Hands On ’15 – Earth Day Austin

2015 Demonstrations

Foraging Walkabout! (12:30pm, “hands on” stage)

Join Paige Hill Oliverio, Executive Director of Urban Patchwork Neighborhood Farms, for a “Foraging Walkabout” at Mueller Park! She will guide discovery of what’s edible all around you, literally right under your feet! You’ll discover and learn about 30 varieties of edible plants growing throughout the park, discuss basic foraging etiquette and safety techniques, and take home an identification packet to help you plan for your own foraging excursions. “YUMMY!”

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Dive into Composting with East Side Compost Pedallers

Compost 101 Crash Course (1:00pm, “hands on” stage)
Interested in composting but not sure where to start? Join the East Side Compost Pedallers in their hands-on, crash course that will equip you with the skills and know how to turn your spoils, into soils! Participants will go home with a free bag of fresh, local compost!

Diving into our waste stream
Tired of that everyday dilemma: “Is this recyclable? Compostable?!” Join the East Side Compost Pedallers in this workshop where they’ll answer your waste questions, once and for all. We’ll be taking a close look at exactly what gets thrown away and how we can make our everyday lives a whole lot less trashy. Come ready to roll up your sleeves, because we’re talking trash!

Get down to earth with Randy Jewart from Resolution Gardens (2:45, “hands on” stage)
Get your fingers on some seeds and your hands in some soil (there’s more beneficial microbes in that one handful than there are stars in the universe)!! We’ll set up a raised-bed garden during this workshop and talk about the planting calendar for a year’s worth of growing, building soil fertility and square-foot gardening. Randy has built over a thousand gardens in Austin. Farm-forth!

“Strength in Numbers: Community Organizing Tactics That Win Campaigns” (3:45pm, “hands on” stage)
Have you ever wondered how progressive organizations win campaigns? Have you ever felt like your voice may be too small to make a difference? Join this tutorial & you’ll get the inside scoop on grassroots tactics that build confidence and citizen power to stand up to the 1% working to pass harmful laws. Come grab a clipboard, bring some friends, and participate in skill building exercises with Capacity Building Coordinator for the Office of Mayor Steve Adler and former Field Director for Clean Water Action, Earl Jones!

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Easy Drought Proof Rain Gardens (4:45pm, “hands on” stage)

Join Dani Slabaugh with Yard to Table Gardens to learn the basics of how to design and install rain gardens that can drastically reduce irrigation needs, improve the health of your landscape, and go a long way towards recharging Central Texas groundwater. We will walk through design guidelines, learn how to make and use DIY survey tools, and play with a sand castle version of the average Austin yard.

Earthen Tiny House (4:30pm, drum circle area)

Visit Design~Build~Live’s “Earthen TINY HOUSE” on Wheels and join in their TINY TOUR! This hands-on demo is presented by the Natural Neighborhood Development Coalition, a new local organization addressing affordability, in association with Design~Build~Live. They’ll answer ‘grown-up’ questions on timeless alternative building materials & techniques, while the kids arrange 3D scale-models of a sustainable community!”