was founded in 1994 in Austin, Texas to promote rainwater catchment systems in the United States. Membership consists of professionals working in city, state, and federal government, academia, manufacturers and suppliers of rainwater harvesting equipment, consultants, and other interested individuals.

Texas Metal Cisterns! We specialize in hand building the highest quality galvanized tanks for rainwater harvesting, rainwater collection, well supplement systems and windmills. We can provide you with a wide range of products and services to meet your water needs. We sell and install water softeners, Reverse Osmosis systems, pressure tanks and pumps, Ozone systems, Ultraviolet sterilizers, and filter systems. We also design and install rainwater harvesting systems, garden watering systems, and water well supplement systems.

Great soaps for greywater systems:

Oasis dishwashing and laundry soaps. Many soaps are marketed as biodegradable, but have a high salt content which is horrible for our soil. Oasis is the only soap I know of with a lower salt content than our groundwater. The dishwashing soap can be diluted to 10 parts water: 1 part soap for use as a body soap and shampoo. It is available in bulk from the Food Conspiracy Co-op. For more information on how differently common brand name detergents break down in your greywater and soil, get a copy of “GREYWATER AND YOUR DETERGENT” available free of charge from Tucson Water (520) 791-4331.

Oasis also offers books on how to install a graywater system.

BASIC GARDEN BED (DUG) SOIL MIX AND PREPARATION

Dig down 12-18 inches Fill in with soil mix of 1 part the native soil you just dug out to 1 part aged manure mixed Make sure garden bed level is 4-6 inches below grade (a depression) so it will harvest rainwater and hold mulch

BASIC RECIPE FOR PLANTING A TREE

Dig a hole twice as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. Put the tree (minus the pot) in the hole and backfill with the native soil you dug out. Create a micro-basin around the tree to harvest rainwater and hold mulch. Micro basins are often 6-18 inches deep and 5-10 feet in diameter. Make the basin slopes gradual. The tree will be pedestalled in the middle of the basin. Do not create a berm all around your basin, only on the downslope side if at all (you want to let runoff water in). Do not put any amendment IN your soil, put them all ON TOP of your soil like a mulch. 2-4 inches of aged manure or compost with 2-4 inches of bark on top works well.

WINTER SHADOW RATIO

You can determine how long an object such as a tree will cast a shadow to the north at noon on the Winter Solstice (December 21st) when the sun will be at its lowest in the southern horizon. The ratio is 1:1.4. For every foot in height an object has it will cast a shadow 1.4 feet in length to the north. So, a 20 foot tall tree will cast a shadow 28 feet to the north at noon on Dec. 21st. This ratio is very helpful in placing trees or other objects south of south-facing windows so you can insure you won’t shade them in winter and loose your passive solar heating and lighting potential. Make sure you research the mature height of trees and use that potential height in figuring what the eventual shadow cast could be for the tree at maturity.

PATTERN OF THE SUN AT 32 degrees latitude At the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21st) the sun rises 28 degrees to the SOUTH of due east and sets 28 degrees to the SOUTH of due west. At noon the sun is 35 degrees above the southern horizon. This winter sun is a free source of heat and light when we need it – be sure you have it (don’t shade it out or forget south-facing windows). Bare branches of winter deciduous trees block out 50% or more of potential heat and light. See passive solar design resources for appropriate window and roof overhang sizes. The Passive Solar Energy Book by Edward Mazria is a good one. At the Spring (March 21st) and Fall (September 21st) Equinoxes the sun rises due east and sets due west. The sun is 57 degrees above the southern horizon at noon. At the summer equinox the sun rises 28 degrees to the NORTH of due east and sets 28 degrees to the NORTH of due west. At noon the sun is 81 degrees above the southern horizon. Thus in the morning and latter afternoon hours of summer the northeast and northwest sides of the house are the hot exposed sides, while during the midday hours the south side is the hot, exposed side,(easily protected by a roof overhang).

