Urban Sustainability Series

The kickoff of a month of Urban Sustainability workshops starts Sunday, 2/19 at the HOPE market. I'm excited about our lineup, and you should be too - there is a lot going on, and all in time for some spring planting! All workshops are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of 5-10 dollars a person. I will also be selling the recently finished "Austin Gardeners Guide to Drought Resistance" for $3. This little jem has all the instructions you need to brew some compost tea, harvest rainwater, understand the soil food web, plus oh so much more. Sunday 2/19 1PM: Soil Health: The foundation stone of healthy organic gardening! Come play with some soil samples, learn how to do some basic tests, discover the history and challenges of Austin's soils, and then learn about all of the many strategies at our fingertips to make our soil work for us. We'll be finishing off the day by brewing some actively aerated compost tea - soil health in a bottle. Sunday 2/26 1PM: Water Management and Drought Resistance: Water is a serious issue in Austin!  It can make or break a gardens success, and beyond your veggie plot is a crucial sustainability issue for our city. Come learn about the simple changes we can make to our landscapes and our water habits that will help the aquifer without resorting to a shortage mentality. Sunday 3/4 1PM: COMPOST! Otherwise known as garden gold, compost is an organic gardeners best bud. Check out the community composting system at the market and learn the basics from our buddy Annie. Sunday 3/11 1PM at the HOPE Market Temporary Location: "But I don't like JUST fruits and veggies!" Let there be chickens, bees, and mushrooms! We'll be colonizing some mushroom logs for cultivation of shitake mushrooms, visiting with Dani's chickens (Thelma and Louise), and maybe tasting some honey from a backyard bee rescue if we get lucky.  For the second half of the workshop, we'll be talking about companion planting as a method of pest control and playing with different garden layouts with some "seeding" chart.