Quail Springs'
December 2007 Newsletter
Winter Greetings from all of us on the land to our community
near and far! May your winter be warm
with family and friends and the honoring of the traditions that are dear to
your hearts.
Thank you for all of your support and friendship this year - for
the work you do for our community and the planet in your own lives and for your
generous contributions to Quail Springs in many forms.
Our first snow has fallen, blanketing the ground and giving the
plants slow sips of cold water as the day's sun warms the earth. Winter is such a magical time at Quail
Springs...long cold nights, short bright days, the promise of storms and
rain. Everyone feels the primary
importance of SHELTER in the high desert canyon.
We're allowing winter to be a time of reflection, completion of
work begun, honoring family and community relationships, and planning for the
coming year, as well as hosting a few groups at the Quail Springs fire for
their programs.
We've initiated our Stewardship Council, which along with our
nonprofit Board of Directors, helps guide Quail
Springs' journey and vision. Stewardship
Council is composed of residents of the land with a commitment to stewardship, honors
consensus in decision making, and will meet seasonally. Our first meeting laid the groundwork for our
Council process and plans for programs and projects for the 2008 year.
Comings and Goings...
We'll soon be welcoming home our co-founder, Warren, from a 3
week journey of learning and teaching in Liberia with the Everyday Gandhis, and
can't wait to hear his stories. We want
to welcome to the Quail Springs caretaking team.... Jan and Brenton and daughter
Iris, who come from many years in the Santa Barbara community, including
helping running Island Seed and Feed, and who are helping guide Quail Springs
in fund development, soil regeneration, and master planning for food
systems. Welcome to Rion, who we have
known as youth mentor with Wilderness Youth Project and computer wiz, who is
helping everyone with everything here, while braving the winter weather in a
willow lodge of his own making. Welcome also
to Justin and Lynn, who come from New Mexico to continue their learning journey
in natural building and gardening, and who are helping us complete critical
building projects and develop food systems.
Thank you to Travis, and Sarah, who joined us as fall interns, and
continue on their learning journeys by going 'back home' to Canada and the
Midwest. We miss you already!
Internships
Winter Natural
Building Intern Position (January through March, 2008)
We are searching for a gentle, dedicated intern who
approaches life and learning with a sense of curiosity and wonder. Intern will work closely with Justin Kirmse,
the coordinator of our current natural building projects, to assist in
completing two strawbale projects. Intern
will have the opportunity to learn on-site clay harvesting, base coat and
finish coat plasters, earthen floors, and clay paints, while also participating
in community life on a drylands permaculture
demonstration site. Experience is not necessary. Please contact info@quailsprings.org or 805-886-7239
to learn more. After initial inquiry,
we'll arrange for potential interns to interview with Justin by phone.
Interested
Interns please inquire for 2008...
We're developing a
dynamic intern program that will include focused skill building along with
service learning for the coming year.
More information and applications will be available in February 2008 for
internships running from March/April through October/November. Contact Kolmi at info@quailsprings.org if you're
interested.
Skill building opportunities will include natural
building, permaculture design, food systems, gardening, aquaculture, watershed
restoration, animal husbandry, fund development, and
more. Experience and training is not needed,
although this is a great opportunity to further experience and education in all
aspects of farm and permaculture site development.
Events and Courses
Weaving Our World into Life - a Natural
Fiber Arts workshop
First in a
series of "Hands and Hearts" Skill Builders at Quail Springs
March or
April 2008 - dates and details TBA
This will be the first in a series of our
"Hands and Hearts" Skill Builders. These
will be 1-3 day workshops that focus on various hands-on skills, taught by
special guest teachers as well as on-site teachers, all with the intention of
using our hands and hearts to regenerate healthy community life, meet our human
needs, and honor the natural world. Contact
Kolmi at info@quailsprings.org to
join an interest list for this or other Skill Builders.
Service Learning weekends return in Spring 2008
We will offer volunteer visitor weekends
again in Spring 2008 as a time for interested people
to receive a tour of the site and learn about site design, participate in
projects on the land, as well as enjoy the company of community. These are free of cost events, with community
potluck meals. The calendar of Service
Learning weekends for the Spring will be shared in
February.
Permaculture
Design Certification course with Geoff Lawton - August 16-27, 2008
We're happy to host our third Permaculture
Design Certification course at Quail Springs, and welcome back one of the
world's top permaculture teachers, Geoff Lawton. For more about Geoff Lawton, visit www.permaculture.org.au . More info on the course will be
available in February. Contact
info@quailsprings.org
to join the interest list.
Permaculture is a holistic approach to land use design, based on
ecological principles and patterns. It aims to create stable, productive
systems that provide for human needs, harmoniously integrating the land with
people. This world-recognized, 72-hour
course provides an introduction to Permaculture as set forth by movement
founders Bill Mollison and David Holmgren.
This course covers sustainable living systems - with everything from
food systems, water harvesting, waste cycling, home design, to climate care,
and much more - for a wide variety of landscapes and climates. Graduates of this 72 hour Permaculture Design
Certification course (PDC) will receive a Certificate in Permaculture Design. See www.tagari.com
to learn more about the Certification, and
options for continuing study to earn the Diploma.
Southwest Drylands
& Southern
California Permaculture Convergence - with Keynote Speaker, Geoff Lawton -
August 29 - September 1, 2008
Co-sponsored by Santa
Barbara Permaculture Network, Quail Springs, and others. More info coming soon! Contact info@quailsprings.org to
join the interest list.
Advanced Permaculture Workshop - with Geoff
Lawton and Brad Lancaster - September 2-3, 2008
This 2 day advanced workshop will offer on
the ground opportunity to learn and work with Geoff and Brad. For more about Geoff Lawton, visit www.permaculture.org.au. For more about Brad Lancaster,
visit www.harvestingrainwater.com.
More info coming soon!
Contact info@quailsprings.org
to join the interest list.
EcoNest
workshops 2008
The beginning stages of the EcoNest will involve
workshops in which builders, home owners, or other interested folks will work
with the EcoNest team in a series of two workshops that give the participant a
solid foundation in understanding this unique system of sustainable
building. Dates and cost are TBA.
If you would like to be on an initial interest contact list, please
email info@quailsprings.org.
Available for purchase. Quail Springs, An Experiment in Permaculture
Quail Springs, An Experiment in Permaculture, by Joss Jaffe, serves
as an important research and development tool supporting permaculture design
and the long term vision of Quail Springs. If you are interested in
purchasing the book, please let us know at info@quailsprings.org. The cost of this full color book is $30
including the CD, or $10 for the CD only, plus $5 shipping.
We are hosting Pam Montgomery's Plant Spirit Healing Apprenticeship at
Quail Springs this Winter and Spring.
PLANT SPIRIT HEALING ***APPRENTICESHIP*** with Pam
Montgomery
Dates: 4 sessions in Winter-Spring
2008.
January
10-13, February 14-17, March 13-16 and April 10-13, 2008.
Thursday
10:00am to Sunday 4:00pm. All sessions must be attended.
Cost: $1995 Includes instruction, materials, all
meals, camping or dorm spaces for all 4 sessions plus Pam's new book, Plant
Spirit Healing: A Gu
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Our postal address is
PO Box 417
New Cuyama, California 93254
United States