Permaculture Workshop: Weslaco / Alamo

Today's workshop began with a talk by Wayne Weiseman in the workroom of the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco.  Weiseman discussed UDSA planting zones and the possible use of plant material from adjacent zones; the maintenance and management of permaculture projects; the use of solar food driers; a common-sense approach to cooling a house; the finding of five functions for each plant in use in one's project(s); and functional relationships versus stacking relationships.  Weiseman also recommended viewing "Plants for a Future" at pfaf.org.

Marianella Franklin, Director of Sustainability at the 

University of Texas - Pan American, introduces workshop

speaker Wayne Weiseman.

Restoring Native Habitat by Re-designing Human Communities:  We then took a tour of the Valley Nature Center (VNC), located at 301 South Border Avenue, Weslaco, Texas. Their website states the following: Our Mission is "to provide educational opportunities and to foster appreciation and understanding of the Lower Rio Grande Valley's unique natural communities of flora and fauna." 

The VNC is an 6 acre park that is home to a wide variety of the LRGV's native plants and animals. Many plants were transplanted during the past 25 years to this protected area from sites which were slated for development. There is an ongoing effort to enhance the plant diversity of the park. This aim is for protection of local plant species diversity as well as to make diverse food and habitat available for resident and migratory wildlife. By strolling the 1 mile of trails of the Nature Park, one may examine plant species native to such diverse areas as the Sabal Palm Grove, Arroyo Colorado Brush, the Barretal, Coastal Lomas and the Chihuahuan Thorn Forest.

Wander around our trails and you'll why Malachite and Pixie butterflies, Plain Chachalacas, Great Kiskadees, Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, Texas Tortoises, Eastern Cottontail Rabbits and several lizard and amphibian species can all be seen here. The park is a wonderful natural oasis in the middle of the city.

Urban Permaculture Design:  Visit to 1015 West 6th Street, Weslaco, Texas; the home and on-going permaculture project of Daniel Vela and Alison Fjerstad along with their friend and on-site resident Anthony Santiago. Vela, Fjerstad and Santiago, all 23 years old, have been working on their one-acre property for two years.  Each one provided detailed information on their work thus far, what has been successful and what has failed. The property has been grandfathered-in and will allow them to continue their work along with keeping the three individual residences and in the future some type of livestock.  The intent is to use the main residence, built in 1934, as a learning center - both for the permaculture work on-going and for holistic life enhancements.

Workshop attendees gather in the living room of the 1934 house to

discuss ideas that Vela/Fjerstad/Santiago can incorporate into

their on-going permaculture project

Alison Fjerstad and Daniel Vela discuss the ideas behind the banana

circle they planted near the front entry to their home.  It was suggested

by one attendee that the banana circle be moved to the southeast 

corner of the house so that the house itself can protect the plants

during the cold season.

Daniel Vela demonstrated how a fallen tree, left in-place

and then reclaimed by nature with the micro-system

that has developed around the tree trunk.

After a tour of the property, both Weiseman and workshop attendees provided Vela, Fjerstad and Santiago multiple ideas to implement and/or expand on.  The session was a pleasant surprise; meeting three 23 year-olds working a day job and  living frugally to provide funds for their passion; a permaculture project that will easily take a minimum of ten years for it to be fully realized.  

Anthony Santiago discusses the on-going work on the greenhouse

at the back of the Vela property.

It was suggested to Vela and Fjerstad that they begin work on the 

vertical layering of plant life under the canopy of the largest tree on 

the property.

A view of the backyard on the one acre site.

Small Farm Permaculture Design:  A Visit to Terra Preta Farm (7769 East Canton Road, between Tower and Val Verde Roads).  The farm is dedicated to providing fresh seasonal vegetables and herbs that are free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides Run by Juan Raygoza, the farm first began in 1996, then began farming organically in 2007 and has officially been open at Terra Preta Farm since November or 2011.  The basis of their success is the fertility of the soil, as they keep them active and full of minerals.  The farm offers weekly and biweekly vegetable shares and they are also active participants at the McAllen Farmers Market. Check their Terra Preta Farm Food & Grocery Facebook page and their website, www.terrapretafarm.com for additional information.

Cover crops in place for the summer.

The farm has grown tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, artisan tomatoes, green

beans, zucchini, yellow squash, okra, butternut squash and cucumbers.

Juan Raygoza, who runs the Terra Preta Farms explains the methods used

to grow and harvest the vegetables organically and as a part of the

permaculture movement.  UT - Pan American also assists at the farm.

