Dear Permaculture colleagues,

Sunday, March 17 will be upon us soon.  Some of you who have requested that I save you a place for the all-day Larry Santoyo workshop, "Home Ecosystem: The Artistry of Ecology," have already sent your checks, so your place is guaranteed.  Others need to send the check for $55 asap to assure your reservation.  This is the first of a series of three workshops.  The other two are Sunday, April 21 and Sunday, May 19. 

By the time that we meet, I also hope to have some "inside information" on how to get good-size stones for free.  This brings down the cost of the hardscape quite a bit.  And as you know, the transfer station in Santa Barbara will deliver a ton of mulch for $7.50 to your home in our area. If you work for the county, as I do, it is free. I used 3.5 tons of the coarse mulch to cover 4 to 6 inched deep the cardboard I put down in my front and back yards.  Since the last workshop I got another 1.5 tons of well-composted mulch, very fine, almost dirt texture, delivered from the transfer stationīs recycle leader Richard Placenciaīs "secret stash." Anyone wanting to contact Richard about getting some mulch delivered can call him at (805) 681-4346 or e-mail him at rplacen@co.santa-barbara.ca.us . His office is at the transfer station (aka the dump).  The coarse mulch pile is across the street from the dump, down a dirt road and anyone can go by and fill up on their own too.  No permission needed.

I hope to see you at the workshop.  Any questions, call me at (805) 963-2878.  Send checks to Elizabeth (Betsy) Gallery, 1125 East Ortega Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103.