CALCULATION FOR FIGURING OPTIMAL ROOF OVERHANG LENGTH ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF YOUR HOUSE FOR PASSIVE HEATING AND COOLING Appropriately sized overhangs/eaves on the south side of your house can shade your walls and windows in summer while allowing for direct exposure to the sun in winter. This is due to the sun being closer to the southern horizon (in northern hemisphere) in the winter months and almost directly overhead in the summer months. To calculate optimal overhang/eave length use the following calculation

from Ed Mazria’s book, The Passive Solar Energy Book…

window opening (height*)

Projection= F

Where F = Factor from the following table

North Latitude F Factor**

28 degrees 5.6-11.1

32 degrees 4.0-6.3

36 degrees 3.0-4.5

40 degrees 2.5-3.4

44 degrees 2.0-2.7

48 degrees 1.7-2.2

52 degrees 1.5-1.8

56 degrees 1.3-1.5

*Height is determined by measuring from the window sill to the top of the wall in which the window is located. **Select a factor according to your latitude. The higher values will provide 100% shading at noon on June 21, the lower values until August 1. Note - In

the low desert at 32 degrees latitude I want maximum summer shade, so I

actually use an even lower value (3.5) than Ed recommends.

SOLAR-DYED YARN WITH NATURAL DYES by Jane Haynes

One-half gallon glass jar with lid 2/3rds full of dye material.

Fill with water and add:

2 tablespoons alum (the alum is the mordant)

2 teaspoons cream of tartar, dissolved in warm water (cream of tartar,helps give you an even dying)

1 to 2 ounce wet white wool yarn

Place in sun for 2 to 7 days or until color is pleasing. Shake daily. Remove, squeeze and rinse well. Squeeze again and dry in a shady place. You can try brittlebush leaves, red or brown onion skins, red rock soil, mistletoe, citrus leaves, and more.

www.caneloproject.com  Located near Elgin in southern Arizona, this non profit connects people, culture & nature, while exploring ways of living that connect people and the natural world and seeking to balance the wisdom and skills of the past with those things which have value today. Combining efforts with others, this organization creates simple, comfortable shelter using local and natural materials with handcrafted care.

www.caneloproject.com/DAWN DAWN Southwest in Tucson, Arizona, located 12 miles west of downtown, continues to evolve into a demonstration site for natural building and sustainable living. See Joelee Joyce under ‘Members’ at this website.

Green Building Resource Center  This website lists many nationwide resources for green building and a calendar that lists scores of greeen building events all over the country each month.

TUCSON AND STATE

You’ve already found your local Tucson Permaculture Connection www.sonoranpermaculture.org, so here are some more connections to check out in Arizona.

There are a number of Yahoo listserv groups for different parts of the state of Arizona. First log on to www.yahoo.com, then click on the ’groups’ link. You can type in the group you are looking for below:

For Tucson type in the Yahoo group Tucson_Permaculture

For Phoenix see www.phoenixpermaculture.org  Both the website and discussion group are at this site now. Also check out www.urbanfarm.org

For Flagstaff type in the Yahoo group Flagstaff Permaculture. Also check out www.edenonearthlandscaping.com, www.lisarayner.com, and www.mountainmeadowfarm.org

For Arizona statewide type in the Yahoo group Azpermaculture

NEW MEXICO

Try the Permaculture Institute in Sante Fe at www.permaculture.org

NATIONAL

www.permacultureactivist.net  In 2008 the Permaculture Activist celebrated 23 years of publication, and it is North America’s leading (and the world’s longest-lived) permaculture periodical. You’ll find information about permaculture design, edible landscaping, bioregionalism, ecovillage design, cooperative action, aquaculture, natural building, earthworks, forestry, energy, soils, agriculture, urban sustainability, renewable energy, botanical regeneration and restoration, and an extensive catalog of books and DVDs. There is also a section with products and services in the Permaculture Trading Post, and a current listing of upcoming Permaculture design courses.

I build things out of mud.

My Grandfather was a master dumpster diver. My Grandmother was a master gardener. These things together made many of the concepts of permaculture natural to me. The part that my grandparents didn’t teach me was how to do these things efficiently. They always harvested water, in a barrel and used old milk jugs to move it around. I love to design ways of making life more efficient and edible. I take care of my Grandma and my son. As a result my designs always take getting old and being young into consideration.