Raygoza also volunteers his time and knowledge at the Yahweh's

All Natural Farm & Garden in Harlingen, Texas.

A windmill pumps water into the adjacent 8 foot deep reservoir.

The reservoir was initially filled with water from the Rio Grande.

A greenhouse that allows for the experimentation with smaller plants.

Dr. Alex Racelis, Agroecology Program Director at the University of Texas - 

Pan American, discusses his departments on-going work at the Terra Preta

Farm. Agroecology is the study of ecological processes that operate in

production systems. A deep understanding of the ecological implications of

the ways we produce our food, fuel, and fiber is to effectively manage these

systems in ways that are more environmentally sustainable.

Permaculture Design & Education Workshop

The Permaculture Design & Education Workshop, sponsored by The University of Texas Pan American's Office for Sustainability opened this morning with a talk by Mr. Wayne Weiseman, an international leader in permaculture design. Weiseman noted that observation of one's surroundings is key to a successful project. "Sit back an watch, use all the senses."  He recommended that when undertaking a project one "take one year of protracted observation" for a comprehensive vision to become a complete lifestyle.

Weiseman's general introduction covered ethics; Care of Earth - the primary ethic, the earth is the primary client; Care of People (Care of Ourselves) - if we can provide for our own basic needs, then we can care for the earth; Return of Surplus - contribute time, money and energy to achieve these ethics along with setting limits to population and consumption. You reinvest surplus into the first two ethics and limit consumption.

"Make the least change for the greatest effect," said Weiseman.   In challenging the forty attendees to take their first step into permaculture, Weiseman tried to ease people's caution by saying that "mistakes are tools for learning." 

Weiseman spoke about the "father of permaculture", Bill Mollison, and recommended we study his work by reading: Permaculture: A Designer's Manual and Introduction to Permaculture. 

Weiseman also spoke about David Holmgren, an Australian environmental designer, ecological educator and writer and a co-originator of the permaculture concept with Mollison.

Weiseman noted that Holmgren's Permaculture Principles include:  1. observe and interact 2. catch and store energy 3. soil & trees are living sources of energy 4. obtain a yield 5. apply self-regulation and accept feedback 6. use & value reusable resources and services 7. produce no waste 8. sustainable yield  9. integrate better than segregate. 10. use small and slow solutions 11. use and value diversity 12. use edges and value the marginal  13. creatively use and respond to change

The Permaculture Process:

• Pattern Observation
• Site Analysis
• Design
• Implementation
• Feedback

The Permaculture Scale of Permanence:

• Climate
• Land form
• Water (in general)
• Access and Circulation
• Micro-climate
• Vegetation and Wildlife
• Buildings and Infrastructure
• Zones of use
• Soil 
• Aesthetics

Weiseman's website, www.permacultureproject.com, lists the following as the Principles of Permaculture.

The Permaculture Design System is based upon certain principles and methodologies that govern design work. These principles are witnessed in the behavior of natural systems and therefore constitute a base for human activity that mirror nature and act within the laws that govern its behavior.

