Water Harvesting Tour This Saturday!!

Water Harvesting Tour
Saturday, May 7th 2:00PM-2:30PM
Come see water harvesting in action! Guided by Water Harvesting Professional and Permaculturist, Brook Sarson, you'll see how a passive water harvesting techniques, combined with a 1525 gallon rainwater storage system, as well as laundry and bath greywater work together to grow a garden of edibles (including 20 fruit trees) using only 1/4 of the water that most San Diegans use each day.
As you tour this urban farm setting, you'll see natural building techniques including a cob chicken coop, decorative benches as well as an earth pizza oven. Brook will be on-hand to talk to you about solutions for your space and how you can make a difference by conserving and protecting our most vital resource.
There will be a tour starting at 2:00, with light refreshments and materials to peruse relating to water in our community. You will learn about simple greywater systems, do-it-yourself options, rainwater-harvesting systems, resources, or you can schedule an appointment with Brook to assess greywater and rainwater opportunities at your site.
Suggested donation of $5 will go toward supporting water activism in San Diego. Please RSVP to Brook at brook@h2o-me.com or call  619.964.4838 for the address.

Regrouping for next month, no meeting tonight!

Our next Encinitas Lawn Patrol will be SUNDAY MAY 22nd at 10am.   We will meet at the end of Encinitas Blvd at Moonlight Beach and check out our latest OFG and a few other gardens that have made a great start! 

Our next meeting will be May 31st at 7pm, keep posted for the location!!

We will be looking for volunteers in the following areas:

• Liasons between OFG and one of the following groups or agencies:  CNPS, CCC, Master Gardeners, MWD, local cities, and more.  Our liasons will keep groups and agencies with similar goals up to date on OFG events and updates.
• Blog posters: volunteers to keep our blog updated on local events that are OFG, garden, and water related in San Diego or Southern California.
• PR and Events: one or two volunteers who can reach out to local papers, agencies, etc. and get info out about upcoming OFG events and who can keep the OFG team posted on upcoming events (garden tours, etc.) where we might want an OFG booth.
• OFG Booth staffers:  anyone interesting in staffing OFG booths at local garden tours or other green fair events!

If any of these opportunities sounds fun to you or if you have any questions please contact Morgan at morgan@surfridersd.org for more information!

We are also putting together a presentation for the upcoming Headwaters to Ocean Conference next month in San Diego!

See you next month!!

Join us Tomorrow!

Quick reminder for tomorrow's Ocean Friendly Gardens Lawn Patrol in Encinitas!!  We will meet at 10am at Moonlight Beach (in the lot at the end of Encinitas Blvd.) and take a quick tour of our most recent OFG and check out some neighboring gardens to assess their Ocean Friendliness! 

See you tomorrow!!

Lawn Patrol and Garden Tour this Sunday!

This weekend we have two events coming up! 

At 10am is our first Encinitas Lawn Patrol!  We will meet at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas at 10am and walk up to our first Encinitas OFG at 3rd and A and from there we will take a quick tour around the neighborhood to check out the neighbors' gardens and rate their ocean friendliness!

From there we will be running up to Oceanside for the Annual Oceanside Native Garden Tour which starts at 2pm at St. Mary's School at 515 Wisconsin Ave in Oceanside.  The tour will go around several blocks in the neighborhood, showcasing native gardens and will be led by local native garden designers and experts.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Lawn Patrol and feel free to follow us to the tour in the afternoon for some native garden action! 

For questions or more info contact Morgan at morgan@surfridersd.org

World Water Day March 22nd!

World Water Day OFG Challenge!

Decrease water use in your garden and create awareness in your neighborhood by doing one or more of the following:

1) Change regular sprinkler emitters to Hunter MP Rotators:  Each emitter only costs around $5 and is 40% more efficient than regular spray emitters.  Available at your local irrigation supply or Home Depot.

2) Remove unnecessary lawn:   Replacing water thirsty turf in your front garden or parking strip with drought tolerant and native plantings can reduce your water use by 70% or more and eliminates the need for water polluting fertilizers and other chemicals.

3) Replace one or more downspouts with a rain chain and rain barrel:  1" of rain can generate several hundred gallons of water coming off of your roof, save that water and re-use it in your garden at a later time!

4) Mulch your planting beds:  Mulching your plants with a shredded mulch helps to soak up rain, prevents plants from drying out as fast, and helps improve soil condition by allowing it to take in more water.

5) Build a dry stream:  creating dips and swales in your garden that allow water to sit and soak in reduce the amount of water pollution generated during rain storms and save water use in the landscape by creating a "water bank" in your garden's soil.

6) Tell a neighbor about the OFG program and how simple changes can make a huge difference in preventing water waste and pollution.

Visit our World Water Day site for more tips and information!