I am an artist.

Workshops Josephine has helped teach

• Water Harvesting
• Permaculture Design Course
• Earth Oven Building
• Natural Building

josephine@theriver.com

WHAT I DO

~ I harvest water,build soil, plant trees, garden, harvest and prepare native foods on 20 acres of Ironwood/Saguaro forest in the northern Tucson Mountains with family and friends;
~ Consult and design for clients who want to reduce energy and water use and to integrate their dwellings into the larger landscape (new and retrofit);
~ Teach workshops and coordinate Permaculture projects;
~ Work with our neighborhood watershed education team, SaPWET;
~ Sit on the Steering Committee for Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan;
~ Engage the town of Marana and local developers in envisioning healthy communities;
~ Practice the art of natural building/plastering on adobe, rammed earth, cob, and straw buildings (for new construction and renovation);
~ Love what I do and invite more folks to enjoy this kind of work/play.

CONTACT Barbara at (520) 572-7221 brosearth@aol.com

PROJECTS

Completed (c), works in progress (wip), simmering (s)
~ (c)- Dancing Rocks, an eco-logical community of 5 homes in an Ironwood
forest preserve and native plant nursery -
currently three families are owner-residents, and there are two trial residencies in progress.
The barn/classroom is completed and houses a classroom, blacksmith shop, and workshop, as well as residence space for temporary visitors.
Link to Home Owners Manual!

~ (c)- Kleber-Rose family rammed earth solar home and studio,
studio designer and owner contractor, 1989/9o.

~ (c)- Rose home office, passive solar earth /straw renovation of 1930’s
historic stone well house. Designer, owner contractor, 1994/95.

~ (c)- Sylvester House, historic adobe renovation for Native Seeds
S.E.A.R.C.H.- project planning and coordination, 1993/94.

~ (c)- Silverbell Trading is a gallery/trading post featuring local and native arts, crafts, and books
about sustainable living. It also features passive solar design, green/recycled building materials, and natural plaster and finishes. See the information below for contacting Silverbell Trading.

~ (c)- Kino School, conceptual design project for 10 acre site, permaculture
class, teacher/consultant, 1995

~ (c)- Mitchell Residence, permaculture landscape renovation for 1 acre site,
designer, project manager, 1996/97

~ (c)- “Becoming Beneficial Developers in our Own Backyards”, a 17 minute video
about the Safford Peak Watershed Education Team (SaPWET), story,
editing 1999-2000.

~ (c)- Northern Tucson Mountains Resource Conservation/Education Project,funded by
Pima County, Marana and Pro-Neighborhoods. A 2 year project to envision and
promote healthy communities while restoring Sonoran Desert habitat.
project coordinator, 1997-2000.

~ (wip)- Ryan Residence, permaculture landscape restoration for .15 acre
home site in urban adobe subdivision, consultant, designer with Rainbarrel,
designer, project coordinator, 1999-2000.

~ (wip)- Safford Peak Watershed Education Team (SaPWET) ongoing,
seasonal workshops, work parties and social events to promote relationship/stewardship
within our neighborhood watershed and larger community.Connecting urban and rural
communities by the water resources that flow through them.

~ (s/wip)- Sol Food, a wild and native natural foods/sustainable
living/catering/teaching/design business.

~ (s)- Green, solar “shopping/trade center” with water harvesting, all green
businesses, office space, park, gardens and performance areas, urban habitat restoration,
new or renovation…

Articles

Tucson Weekly- Permacultural Shift, November 12, ‘97

Az Daily Star- Harvesting Water, July 31, ‘97

The Rain Harvesters, September 26, ‘97

An effort to Protect the Desert, July 12, Sunday, 9?

