Happy Spring & Workshop Updates

[Bountiful Backyards]

Hey Friends,

Hope you are all well and keep dry in the recent downpours!  We had a great Mushroom Workshop this weekend (photos).  With the 20 folks who joined us at our new shared space with the Durham Bike Co-Op, though it was a bit crowed, proved extra useful providing space to inoculate logs out of the rain.  This weekend had its challenges as the tree service allies that typically provide our logs fell through one after the other over a two week period.   Undaunted new BB member Sarah Vroom and community liaison Christopher Rumbley found themselves out in Mebane (courtesy of Tahz Walker) with a chainsaw in the rain felling sweetgum and red maple and hauling them through the mud to our pick-up truck.  We made the best of it and everyone got to take home logs! 

We would like to thank Gregory and Jason from Duke Mycology Lab for being such fun-guys ;),  They provided great explanations about the important role mushrooms play in ecosystems, best practices for growing edibles, local shiitake spawn from UNCG and a little piano man action for entertainment.  We hope everyone who came had a great time, and thank you for your donations which insure the sustainability of Bountiful Backyards and our community efforts.

In these times when everyone is feeling the weight of our shared economic crisis, we believe that it is more important than ever to learn, share, and enhance skills here in Durham, so please check out our upcoming workshop schedule!

<http://bountifulbackyards.com/?q=spring-workshops>

Our Rain Garden workshop on March 28th will be facilitated by friend of BB, Bobby Tucker, an Environmental Engineer and stormwater expert.  We will be putting the finishing touches on an energy saving system that almost anyone can complete at home or in their community.  Many folks have asked about rainwater collection options, and the cheapest available option remains storing it in the soil.  Rain Gardens allow for the bio-filtration of toxins out of the landscape while insuring that rainwater runoff does not pollute our drinking water.  We hope that some of you can attend this workshop and reconnect with the continually growing momentum around Bountiful Backyards. 

Register through our new online registration form here:

<http://bountifulbackyards.com/?q=workshop-registration>

It seems like just about everyone is feeling the pinch (including BB), and while a majority of the media spin machine is aimed at intimidating people in to a notion of scarcity, we must come together and realize that with the US in $11 Trillion dollars of debt and government printing machines working day and night, the facade is slowly but ineluctably crumbling, and that one of the soundest investments one can make is planting edible food production systems.  One of the first things that inflation effects is the price of food, and We Can't Eat Money! 

Bountiful Backyards has been adapting since the beginnings of our humble efforts, and we have recently come up with a number of packages as well as clear consultation rates that can get anyone on the path to growing some of their own food.  All the packages here are between $500 and $1000, which we ask that you send far and wide to your networks.  We have never solicited this kind of request before and would like to think that our positive intentions and community efforts throughout the last three years can boomerang through you taking a moment to forward the links contained in this email to folks you think might be interested:

http://bountifulbackyards.com/?q=whatwedo

We sincerely appreciate everyone taking the time!

Christopher, Keith, Darcey, Luke, Sarah, David
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Rain Garden Workshop -- with Bobby Tucker

-- UPDATE: this workshop will be held at Matt Meilke's house, friend of BB, who had an edible landscape installed in his backyard nearly free through participation in BB's work exchange during last fall season --

The most effective way to capture and store water is in the ground!  A rain garden is a shallow depression in the ground that captures runoff from your driveway or roof and allows it to soak into the ground, rather than running across roads, capturing pollutants, and depositing in our groundwater. Plants and soil work together to absorb and filter pollutants and return cleaner water through the ground to nearby streams. Rain gardens also reduce flooding by sending the water back underground, rather than into the street. Besides helping water quality and reducing flooding, rain garden plants provide habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife!  There are also many edibles such as Hazelnuts, Serviceberries, Paw-Paws, as well as perennial vegetables which can be easily incorporated in to the garden.  At this workshop we will have Environmental Engineer Bobby Tucker, a specialist in stormwater management, lead us through the simple steps to more efficiently utilizing water to grow our own food, while providing habitat to beneficial perennials and insects.

WHAT: Rain Garden Workshop
WHERE: 2412 Farthing St., Durham (map)
WHEN: March 28th -- 1pm.
COST: $25 Suggested Donation

REGISTER HERE

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Bountiful Backyards
Durham's Edible Landscaping Collective
www.bountifulbackyards.com
1100 North Street--723 North Mangum Street
Durham, NC 27701
(919)-619-9862