Technicians For Sustainability: Tucson Solar System Installers: Solar Hot Water, Rainwater Harvesting, and Solar Electrical Power - Turning Values into Action: Technicians For Sustainability offers design and installation of solar energy and water harvesting systems in Tucson, Arizona for commercial and residential applications.

Avalon Organic Gardens is offering a workshop entitled “Extending the Growing Season and Adapting to Global Warming” on Saturday, May 19th from 9am-4pm.  This workshop will provide participants with a step-by-step theoretical—and hands-on practical—”how-to” approach to the utilization of greenhouses as a component of sustainable living. In exploring innovative and proven techniques in growing food all year around, relative to your unique circumstances, you will find that greenhouses can be effective with a minimal investment. You will learn about different styles of greenhouses/ high-tunnels/ hoop-houses/ shade structures, and how to build micro-climates for various plants with various irrigation techniques.

Tarenta Baldeschi and his staff teach at Avalon Organic Gardens & EcoVillage in Tumacacori, Arizona.  They will share with you how, in 2007, Avalon Gardens began transforming established Bermuda grass pastures, acre by acre, into a thriving food producing garden. Learn the basic steps with them, and from their experience, discover what you need to do to apply these unique techniques in gardening.  Focus on the need to adjust and adapt to climate changes and extreme temperatures in the Sonoran desert—from 120 degrees down to 0 (zero) degrees. Because of Global Warming, this climate zone currently experiences severe drought during the monsoon seasons, micro-bursts and wind gusts up to 80 miles an hour, and frosts that occur later in the spring and earlier in the fall. Learning to adapt to the current trend of Global Warming will be an integral part of this workshop.

Subjects include:

• Understanding how unheated greenhouses/ high-tunnels/ hoop-houses function for propagation and planting
• Enriching the soil with various composting materials and Effective Micro-organism (EM) brewing and application to stop erosion and increase moisture retention
• Using shade structures for cooling and heating
• Applying rainwater harvesting and storage to keep temperatures moderate
• Converting flood irrigation to drip irrigation in order to better regulate the temperatures of soil and roots during various seasons
• Using floating row-covers, perforated clear plastic, and biodegradable plastic mulch
• Spacing choices and inter-planting of various food growing plants
• Planning and applying wind breaks and shade with fruit and nut trees, and using flowering perennials to attract beneficial insects and pollinators

The workshop is six hours, plus time for lunch. Workshop fee is $200 per person and includes an organic lunch. Financial contribution is required; work trade or material barter will be considered. Please make reservations one week in advance. A minimum of 6 participants is required to hold workshop, otherwise subject to cancellation. Larger groups, organizations, schools please call for further information about group rates.

Some printed material will be distributed, explaining basic steps, references to materials, books, etc. Please no recording with camera, phone, or video unless pre-approved by written request stating purpose in advance.

• This exact workshop cannot be done elsewhere.
• A specific project/workshop, (for example assembling or building greenhouses/ high-tunnels/ hoop-houses/ shade structures/ drip irrigation, etc.) can be done elsewhere. Call for details.
• An initial on-site consultation is necessary to plan and prepare a workshop elsewhere.
• On-site consultation is available for an hourly fee of $75 per person (a team of two will always consult together) plus traveling expenses

This fee includes the following:

• A site evaluation
• A Q&A session with the client to assess project needs
• A final written evaluation and recommendation, with estimated material costs and hours of labor neededAny drawings, vision plans, pictures, elevation maps, plot plans, landscape designs that are available, and any other material requested by consultant, might be required in advance in order to prepare for an off-site visit. Phone or email time will be tracked and will become part of the consultation fee.

Held at Avalon Organic Gardens & EcoVillage in Tumacácori, Arizona.  For more information check out their website avalongardens.org/events or call (866) 508-0094.

On Friday, May 19th from 4:30-8:30 join the Bean Tree Farm team as they prepare a wonderful Harvest Dinner.  The evening will include a cooking class and feast.  Learn about the many ways to prepare foods using local ingredients.  To learn more and to register for the class, please visit the Bean Tree Farm website: beantreefarm@gmail.com or beantreefarm.com

Course Description:  Half harvesting & cooking, half delicious feast- sign up for one or both events for an evening immersed in good company & local foods.The feast we prepare will include fresh, dried, and frozen local ingredients, and small-batch, solar-cooked preserves and specialty products from BTF, Greens Goddess, Marana Heritage Farm and other local producers. Some ingredients you may encounter: seasonal desert fruits, seeds, pods and pads (barrel cactus, cholla, herbs, ironwood, mesquite, paloverde, prickly pear, saguaro, home-made spirits, grass-fed and local meat). A selection of food-related books from our library will be available for reference.