The Citizen- Resident Pushes Benefits of Natural Run-off,October 28, ‘97

Permaculture Drylands Journal- Ferment and Human Nutrition, a review, August 94

Builder News Aug. ‘O4- Dancing Rocks: Living Lightly In A Land Of Little Rain

Silverbell Trading     www.silverbelltrader.com
7119 North Oracle Road
Tucson, AZ 85704
520-797-6852
Hours: 10-5, daily, closed Sunday

SOME OF WHAT I DO

I help folks make their part of the world a better place. And by doing so, the world as a whole becomes a better place. Since 1993 I’ve run a successful permaculture consulting, design, and education business. I share the fun innovations and daily adventures I live while striving to live more sustainably and comfortably in the Sonoran Desert. I plant trees for summer air conditioners and turn windows into winter heaters. By correctly orienting buildings, planning roof overhangs, and planting trees to shelter buildings and yards, homes and yards can heat and cool themselves.

For more information about Brad, visit his website, www.harvestingrainwater.com

(520) 206-9900 (work)
Tucson Audubon Society
300 E University Blvd, #120, Tucson AZ 85705

What I do

Habitat Restoration Program Manager at Tucson Audubon Society

Student of Permaculture design and sustainable living

Birdwatcher and nature enthusiast

Education

Degrees: BS, PhD in anthropology
Permaculture Design course certificate

Interest

On the local level I would like to understand what constitutes sustainability, particularly here in the Sonoran Desert, and how many ways there might be of organizing sustainable human society. I would like to explore social forms that allow for maintenance of natural ecosystems and threatened wildlife alongside humanity. This all involves looking not only at the technical mechanisms for sustainable building, food production, and resource use, but exploring urban design, forms of local democracy, and the means by which society might meet a variety of social and spiritual needs.

In earlier teaching and research I have explored what makes societies successful, both in terms of resource use and sociopsychological adjustment. The persistence of human beings over hundreds of thousands of years attests to the general sustainability of the traditional, small-scale societies that were the dominant form of social organization until very recently. The waxing and waning of larger societies (kingdoms, empires, etc.) over the last 5,000 years suggests a different, more difficult-to-sustain social organization. Today’s commerce-driven, globalizing, mass society is still very new and it is difficult to see its future. However, ominous trends include its rate of resource use, tendency to decrease cultural diversity,  production of weapons of mass destruction, and creation of wide gaps between regions and classes.

Projects

Tucson Audubon habitat restoration projects, mostly along the Santa Cruz River in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties, are restoring and enhancing riparian habitat. In some cases they are rehabilitating abandoned farm fields and pastures. These projects employ Permaculture design concepts, including rainwater harvesting, to make restoration successful and sustainable. The goal of the restoration projects is to encourage and support functioning ecosystems that provide habitat for native wildlife.

Tucson Audubon is currently developing an urban initiative to bring more sustainability to the Tucson metropolitan area. In particular it will focus on what we call “rainwater-based habitat landscaping”. Tucsonans are generally very aware of the need for water conservation and the concept of “xeriscaping”. But xeriscapes are usually installed in ways that repel rainwater, emphasizing rock mulch and few plants. it adds up to landscapes that are little used by birds and other wildlife. These same landscapes can include much more plant diversity and density, more structural diversity, organic mulch, and dependence on harvested rainwater rather than irrigation.

In 2004 I served on a research team organized by The WLB Group, Inc., and funded by the City of Tucson, to plan a Tucson Origins Heritage Park. The park will reconstruct historic buildings and interpret the geological, biological and cultural origins of Tucson.

I participate in some of the teaching efforts of the Sonoran Permaculture Guild, mainly teaching a session during the annual 72 hour design course.  I am working to help the Guild teach that sustainability is not only a collection of techniques, but a site-specific, creative, and energetic combination of techniques patterned after local ecosystems, that solves local problems of survival in a locally appropriate way.

DAWN SouthWest

6570 W. Illinois Tucson, AZ 85735
Tel: 520 624 1673
email: dawnaz@earthlink.net

Please see our website at http://www.caneloproject.com/dawn and also at http://www.greenbuilder.com/dawn

Please see our series of classes available through Pima Community College non-credit Community Education series each semester. You can find these classe in the Pima Community College Activities booklet or go to www.pima.edu - then to community education - then to non-credit classes. Our classes are in the ‘do it yourself’ section of non-credit. Or call (520) 206-4500 for more information or to register at PCC.

We currently offer classes in gardening, shade structures, clay ovens, natural paints and plasters, and water harvesting.

