Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy Workshops
NativeScape Development Corp. headquarters in Pacoima, CA
Days and Dates (two part workshop): Saturday, June 12th and Saturday, June 19th
Time: 9A-1P on both days
Address: 10849 Ralston Avenue; Pacoima, CA 91331
Additional info: Firm deadline for registration is Saturday, June 5th, no exceptions. Free residential street parking available on Ralston Avenue.
Just as none of us learned the principles of practical financial literacy in school, none of us were taught the practical principles of how to live on a finite planet. If you care about the future of your children, grandchildren, and other descendants, you owe it to them to pass on a better environmental legacy as opposed to deeper ecological debt.
Have you ever really thought about where your drinking water comes from? Do you know what kinds industrial and household wastes end up in wastewater? Do you know where your wastewater goes for treatment and how thoroughly it’s “cleaned” before releasing it into the biosphere?
Have you considered where your garbage and recyclable materials go? How much of the waste is buried and how much is incinerated? Is the recyclable material really recycled? In a throwaway society, out of sight is out of mind; however, in nature there is no such thing as “away”.
Have you learned to match the needs of your desired plants with what your actual or prospective garden site provides?
These questions delve into but a few of the interconnected aspects of ecoliteracy. In Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy, all of these subjects and more are covered.
Just a taste of what you will learn:
- The myriad (and surprising) ways that the quality of your life is intertwined with your local community, watershed, state, nation, and the planet and why these connections matter every day, i.e. applied systems thinking
- Ten common garden and landscape myths and misconceptions that often lead to expensive or difficult-to-remedy errors
- The one important key theme common to all high quality, ecologically literate garden and landscape design
- The steps of a systematic approach to landscape and garden project management that saves you time, money, and water while preventing wasted effort – very important for DIY homeowners and organizations on tight budgets
- How to do a site analysis and assessment within an urban/suburban context – this is fundamental to successful and site/climate appropriate garden design
You will benefit from attending this workshop if you are:
- Feeling stuck or confused because you’re beginning a sustainable, organic garden or landscape project
- Redesigning or expanding a garden and you want specific help and guidance
- Getting rid of your lawn and not sure what to put in its place
- Designing your own rain garden, drought tolerant CA native garden, food forest, edible landscape, container or rooftop garden, or an organic vegetable garden plot
- Going crazy with ongoing garden and landscape problems and need ways to solve those problems for good
- Trying to save water, time, effort, and energy on your garden or landscape
- Yearning for more beauty in your surroundings
- Telling yourself you’re a bad gardener or that you have a “black thumb”
- Doing any combination of the above
First of all, stop blaming yourself for not knowing what it would take to make your garden thrive.
No garden or landscape is indefinitely sustainable or maintenance free. Remember that sustainability is a process, not a fixed endpoint. Strive to become as sustainable as possible with the means you have available to do so. Baby steps are valuable precisely because they aren’t as daunting!
Sustainability is not possible without ecological literacy as a foundation. Striving for authentic sustainability at this point in human history is requisite for our survival as a species and it entails attunement with earth’s systems and cycles – the sources of our collective survival, well-being, and wealth. Ecology trumps economy – it always has and always will.
Exploring the scope of the myriad ways that each of our lives is inextricably intertwined with our planet is one of the objectives of the workshop but we also address practical solutions that are accessible on the personal scale. Wendy Talaro of Fruits to Nuts (sustainable garden design and consultancy specializing in edibles and CA natives) and Steve Hernandez of NativeScape Development Corp. (landscape design/building/maintenance company specializing in CA natives and habitat restoration) will lead workshop participants in a systematic way through the process of ecological design and problem solving. In this fun, highly interactive all-day workshop, you will learn systems thinking using gardens and landscaping as the context for the concrete material and the very same practical skills that these ecological designers use regularly in their businesses.
Important registration information:
- Bilingual instruction in English and Español with real time translation is available
- Enrollment is strictly limited on a first-come, first-served basis to 16 individuals. A minimum of 4 individuals is needed for the workshop to carry.
- Early registration by May 29th is $40. Registration May 30th through June 5th is $50.
- All registration payments must be received by June 5th to ensure you have enough time for the mandatory multi-part homework. The soil sample and identification process takes a week. You’re accountable to your fellow classmates for the quality of the content so give yourself ample time to complete it. You will get out of this workshop what you invest in it. Focus on filling the gaps in your knowledge.
- Homework (2.1 MB PDF file) will only be sent to you via e-mail or snail mailed upon receipt of payment.
- To register, please make checks payable to Wendy Talaro and send to P.O. Box 2382; Gardena, CA 90247. Credit and debit card payments can be processed through NativeScape Development Corp. (Note: there is a small transaction fee)
- Potluck lunch on-site on Saturday, June 19th to facilitate networking and community building, so please bring your business cards and a dish or snack to share
- 25% student discount available, send with proof of current 1/2 to full time registration
- 25% 55+ senior citizen discount available, so send payment with proof of how young you are
- Cancellation Policy: No refunds unless the instructors initiate class cancellation.
- Transfer policy: If you have paid but cannot attend a workshop for whatever reason, you will receive a credit for the next Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy workshop and must use this credit within 6 months.
- This workshop is prerequisite for the site analysis practicums and for the workshops Right Plants in the Right Placements and From Stumped to Pumped: Great Garden Results Guaranteed.
If you have further questions, please call Wendy @ 310.329.5719 or send an e-mail to fruitstonuts@yahoo.com. Para preguntas en Español, llame Esteban, marque 818.302.9699 or coreo electronico steve@gogreennsd.com.
Urban/Suburban Ecoliteracy 
George Hernandez said,
January 8, 2010 @ 6:08 am
Looking forward to attending this workshop. Very excited about connecting with new people to prepare to learn how to be more sustainable that benefits everyone.
Dennis Pilien said,
March 3, 2010 @ 3:51 pm
I feel so bad I had to miss your 2/20/2010 presentation ( I had another commitment). I really like your “presence” online and your course description. Nice website job. Hope to talk and meet with you both real soon.
Towards sustainability,
Best,
Dennis Pilien
Yolanda Rodriguez said,
June 10, 2010 @ 9:45 pm
I am so sorry that I just found out about this workshop (too late to register) and hope you host one again soon. I went through the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program a few years back and would love to acquire new information so I can implement some ideas about community gardening in my neighborhood in North Hollywood. I look forward to the next one.