Gardening

On June 20 at the monthly meeting of the Dallas Native Plant Society, Carol Feldman will be presenting "Maintenance of your Landscape: Tips for the Homeowner".  7pm at the regular monthly meeting at REI.  The location is the upstairs meeting room of the REI Outdoor Equipment Store at 4515 LBJ Freeway 75244, on the north side of I-635 between Welch and Midway.

Learn how to prepare new beds and restore and revive existing beds using organic techniques. She will also cover garden installation of flagstone, boulders, fencing, dry riverbeds, and other hardscape elements. A yearly maintenance checklist will give an overview of timing for mulching, year end cleanup, irrigation items, and plant maintenance.

Carol is currently the principal of Feldman Design Studios where she has supervised home landscape installations for the past 15 years. She is a licensed Landscape Architect, and contrary to popular beliefs about landscape architects, she likes to work with plants, especially Texas

Habitat Restoration & Trail Maintenance at Cedar Ridge Preserve from 9 am - 11 am, rain or shine. Volunteers remove non-native plants, restore trails, and work in the butterfly garden. Repairing trails reduces erosion trouble spots and removing non-native plants clears crowded trail edges. We'll provide snacks, water, pruning shears, shovels, and work gloves. All you need to bring is sun screen and bug repellent. Questions? Contact info_CRP@yahoo.com

We will use rainwater harvesting in the ecovillage. This usually means catching water from even the smallest roof. Although a rain barrel is not the appropriate size for serious rainwater harvesting at your home, it is appropriate for outbuildings, so we have included it in the skill building series.

Dr. Dotty Woodson, Extension Program Specialist - Water Resources will be teaching this class and will provide participants the opportunity to construct a 55 gallon rain barrel as well as discuss installing an efficient irrigation system. The rain barrel is yours to take home!

Cost is $40.00 for each barrel and they measure 24 inches in diameter and 36 inches tall. Bring a vehicle large enough to haul your rain barrel(s) home.

Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Pavilion Building, 17360 Coit Road, Dallas 75252.

Tour Coppell Farmers' Market, buy some farm goodies,  and hear John of Comeback
Creek Farm speak on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

Meet at the tent in the front of the market at 8:45 am, stopping to buy a breakfast muffin if you like. About 9:15 or so, John will speak to us about CSAs in general, how he became a farmer, and his CSA in
particular.

Market opens at 8 am if you want a head start.

This is followed by an optional needle skills class on basic crochet which is followed by an optional lunch at Healthy Me Art Cafe in Coppell to visit with fellow students and learn more about the ecovillage forming just east of Dallas. 

Fee: Free, except for your purchases.

*Native Texas Garden Series, Organic Soil Preparation, Garden Installation, and Maintenance:

Learn how to prepare and maintain your soil organically in order to grow native plants and your lawn. We will also cover garden installation of flagstone, boulders and other hardscape elements. A yearly maintenance checklist will be provided covering mulch, year end cleanup, shrub, tree and ornamental grass maintenance and irrigation. Class is geared for adults. FREE (with paid admission).

Current Admission fees:

$5 Adults (13-64)
$2 Children (3-12;under 3 FREE)
$3 Seniors (65+)
$1 Discount per person (with Military ID)

North Texas Renewable Energy Group July Meeting

The Native Prairie Tour is south of Farmersville. It is reported to be 
one of the best native prairies in North Texas, and covers 50-60 acres. 
We will meet at the Heard Museum parking lot at 1:00 on Sunday, June 5th 
to carpool.

For More Info:

Jim Smittle, Secretary and Publicity, Collin County Chapter,
Native Plant Society of Texas
jim@smittle.com

Plant “keys” are one of the best ways to identify and learn plant species,
but they can be tricky to use. Practice using a key to identify the many
vines at Trinity River Audubon Center, then go into the field to practice
tree identification with a plant key.

This program is free, but RSVP’s are required; please contact Dana Wilson,
dwilson@audubon.org or 214-309-5850.

Both of these events will be held at the Trinity River Audubon Center 
(www.trinityriveraudubon.org)

The meeting starts at 7:00 PM. From 6:30 to 7:00 PM, you can enjoy snacks and refreshments as you wander among various issue booths to pick up information and talk with Sierra Club members and leaders. Contact our program chair if you have questions or suggestions regarding our programs.

Dallas Cohousing (short program)