Join the Tucson Co-op for a midweek cistern installation. Come and learn about best practices and integrated design for cistern installations. The 660 gallon tank will to provide water to a future vegetable garden. This workshop has multiple benefits. Participants will learn how to install a cistern and can earn hours towards hosting a workshop at your own home, at a discounted rate. The workshop will allow the homeowner to grow fresh vegetables to feed her family with a renewable fresh rain water source. In addition the workshop will also lead to habitat restoration, as the savings made on the home owners water bill will go towards funding restoration of the beautiful Atterbury wash as the savings on the homeowner’s water bill will be paid towards the Conserve to Enhance program which links water conservation with riparian restoration. To sign up for this workshop click here. For further information contact Rhiwena Slack the Co-op coordinator at co-op@watershedmg.org / 520-396-3266
Organizer Website: http://watershedmg.org/civicrm/event/info?id=149&reset=1

Please join Watershed Management Group Co-op for an education in simple cost effective passive water harvesting. Earthworks will be installed to redirect roof runoff into water harvesting basins to support existing plants and native revegetation efforts. By using onsite materials we will minimize both cost and environmental footprint to improve habitat, increase shade and build soil in this low density residential site. The workshop will offer both hands on experience of passive water harvesting implementation and transfer of knowledge; workshop leader and registered landscape architect James DeRoussel will lead a discussion on passive rainwater harvesting and native plant selection.
Organizer Website: http://watershedmg.org/civicrm/event/info?id=147&reset=1

Join Watershed Management Group Co-op for a free educational Water Harvesting Workshop. We will transform a driveway into a water harvesting oasis with native plants. We will create earthworks to supplement existing water harvesting features which includes a 2,200 gallon cistern, and a kitchen resource drain system installed by Watershed Management Group in 2011. In addition the homeowner and his sons have installed 300‘ of terraces on 7 levels to slow down and capture water causing an erosion problem on steep slopes behind the house. This residence was featured Watershed Management Group’s 2011 home tour, so if you missed that, here is a second chance to see one of the most inspiring sites featured. Workshop leader and registered landscape architect James DeRoussel will lead a discussion on different types of water harvesting features and how they relate to each other to create a truly integrated system. The home owner would also be happy to give a guided tour of his solar photo voltaic system and real‐time consumption monitoring. So come along enjoy a Memorial day weekend workout and see how easy and effective it is to be green.
Organizer Website: http://watershedmg.org/civicrm/event/info?id=146&reset=1

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus will be offering ENVI 220: Intro to Sustainable Energy during the Fall 2012 semester and registration is open now.  This class is 100% distance delivered and available to anyone in the world with internet access.  There are also some scholarships available to cover tuition.  Here’s some details:

Description:  This course focuses on energy use and production in society.  Problems discussed are mainly related to the extent of the sustainability of current practices.  The emphasis of the course is on solutions which revolve around energy efficiency and specific renewable energy technologies.

Credits: 3 Instructor: Dr.Tom Marsik Course dates:  August 30,2012- December 11,2012 Meeting times:  Tuesday, Thursday  6:50pm-8:20pm

This course is part of the newly approved Occupational Endorsement in Sustainable Energy, a 13-credit program offered by UAF (see attached flyer).  If you’d like to earn an Occupational Endorsement in Sustainable Energy, register for ENVI 220: Intro to Sustainable Energy or get more information please check us out online: www.uaf.edu/bbesl/sustainable-energy.

To learn more, check out their flier:  Intro to Sustainable Energy Fall 2012

On June 16th from 8am-1pm, join the Bean Tree Farm for their harvesting day.  Learn about the local foods you can harvest here in the desert.  Join the workshop, set up by Bean Tree Farm.  Check out their website (www.beantreefarm.com) or email them to learn more and register for the class.

Class Description:  Did you know that in the Sonoran Desert around Tucson, almost every native plant taller than you that’s not a cactus is a bean (legume family) tree! Mesquite pods, ironwood and palo verde seeds are delicious and nutritious, as are heat-loving tepary beans, grown and tended by many generations of Tohono O’odham farmers. We’ll harvest, sprout, ferment and cook these and other seasonal foods, and share a delicious meal locally sourced from Bean Tree Farm, Greens Goddess, Marana Heritage Farm, San Xavier Co-op Farm and others!We’ll also cover traditions of mesquite medicine.

Come to the Santa Cruz River Farmer’s Market on June 21st to see a bit more than just fresh, local produce.  The farmer’s market is hosting a solar oven demonstration with unique oven designs.  Come and check out the bounty and to learn more about ways to use the sun in your everyday life.

Cyclovia Tucson is an annual car-free event that opens selected streets to people so that they can walk, skate, run, bicycle, and socialize with their neighbors.  It’s a free event, open to the public and fun for people of all ages.  Bike the route and participate in different fun activities along the way!  Celebrate a day without cars by joining us!   To learn more about Cyclovia Tucson, please visit their website.

The 2012 Cyclovia was originally scheduled for March 18th to coincide with Solar Rock and the Water Festival, but due to rain and hail has been rescheduled in October.  Read more here.