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permaculture - [permaculture] PR/ Keyline Design & Sustainable Agriculture with Darren Doherty, Santa Barbara CA April 21-May 4 2007

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  • From: Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson <lakinroe@silcom.com>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [permaculture] PR/ Keyline Design & Sustainable Agriculture with Darren Doherty, Santa Barbara CA April 21-May 4 2007
  • Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 05:54:44 -0700

Contact: Margie Bushman
Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571, email: margie@sbpermaculture.org

SANTA BARBARA PERMACULTURE NETWORK
Presents:
Keyline Design & Sustainable Agriculture
Lectures & Workshops April 21-May 3, 2007
With Darren Doherty


What is biological wealth? Healthy forests, fertile soils, abundant waterways and seas---has any great nation been built without these? As we degrade and treat them as throw-aways can we expect a prosperous future for our families and children? Is a sustainable system for agriculture possible that enhances rather than depletes our natural environment?

Join Santa Barbara Permaculture Network on April 21, 2007, for a talk and special equipment demonstration (plow on display) as we explore the concept of Keyline Design, a design system that restores and regenerates landscapes, with Darren Doherty from Australia. The event takes place at the Vista Del Mar School Auditorium, north of Santa Barbara, and is the introductory kick-off to a series of workshops and lectures taking place from April 21 to May 4, in Santa Barbara, Cuyama and San Luis Obispo.

Keyline Design is a complete design system for landscapes. It is applicable to both rural and urban designs. It is a unique combination of water conservation and soil building, with great appeal to both farmers and ranchers, as it has the ability to build and regenerate degraded soils rapidly, and sees the use of grazing animals as beneficial to this process.

Keyline systems were developed in Australia during the 1950’s by P.A Yeomans (www.yeomansplow.com.au) as a response to increasing desertification and erosion he observed on the Australian landscape as it related to agriculture. His book Water For Every Farm, A Keyline Plan is an important work describing a set of principles and techniques based on a holistic approach that works with natural patterns to restore and increase the depth and fertility of the soil, while increasing its water holding capabilities. Yeomans realized that conventional agriculture totally ignored the biological aspects of the soil. He created a “sustainable agriculture” system before the term was coined, and for the first time in human history, methods were developed that could produce rich fertile soils in relatively short periods. A permanent and lasting agriculture Yeomans believed, must materially and financially benefit the farmer, and benefit the land and soil.

Keyline Design integrates terraces, ponds, tree plantings on contour, and a special cultivation technique using the Keyline plow, to infiltrate water into the soil efficiently and hold it on the land as long as possible. Water harvesting strategies employed by Keyline Design provide drought-proofing for farms with very low maintenance using gravity fed irrigation systems, with a huge reduction in water lost to evaporation. In contrast, up to 80% of water is lost to evaporation using conventional overhead sprinklers. Farms using Keyline Design have amazing records of deepening the topsoil by 3-6” in 3 years, in contrast to nature’s process, which can take hundreds or thousands of years.

The term Keyline comes from the reference to a “keypoint” on the watershed, which is the interface between collection and distribution of water on the landscape, where ridge meets the valley. Keyline is a philosophy and technique that doesn’t pit the needs of farmers against environmentalists trying to protect wildlife and fish habitat, and with carbon sequestering techniques used, helps to address aspects of global warming and climate change.

Darren Doherty is an Australian Keyline Designer, Developer & Manager and Australian Approved Keyline Design™ Farm Planning Consultant, and recipient of Whole Farm Planning Certificate ~ Train the Trainer(University of Melbourne 1995). He has designed and developed over 1100 properties across four continents working most recently in Vietnam, on land projects for Mars Inc, owners of Seeds of Change. His remaining time is spent managing a working research & demonstration farm in Southern Victoria, Australia.

The event takes place on April 21, 10-1pm, at the Vista del Mar School Auditorium, 9467 San Julian Road, off of Highway 1, just north of the 101 freeway exit to Lompoc. The event is free, no reservations are required. Event sponsors are Santa Barbara Permaculture Network, Yeomans Plow Company, Nutiva Foods, Quail Springs Permaculture Farm, Orella Ranch, Earthflow Design Works & Island Seed & Feed Nursery and Commongood Media.
For more information, visit Upcoming Events at www.sbpermaculture.org, or email margie@sbpermaculture.org,phone, (805) 962-2571.
Keyline Design Workshops in California:

Interview with Darren Doherty, Fri, April 13, 9-10 am Pacific Standard Time, streaming live on Sustainable World Radio, www.kcsb.org, , or later Radio4All http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=22251


April 21, 10-1pm, Talk(Keyline Plow on display) with Darren Doherty at the Vista del Mar School Auditorium, 9467 San Julian Road, off of Highway #1 , take HWY# 101 exit Hwy #1 to Lompoc . Free

Apr. 22-27, 6 Day Intensive Keyline Workshop, on Gaviota Coast north of Santa Barbara, CA, Cost $600

May 1-2, Tues-Wed, 2 Day Keyline Design Workshop, Cuyama (north of Ojai, CA)at Quail Springs Learning Oasis and Permaculture Farm, Cost $250

May 3, 7-9m pm, Cal Poly University San Luis Obispo, Building 8, Room 123 (This is in the 'BRAE' Ag Engineering Bldg.) Located on N. Perimeter Drive next to the police station (just up the hill from the main library) Visitors must purchase a parking permit ($4 at entrance) Map of campus can be found at: <http://www.calpoly.edu/cpmaps/>www.calpoly.edu/cpmaps/
pThurs, Lecture 7-9 Keyline Design with Darren Doherty, Cal Poly University/
San Luis Obispo, CA, Free

May 4, Fri, One Day Keyline Design Workshop, San Luis Obispo, CA, Cost $150.




Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie@sbpermaculture.com
www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to grow." - Anonymous






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