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Welcome to
Turtle School!
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Turtle School exists to teach the art and science of living lightly and well
upon the earth.
It's The Urban and Rural Teaching and Learning
Experience... TURTLE!
We're learning about crafts, organic gardening and solar-powered
Earth Homes near Bancroft, Ontario, Canada.
An Earth
Home's windows welcome the sun's light and heat in the winter, and its
thick walls store the heat through the winter night. In the summer, the arrangement
of the roof and windows allows the walls to avoid the sun, and the walls hold
the coolness of the summer nights to provide a refreshing break from the heat
of midday.
The house treats its inhabitants' greywater--sink and shower
water--in planters that support lush vegetable gardens, leaving only blackwater
to be treated by a composting toilet.
Dig Into Permaculture: Hands-on Experiential Workshops
Turtle School's next upcoming workshops:
As well as:
The workshops take place at Pat and Chuck Potter' house, near
Gilmour, Ontario, Canada. Each workshop includes a grand tour of a solar powered
home built with many hard working hands out of popcans, tires sand and concrete.
Each workshop also provides hands-on experiential knowledge on companion planting,
mulching, and composting.
For more information on the Potters' house, see the Potters'
page at Sunspace.org.
We request that you pre-register for the workshops. To register, call
Pat Potter at +1 613 474 0435.
The Workshops
Design and Create the Energy Efficient
Organic Garden
This two-day workshop introduces energy efficient and multipurpose
techniques for productive gardens. These methods use the wisdom of the energy
cycles and the creativity of the people, instead of pesticides and herbicides
or expensive large-scale equipment. In this workshop you will learn how to
build a rustic trellis as part of your design.
Date and time:
Saturday 10 June 2000
2:30 PM to 6:30 PM
continuing on
Sunday 11 June 2000
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
This workshop was a success!
Herb Spiral Construction
Add a twist to your spice! Learn about spirals and patterns
that increase the growth of plants by designing and building a herb spiral.
This construction teaches the use of recycled materials that provide structures
to support energy conservation and are aesthetically gorgeous.
Date and time:
Saturday 24 June 2000
2:30 PM to 6:30 PM
continuing on
Sunday 25 June 2000
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
Introduction to Earth Homes
In this one-day workshop, we learn the basics of earth home
construction.
We begin with a site tour. Subsequent topics include:
-
layout of the tires
-
tire pounding
-
mixing concrete
-
building pop-can walls
and after lunch
- reading blueprints
- discussion of design considerations and alternatives
Date and time:
Saturday 8 July 2000
9:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Cost: $250 Canadian. Groups from the same area get a 10% discount
per person!
A Greywater Recycling System
Learn how to construct a system that uses greywater from showers
and washing machines to nurture your plants! Planters are built inside to
accept greywater and use it to fertilize indoor year-round gardens.
Date and time:
Saturday 15 July 2000
2:30 PM to 6:30 PM
continuing on
Sunday 16 July 2000
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
Rustic Mirror-Making
In this one-day workshop, learn to make a beautiful mirror
using wood found around your yard! Learn to collect natural materials in
an earth-especting style.
Date and time:
Sunday 23 July 2000
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM.
The mirror-making workshop costs $70 Canadian. Snacks will
be provided. Please bring a hammer and a pair of gardening clippers.
We request that you pre-register for the workshops. To
register, call Pat Potter at +1 613 474 0435 or email
Gabriella Mihalik at gaboca@hotmail.com.
The workshops cost $35 Canadian per session, unless otherwise
noted, as we would like to make it affordable to a wide range of curious
people. Workshops can be repeated upon request.
Earth Home Construction
This three-day workshop introduces the design principles and
construction techniques of the earth home. Intended for serious builders considering
their own home, this workshop gives participants a chance to try building
techniques and discuss design options for this type of homebuilding.
Topics include:
Dates and times: to be announced
usually on a Friday: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
the following Saturday: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
and ending on Sunday: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
Cost: $600 Canadian.
Other Workshops
Finding the Workshops
The workshops take place at Pat and Chuck Potter's house,
south of Bancroft, in eastern Ontario province, Canada. Bancroft is approximately
halfway between Toronto and Ottawa.
The best way to get to the Potters' house is to drive.
The Potters' house is located 1 kilometre north of "Trudy's Shell
Station" on Highway 62. It is approximately one hour north
of Belleville, Ontario, 35 minutes north of Madoc, Ontario, and 20 minutes
south of Bancroft, Ontario. Look for the red POTTER signs at the driveway.
See the map page for more detailed
driving information, bus and train information, accommodations information,
and a map to the site.
This page is located at: http://www.sunspace.org/turtle/turtle_home.html
Last Change: 12 June 2000
Webmaster: Scott Robert Dawson
-webmaster@sunspace.org-
© copyright 1999-2000 Scott Robert Dawson. All rights reserved.
