[Southern California Permaculture] Quail Springs Workshops

[Sasha Rabin]

SONGS & STORIES
A WILD SERIES SPRING
FESTIVAL & BENEFIT
March 17 – 19
http://www.quailsprings.org/programs/wild-series/songs-stories/

Quail Springs is deeply honored to welcome some of our most treasured 
storytellers, wisdom keepers and musicians for a magical feast of story 
and song under the stars of Cuyama. Come and celebrate the beautiful 
seeds of culture that bring us together as we gather by the fire to 
listen, remember, learn and sing. Held by the enchantment of the high 
desert, our esteemed elders, teachers and song keepers will share 
beloved stories and songs from a range of world traditions. Join the 
Quail Springs Village and our dear community for this rare and 
meaningful Wild Series Spring Festival.

Proceeds from this event will go to our Seeds for the Next Generation 
capital campaign. Please endeavor to pay as much as you are able to 
support the beautiful work of Quail Springs to continue.

THE ART OF HIDE TANNING
March 23 – 26
http://www.quailsprings.org/programs/wild-series/hide-tanning/

Join us for a four day immersion into the traditional art of making 
leather by hand. In this intimate and experiential class, students will 
tan one deer or goat buckskin from start to finish, learn to make 
rawhide, and participate in a fur tanning demonstration.

The art of hide tanning is a cross-cultural human legacy, one with an 
ancient heritage that spans across continents and lineages. Besides full 
hands-on experience, we will spend time discussing history, methodology 
and various cultural approaches. Students will leave with an 
understanding of how to bring to life beautiful hand-tanned leather and 
fur in their own small home tanning set-ups.

Hide tanning is a physically demanding craft, so be prepared for four 
full days of very active and fun learning! We are going to learn as much 
as possible and our days will be packed with richness. No experience is 
necessary!

All of the hides used this class only come from reliable and sustainably 
harvested sources – either from California small farms, or from legally 
hunted deer

INTRODUCTION
TO COB & NATURAL BUILDING
April 10 – 15, 2017
http://www.quailsprings.org/programs/natural-building/cob-intro/

Cob building combines clay sediment, sand, fiber, and water, and is hand 
sculpted to form walls, benches, ovens, and fireplaces. Cob building 
makes use of readily available, affordable, non-toxic materials to build 
beautiful, organic structures.

The course is appropriate for both first-time builders and for 
professionals in the building trade who are interested in natural 
materials. In this cob workshop, we focus on the characteristics of the 
natural materials most commonly used in construction: clay soil, sand, 
and fibers. Our main focus will be cob, though we will touch on various 
other building techniques that utilize the same materials, including 
adobe block, light straw-clay, wattle and daub, and plasters. We will 
discuss how to find and choose appropriate soil for construction, how to 
create various mixes, how to attach wood to earthen walls, and how to 
use earthen materials to build walls, sculpt niches, shelves, and furniture.

This course is primarily a hands on course, where we learn by doing. We 
will be building a small structure from start to finish. As a complement 
to the hands-on portion of the course, we will include slide shows and 
discussions of the theoretical aspects of natural building. Subjects 
include building design and siting, passive solar design, foundations 
and drainage, earthen floors, appropriate roof design, and wiring and 
plumbing for natural structures.


RESILIENCE DESIGN TRAINING:
A PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
MAY 21 – JUNE 4, 2017
For more info: http://www.quailsprings.org/programs/permaculture/pdcid

This course equips people working in international development and 
grassroots projects with the perspectives and skills needed to engage 
with communities in partnership to incorporate elements into the design 
of communities, smallholder farms and land with household agricultural 
production that are holistic, appropriate, strategic, effective, 
diverse, as well as ecologically and economically sound. This course 
includes the 72-hr Permaculture Design Certification through the 
Permaculture Research Institute.

What is Permaculture?
Permaculture is a design science utilizing an innovative 
systems-approach to consciously design landscapes, human settlements and 
smallholder farming systems that integrate functional diversity and 
biological fertility by mimicking natural eco-systems. Diverse and 
fertile systems act resilient in the face of shocks.

Who is this course for?
This course is designed for people who work with Non-Government 
Organizations (NGO’s), Government Organizations, or are Community 
Organizers. The teaching is directly relevant for international 
development practitioners, including the technical teams from agency 
Headquarters and field teams engaged in implementation.

-- 
Sasha Rabin

Natural Building Program Coordinator
Quail Springs Permaculture
Earthen Shelter