Principles of Permaculture

• Ethics:  The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children. Cooperation, not competition, is the very basis of future survival and of existing life systems.
• Care of the Earth: includes all living and non-living things, plants, animals, land, water, air
• Care of People: promotes self-reliance and community responsibility and mutual access to resources necessary for existence
• Setting Limits to Population and Consumption: in keeping with the current human capacity to benevolently distribute goods and resources
• System yield: the sum total of surplus energy produced by, stored, conserved, reused, or converted by the design. Energy is in surplus once the system itself has available all its needs for growth, reproduction and maintenance. Unused surplus results in pollution and more work.
• Relative Location: Components placed in a system are viewed relatively, not in isolation.
• Everything is connected to everything else: Recognize functional relationships between elements.
• Every function is supported by many elements (redundancy): Good design ensures that all important functions can withstand the failure of one or more element.
• Every element is supported by many functions: Each element we include is a system, chosen and placed so that it performs as many functions as possible.
• Local Focus: “Think globally-act locally”. Grow your own food, cooperate with neighbors. Community efficiency, not self-sufficiency.
• Diversity: As a general rule, as sustainable systems mature they become increasingly diverse in both space and time. What is important is the complexity of the functional relationships that exist between elements, not the number of elements.
• Biological Resources: We know living things reproduce and build up their availability over time, assisted by their interaction with other compatible elements. Use and reserve biological intelligence.
• One calorie in/one calorie out: Do not consume or export more biomass than carbon fixed by the solar budget.
• Stocking: Finding the balance of various elements to keep one from overpowering another over time. How much of an element needs to be produced in order to fulfill the needs of the whole system?
• Stacking: Multi-level functions for single element. Multi-level garden design, i.e., trellising, forest garden, vines, ground covers, etc.
• Succession: Recognize that certain elements prepare the way for the system to support other elements in the future, i.e., succession planting.
• Use onsite resources: Determine what resources are available and entering the system on their own. Maximize their use.
• Edge effect: Ecotones are the most diverse and fertile area in a system. Two ecosystems come together to form a third which has more diversity than either of the other two, i.e., edges of ponds, forests, meadows, currents, etc.
• Energy recycling: Yields form a system designed to supply onsite needs and/or needs of local region.
• Small scale: Intensive systems start small and create a system that is manageable and produces a high yield.
• Make least change for the greatest effect: The less change that is generated, the less embedded energy is used to endow the system.
• Planting strategy: 1^st-natives, 2^nd-proven exotics, 3^rd-unproven exotics- carefully on small scale with lots of observation.
• Work within nature: Aiding the natural cycles results in higher yield and less work. A little support goes a long way. Appropriate technology: The same principles apply to cooking, lighting, transportation, heating, sewage treatment, water and other utilities.
• Law of return: Whatever we take, we must return. Every object must responsibly provide for its replacement.
• Stress and harmony: Stress here may be defined as either prevention of natural function, or of forced function. Harmony may be defined as the integration of chosen and natural functions, and the easy supply of essential needs.
• The problem is the solution: We are the problem, we are the solution. Turn constraints into resources.
• Mistakes are tools for learning: Do not view mistakes as negative
• The yield of a system is theoretically unlimited: The only limit on the number of uses of a resource possible is the limit of information and imagination of the designer.
• Dispersal of yield over time: Principle of seven generations. We can use energy to construct systems providing that in their lifetime they store or conserve more energy than we use to construct them or to maintain them.
• A policy of responsibility (to relinquish power): The role of successful design is to create a self-managed system.
• Principle of disorder: Order and harmony produce energy for other uses. Disorder consumes energy to no useful end. Tidiness is maintained disorder.
• Chaos has form but is not predictable. The amplification of small fluctuations.
• Entropy: In complex systems disorder is an increasing result. Entropy and life-force is a stable pair that maintains the universe to infinity.
• Metastability: For a complex system to remain stable there must be small pockets of disorder.
• Entelechy: Principle of genetic intelligence, i.e., the rose has thorns to protect itself.
• Observation: Protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor.
• We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunities.
• Wait one year.
• Hold water and fertility as high (in elevation) on the landscape as possible.

While Weiseman covered a lot of material, it gave those new to the movement a quick overview of what they have to look forward to.

Permaculture Workshop at UTPA

I am looking forward to attending the Permaculture Workshop this coming week, sponsored by the University of Texas - Pan American.  The workshop will be led by Wayne Weiseman, an international leader in permaculture design.  Permaculture is an innovative design process that is based on one's design principles and ethics.  At Mata+Garcia Architects we use it as a guide for our the design of our buildings, by adapting patterns and relationships that are found in nature and applying them to all aspects of human habitation.

Location, climatic conditions and resources influence the strategies used to implement the principles of permaculture.  While the strategies may differ, the basic steps to the holistic approach of permaculture remain constant.

I will provide daily updates on the various talks and tours of RGVittes that are leading the permaculure movement here at home.  HRGarcia

Detail: Edinburg High School

One of four skylight galleries that light-up the student

corridors as students move from one class to another.

Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility Groundbreaking Ceremony

The former fire department, destroyed by fire December 10, 2011.

The community of Linn-San Manuel gathers for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Linn - San Manuel, Texas

On December 10, 2011 fire destroyed the building that housed the Linn-San Manuel Fire Department and eliminating the first line of protection for the county's rural northern ranches and developing neighborhoods. In time, the lack of a station destroyed the volunteer departments relationship with critical entities: Hidalgo County, the Linn-San Manuel Volunteer Fire Department Advisory Board and the department itself.

On Wednesday a new era began as community and county officials took part in a ground breaking ceremony for the reactivated department's new home: the Luis Flores Jr. - Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility.  The land for the building was donated by Mrs. Vicky Flores and her family in memory of their late husband and father.