DAWN SouthWest in Tucson, Arizona, a resource center for permaculture and natural building, continues its evolution as a permaculture demonstration site, including small structures built of natural materials, water harvesting systems, swales and raised pathways to help restore the desert and grow food; also see graywater & composting techniques, water gardens with their own watery ecosystems making an oasis in the desert; see an earthen bread oven and ramadas for rest and relaxation. NEW activities: with the help of friends, neighbors and local gardeners, includes native food gardens that are beginning to be a reality.

We like to provide learning experiences for all ages and interests in sustainable methods of building, gardening and living sustainably. We welcome visitors to come and browse the library, spend a day playing with cob, earthen plasters and clay paints, or water harvesting and land restoration. PERMACULTURE “Brunch”/OPEN HOUSE & MUD DAYS are held once a month (4th Saturdays - call to sign up, get times & directions). Join a workshop & experience the joys of creating small, natural buildings that reflect the owner/builder’s touch in appearance and form. We offer printed & video resources as well as natural building materials for plasters, paints and other enhancements for your site.

We continue to try to form partnerships, bringing together individuals who have the intent to build a more sustainable world, who would like to build connections and be more than each of us can be individually; and do more than each of us can do alone; we hope to provide a place where people can meet and try out old and new techniques to build a more sustainable world.

We offer opportunities for internships and work exchange for workshop participation. Call 624 1673 or email dawnaz@earthlink.net If you want updates on our workshops, events and activities that we sponsor and produce, and that of others who carry forth this spirit of cooperation and caring in this area, send your name, address and email and you will receive announcements (~quarterly or when major changes occur) - another free service from our resource center!

Support from partners and friends makes it possible to realize the vision of building relationships and weaving connections to the earth. DAWN = Developing Alliances with Nature. Special thanks for the generosity and talents of Athena & Bill Steen of The Canelo Project and all those who have been here and helped in a generous and kind way to make it all possible. Your energies are evident and you have left signs of your desire to learn how to build a more sustainable world, and what remains is indicative of your generous spirit, as indelible as the handprints on the earthen walls. Also thanks to Bill Christensen, webmaster extraordinaire for http://www.greenbuilder.com/dawn
This is your invitation to join in creative and thoughtful activities that teach permaculture strategies: a way to live on the earth that takes care of the earth, people, and can produce a surplus to share. There will be a conscious effort made to introduce ways of thinking about the design of an entire site, while building and gardening and conserving water and other resources. If this interests you as well as the fun of learning how to build beautiful,creative, natural, low-cost extensions of the earth, please do sign up and plan to have fun while building sustainably! We will also schedule special workshops for your group or organization Please call or email to arrange & allow 60 days lead time.

Work exchange and interns/residential stays welcome! Work exchange hours will be needed before, during and after the workshop so please contact us early for arrangements to be mutually agreeable. Interns will be longer term and can include exchange for workshops. Contact us for details. Please note: you can purchase natural paints & building materials, re-cycled materials & other resources and supplies at DAWN SouthWest; available for workshop participants at discounted prices.

Mark your Calendar! DAWN SouthWest OPEN HOUSE Fourth Saturday of Each Month (except December): Permaculture Brunch (BYOB) - GET DOWN TO EARTH/ MUD DAY! Site: SW Tucson, call to sign up! Get your hands in the mud and try out some earthen plasters on walls made of straw bales, adobe & cob. See demonstrations and get some hands-on experience: MUDDING FUN (EARTH PLASTERS), DESERT GARDENING, WATER HARVESTING, LAND RESTORATION PROJECTS, INCLUDING AFFORDABLE BUILDINGS & SMALL STRUCTURES WITH STRAW BALE ADOBE, & COB. Please note hours: 10 am - 2:00 pm (earlier hours in warmer weather) EMAIL OR CALL TO SIGN UP & GET DIRECTIONS. 520 624 1673 or dawnaz@earthlink.net Donations for materials, time & effort appreciated.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS - SPACE STILL AVAILABLE - PLEASE SIGN UP SOON! Workshops forming on demand…If you don’t want to wait, call to get on waiting list for special workshops not yet on the schedule!!! Get on the emailing list for immediate updates: send your full name, address and private email address to dawnaz@earthlink.net to sign up.

