Classes
Additions and changes in RED. Classes in GREY not yet open for registration.
Pre-registration is required and exact location is given once you have registered.
Many classes will repeat if there is enough interest. If a class is past or you do not get in on time, please contact us and we will let you know if another session is forming. Classes are for age 12 and up unless other wise
indicated.
Water, Power & Buildings
Rainwater Harvesting for Urban Gardeners
Sunday March 21, 1-4pm
Instructor:Cleo Woefle-Erskine
Location: North Oakland
Cost: $30-50
Simple, low-cost rainwater harvesting systems can increase your backyard harvest, reduce storm runoff, recharge the aquifer, and lower your water bill. This mini course in home water system design presents principles of rainwater harvesting, overview of systems that store rainwater in tanks and in the soil, and permaculture strategies for increasing food production and wildlife habitat by integrating rainwater harvesting earthworks. Participants will practice site assessment and design and construct simple water-harvesting earthworks.
Pond Dynamics: Constructed Wetland for Urban Habitats
Sunday May 9, 10-2pm
Instructor:David Thorp
Location: Oakland, Fruitvale
Cost: $30-50
Ponds are both useful and beautiful. They can transform spaces into quaint or lush environments, treat water, provide habitat for many creatures and even help create micro-climates in your yard. In this class we will learn several options for building a backyard pond with consideration for purpose, budget and aesthetics. You will learn about construction materials from low tech quickies to more involved or more permanent installations as well as what kinds of plants and animals might be suitable. We will observe and experience a living pond ecosystem and construct a miniature pond on the spot to see how quick & simple it can be.
Greywater Primer
Saturday June 12, 11am -2pm
Instructor: Laura Allen
Location:TBA
Cost: $30-50
In this course we will present options for disengaging from the water grid including rainwater, graywater reuse and composting toilets. We will learn about the most common, low-tech, low-cost, effective, residential greywater systems, visit several working systems and learn how they were built. We will check out materials and tools needed to build a system and learn some plumbing basics. Then we'll break into groups and help you plan a system for your own home. Participants will be emailed a greywater planning sheet that you'll fill out and bring to the workshop to help do this.
Natural Building & Natural Plasters for Urban Dwellings
Sunday June 13, 10am -3pm
Instructor: Sasha Rabin
Location: El Sobrante
Cost: $50-80 PRICE REDUCTION!
This class is an introduction to the world of urban natural building. The class site is a 1/3 of and acre suburban lot, which currently has four structures built of different natural materials. Three of these buildings are small enough to not need a permit, and the fourth is the first-of-its-kind permitted straw-clay retrofit. The first half of the day will include an in-depth look at these buildings, as well as a slide show of other urban natural building projects and discussion of the possibilities for integrating natural materials into your urban lot and home. The second part of the day we will spend gaining hands-on experience mixing and applying earthen paints and plasters.
Hand Tools for Homesteaders: How to Hammer a Nail and other fantastic tales
Saturday June19, 10am-4pm
Instructor:Stewart Port
Location: Oakland, Embarcadero
Cost: $60-85 plus $12 supply fee to be paid on day of class
Ever wonder how a skinny pipe can hold up the corner of a three story building but your massively framed chicken coop keeps leaning no matter how many 2 x 4s and drywall screws you add to it? Or maybe you just sit at your window, watching it while it slides ever further towards the ground, because you lack the confidence to take up the tools. In this class we hope to demystify some of the basics of construction and repair, giving you a handful of skills to be more productive and efficient around the homestead. We will focus on tasks that can be accomplished with just the power of your body or a few basic hand tools: the hammer, the saw and the drill. We will learn about marking and measuring, (including straightness and how to get it), selection of materials, how to cut stuff up, how to put it together, and how to keep your fingers while doing it. We will learn proper and efficient use of the handsaw, drills, hammer and nails and put the skills to practice building a simple (yet elegant!) tool box to take home.
Solar Homebrew: DIY Solar Electric for Urban Dwellings
Sunday July 25, 2-5pm CANCELLED
Instructor: Ben Macri
Location: Marin, San Anselmo
Cost $25-50
Visit a "homebrew" solar electric home in Marin and learn the essentials in planning, design, and construction skill sets for setting up your own DIY energy system. The plusses and minuses of DIY will be discussed, solar resources and planning materials will be provided and there will be an opportunity to get some "hands on" with basic solar planning equipment. The site also features small scale wind generation which will be shown and explained time allowing.