Additional Resources

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.