Other workshops: If you indicate an interest, we may be able to get enough signed up for a special workshop that you don’t see here! Send email, keep in touch.

JOIN OUR FREE EMAIL LIST: For updates & final schedule, contact us, or sign up for our email announcements. Send your name, address & email address to dawnaz@earthlink.net

Joelee Joyce
DAWN SouthWest
6570 W. Illinois
Tucson, AZ 85735
Tel: 520 624 1673
FAX: 520 882 8676 email: dawnaz@earthlink.net
http://www.caneloproject.com/dawn
also http://www.greenbuilder.com/dawn
Developing Alliances with Nature - Sustainable Living for a Better World
traditional Haida Indian saying: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Straw bale design       Before and after - Returning damaged land back into multi-use landscape                   

CONTACT DAN AT (520) 624-8030  dorsey@dakotacom.net 

I offer consultation services on Permaculture landscape design, water harvesting, straw bale and natural building design (along with complete to code blueprints), natural building, passive solar design, and general site assessment. I also offer workshops on many ‘Green’ topics through the Sonoran Permaculture Guild, Prescott College, and Pima Community College - and on request from nonprofits, neighborhood associations, and other groups and organizations in the Southwest.

I teach workshops on:

• Permaculture - I manage the Sonoran Permaculture Guild certificate course held each Spring and teach about half of the course content.
• Water harvesting
• Straw-bale House Design and Construction
• Desert Gardening
• Natural Building Materials
• Passive Solar Design
• Site assessment
• Edible plants in the Sonoran Desert
• Many other topics on ”going green” and building sustainablity into your life

My home base is Mesquite Tree (pictures at the bottom of this page) - a thirteen year old Permaculture site on one fifth acre - located one and a half miles north of downtown Tucson. This site features Permaculture design, along with water harvesting, kitchen gardens, grey-water recycling, passive solar design, mature edible landscaping, and an outdoor ramada classroom. The home and office is powered by solar panels on the roof.  Mesquite Tree is one of the Sonoran Permaculture Guild’s main classroom teaching sites and the location of its strawbale office in Tucson.

A Cross-Section of Typical Projects I have worked on the last sixteen years…

1. Mesquite Tree Permaculture Site: This urban site was completely devoid of any vegetation thirteen years ago.  Today, however, it is an integrated and  thriving community of edible plants and structures that demonstrate techniques for sustainable living in the desert Southwest.
2. Freedom Park in Tucson, AZ: Working with Tucson Parks and Recreation, as well as volunteers from Tucson Clean and Beautiful, I re-vegetated a bare and compacted five acres along the eastern edge of this City park by cutting large swales with heavy machinery and raking in with mulch a seed mixture of native plant species. What was once a bare site is today a thriving plant community of native trees and bushes.
3. The Old Community Food Bank in Tucson: As featured in the Permaculture Drylands Journal, I designed a way to rip up the asphalt of the parking lot along contour lines. Water harvesting swales were constructed along the contours, and trees were planted in the swales. After only one year the trees were thriving, supported by runoff from the parking lot. These trees shaded the parking lots and the west side of the building within three years.
4. Fundecai, the Mexico office of Save the Children: I consulted with Fundecai to design and build a prototype straw-bale home and Permaculture site in a poor barrio outside Ciudad Obregon in 1994 and 1995.
5. Design of energy efficient homes: I have designed and drawn blueprints for over 65 homes (single family residences) and auxillary structures ( home offices and studios), using a variety of natural and green building materials. I obtained the permits and built the first straw bale home to code in Pima County in 1992. Many of my homes have included whole site design for Permaculture landscaping also. I emphasize passive solar design, energy efficiency, and simple design features to create homes that are low energy use yet also beautiful and functional. I know the building codes and have years of hands on experience with design, natural building, and construction.
6. Black Mesa Permaculture Project: I worked and taught Permaculture on the Navajo (Dineh) Reservation for four summers in the 1990s. Using a series of gabions and swales as water harvesting structures, I helped the native Dineh people restore an entire watershed on what was once a severely eroded site.
7. I am on the adjunct faculty of Pima Community College, teaching green construction and straw bale house construction. I am also on the adjunct faculty of Prescott College, teaching and mentoring on a variety of green topics from Permaculture to passive solar design, water harvesting, and green business design.

A cross-section of articles about Dan:

1. The first permitted straw-bale house in Pima County is featured in the New York Times Dec 12th, 1991 on the front of the Living Arts Section.
2. Picked by the Tucson Weekly as one of seven “Local Heroes” for 2007 in the December 20-26th, 2007 issue for making Tucson a better place through teaching and implementing Permaculture throughout the City and the Southwest.
3. Received a grant from the Arizona Department of Water Resources to develop low cost water cisterns, The Arizona Daily Star, August 17th, 1995.
4. Featured as one of the founders of Tucson Traders, a successful alternative money system in Tucson - The Arizona Daily Star, July 8th, 1999.
5. Mesquite Tree Permaculture Site is profiled in Tucson Green Magazine - April 2008 issue.
6. Interviewed on the topic of Permaculture for the Genesis Network, a nationwide network of 150 radio stations in May 2008 by Sheri Frey on ’The Easy Organic Gardener Show.
7. Mesquite Tree Permaculture Site and Dan featured on YouTube at
8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDmhavqFj3Q

 The First three images below show Mesquite Tree site when purchased in the Spring of 1994. The next images show the site after a Permaculture design was installed - and 14 years of evolution later.

                                                                          photo of Dan courtesy of jamesmpatrick.com

Our Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 courses and workshops (so far)

 

We will start with a tour of Mesquite Tree Permaculture Site, seeing examples of energy saving strategies at work.  Many of these strategies are low cost or can be done for almost no cost, like planting trees to shade home walls and using passive solar design.  Then we’ll see and discuss strategies that have a higher up front cost, like installing solar panels or a solar hot water heater.  This workshop includes an easy to use handout that details how much each strategy will cost and how long it will take to make back in energy savings an initial investment.  We will emphasize integrated design throughout the class and getting back in touch with the patterns of nature -  sun, rain, and wind. We’ll show how working with these patterns can make our living environments healthier and more comfortable, while also helping us to save money on energy bills. Class size is limited to 15 participants.

 

 

Saturday, October 11th - Complete Hands On Water Harvesting 

Learning how to use rainfall and storm water run-off is one of the keys to developing a successful Permaculture site. It helps us to reduce erosion and have a lush multi use landscape without having to import water from outside a site. In this fun workshop we will install a water cistern, learn how to read the water situation on a site, and do basic calculations on the water flow available. We will learn how to install basic earthworks to hold water on site, and talk about contours, plant selection, and mulching. This workshop is more than learning about techniques for harvesting rainfall; it will show you how water harvesting can be integrated into your own lifestyle and into a simple landscape design for your home.

This is a chance to visit several sites that demonstrate water harvesting landscapes. The visits will include in-depth discussion and observation of residents’ vision, site resources and constraints, and budget, which led to the final design. The course focus is not on hands-on training but on design ethics, site observations, and doing more advanced run-off calculations. It is geared toward owner builders and water harvesting installers with some experience. A lunch incorporating native foods is included with a focus of connecting the dots between integrated water harvesting design, urban habitat restoration, community food security, and heritage foods. Class size is limited to 15 participants. Carpool or Van travel will be arranged.

 First Annual Tucson Advanced Permaculture Design Course

Have your Permaculture Design Certificate? Ready to take your Permaculture practice to the next level?
This course is for you. You will learn new skills and a new way of looking at Permaculture design, practice, and presentation:
 - Practice pattern understanding with new tools- learn to see projects within the diverse community scales and contexts we all work in as nested wholes.
- Explore how to use simple, clear presentation methods, as well as efficient ways to partner with design teams on larger projects.
- Study dynamic real world case histories of Permaculture projects.
- Enhance your understanding of the often neglected “Zone 0″ of Permaculture Design
- Explore how to create working teams which enhance and empower communities to find their own sustainable solutions.
- Learn effective communication skills with clients and the public
- and much more
 Dates: Two long weekends - November 7th, 8th, and 9th and November 14th, 15th, and 16th. One or both Fridays may be shorter than a full day.
Cost: $650 Fee includes all course materials and a delicious lunch and snacks each day made from local foods. Although the course is non-residential, accommodations to stay the weekend may be made with the course host (contact Barbara Rose for lodging and/or camping info). There are also a few tent sites and a small guest house available at the Guild’s in town urban site near downtown Tucson. Contact Dan Dorsey.

Teaching Team: Joel Glanzberg, Regenesis, Santa Fe, N.M; Dan Dorsey, Brad Lancaster, and Barbara Rose, Sonoran Permaculture Guild, Tucson; Ann Audrey, City of Tucson, Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development; and guest instructors from various professional fields. To register contact Barbara Rose, 572-7221, brosearth@aol.com  www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/barbara-rose  
 or Dan Dorsey, 624-8030, dorsey@dakotacom.net  www.sonoranpermaculture.org/members/dan-dorsey
 

The Fourteenth Annual Permaculture Design Course - Spring 2009

 Five Weekends, February 7th and 8th, February 14th and 15th, February 28th
 and March 1st, March 14th and 15th, and a final weekend, March 21st and 22nd
 (March 22nd will be morning only for final design project presentations, potluck, and
 party).
 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day. 
Cost $650, $595 for early registration (by December 15th). There is also
 a class book fee of $39 for a copy of Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison. Also
 highly recommended is Brad Lancaster’s Rainwater Harvesting for
 Dry lands Vol 1 and Vol 2. For the last five years the course has
 completely filled up, so early registration is encouraged. To give a high
 quality educational experience, we limit the size of the class to
 eighteen participants. Contact dorsey@dakotacom.net or 624-8030 to register.
 
This course is one of the longest running Permaculture courses held each
 year in the U.S. and leads to a Permaculture design certificate. It
 covers all aspects of sustainable design and core Permaculture topics with an emphasis on Southwest dry lands, including a balance of hands on experience, classroom time, and design practicum. Dynamic exercises encourage pattern recognition, noticing the links between plants and animals, climate, and landforms that make up natural ecosystems. These patterns are the basis for the Permaculture system of sustainable design.

 The course focuses on dry land communities, addressing individual site
 and neighborhood “problems” such as storm water flooding. Students learn
 to read the landscape, to map and analyze energies flowing through a
 site, and to develop integrated designs for sustainable systems. The
 weekend format of the course makes it easier for people who hold a week
 day job to attend and promotes better integration of the course material
 into daily life.

 Course topics include agro forestry, appropriate technology, building
 design, design principles and patterning, site analysis, dry land
 gardening principles, ecosystem restoration, philosophy and ethics of
 Permaculture, regenerative community economics, soils and erosion
 control, village design, water harvesting, and many other topics.
 We take field trips to working Permaculture sites around
 Tucson, and you will have the chance throughout the course to design and
 begin implementing Permaculture on a site of your choosing. This course
 is challenging and fun, and it shows the whole big picture of
 sustainable design in Southwest Dry lands and how sustainability and integrated design really
 works!

 Site: The classroom will be in the Central Tucson area,
 and at other Permaculture sites in the Tucson area.
 Almost all of the class is held outdoors. 
 
Taught and facilitated by Dan Dorsey, Brad Lancaster, Barbara Rose and other instructors from the Sonoran
 Permaculture Guild, as well as professional guest instructors.  For teacher profiles and other Permaculture
 classes scheduled visit our website at:

http://www.sonoranpermaculture.org

or to register and for more information contact Dan Dorsey, course
 registrar, at (520) 624-8030 or dorsey@dakotacom.net      

  
 
frequently asked questions or the fine print…
 
How do I register for the 2009 Design course?
 
We need a minimum of a non-refundable $100 deposit by
 December 15th to get the discount rate and to hold you a place in the
 course. Full payment is due 21 days before the first weekend.  Special
 exceptions, like paying for the course weekend by weekend, can be made on a
 case by case basis.