The 9,076 square foot, $1.3 million facility was designed by Mata+Garcia Architects. Working with Hidalgo County Precinct 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios and Pct. 4 ROW Agent, Jesse Ozuna, MGa design includes offices for regional emergency response agencies, a community / training room, a full kitchen, three apparatus bays and department storage.  

J-Con Construction of Palmview, Texas has been selected as the general contractor for this project.

Mata+Garcia Architects presentation board of the new Luis Flores Jr. - 

Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility, completion due March 2015.

North Elevation of the new Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility.

(L to R)  LSMVFD Firefighters Rudy "RJ" Campos, Juan Vicencio, HCPct.4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios, Chief Elia Garza Vicencio, Firefighter Hugo Aguilar, Assistant Chief Alma Diana Guiterrez, LSMVFD Board of Directors Johnny Cozad and John Hart. (Back)  LSMVFD Board of Directors Victoria Rodriguez, Pharr FD Chief Jaime Guzman, and Gerry Guerra.

Dignitaries from various local and county agencies gather with Hidalgo County Precinct No. 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios for the traditional groundbreaking marking the start of construction for the new Luis Flores Jr. - Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility.

Mrs. Vicky Flores and family members of the late Luis Flores Jr. gather for the groundbreaking of the new Luis Flores Jr. - Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility. With them is Hidalgo County Precinct No. 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios who spearheaded the project.

Jesse Ozuna, HCPct. 4 ROW Manager and the project manager for Pct. 4 on the Luis Flores Jr. - Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility served as the master of ceremonies for the event.

Roberts Elementary School - San Benito CISD

Courtyard view of Classroom Porch areas and Library.

Luis Flores Jr. Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility Bid Opening Held

Sealed bids were received today by the Hidalgo County Purchasing Department for the proposed Luis Flores Jr. - Linn-San Manuel Emergency Services Facility.  The low bidder was J-Con Construction of Palmview with the amount of $1,350,000.00

Architectural presentation board showing the North Elevation (top left),

the South Elevation (bottom left) and the overall site plan (right).

The north elevation of the proposed emergency services facility will use 

hand-formed brick for the office/residential areas and metal siding for the

apparatus bay. The design blends a classic ranch aesthetic in a

contemporary composition that will highlight the facility at the intersection

of Interstate Highway 69C and State Highway 186. The completion target

date is March 2015. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church - Mission

Was in Mission today, drove by Mata+Garcia Architects renovation and

addition project.  Rey Zamora, Architect and Fr. Roy Snipes worked

tirelessly over the past two years to bring this project to fruition.

On the Boards: Sunflower Park

Our initial concept for Phase One of Sunflower Park:  Visitors enter the park through a monumental gateway directly accessing the parking lot, which will be shared with a future Community Resource Center. Crushed granite trails meander through the park, allowing patrons to either access park amenities or use them as a part of their fitness workout.  The trails will change grades, providing a moderate challenge to a fitness program, yet complying with state and national accessibility standards.  An existing berm on three sides of the park perimeter will be set five feet above grade, with all-weather surface to provide an option for those wishing for a more challenging workout.  

A children's playground has been placed in a central location, for convenience and for supervision.  A Wilderness Hideout Challenger System, which is a nature-themed playground features wood components, a Climber and Tree Toppers; a Challenger System that features two slides, the Horizontal Loop Ladder for upper-body fitness, and a Transfer Station for wheelchair accessibility.

Sunflower Park & Community Resource Center

July 27, 2013 Article by Jared Janes in The Monitor newspaper. Photos by MGa

Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios, center, speaks to the media prior to the ground breaking ceremony for the Sunflower Park Friday July 26, 2013 in San Carlos. The park will provide outdoor play areas and recreational activities for residents of the area.

Rain complicates conditions at the chronically-cramped San Carlos community resource center. When the skies open up, the volunteers who manage its summer program for children must find ways to make the center work with no outdoor options. They divide its available indoor space with curtains and siphon kids off by activity, or they find ways to entertain and educate them as a whole group.

But in a program that already has to turn kids away because of the limitations at the community resource center, those space-saver solutions aren’t the ideal fix, said Veronica Sanchez, a volunteer at the center whose two children are regular attendees. “There’s a lot of parents asking to put (their children) in the program,” she said. “If we could have more space, we would be better off.” They’ll get it now thanks to an expansion of county services in the San Carlos area.

Hidalgo County Precinct 4 broke ground Friday on Sunflower Park, one of two new parks planned for the precinct this year that will expand existing acreage by 400 percent. Located at the intersection of Highway 107 and Sunflower Road, the new park will provide outdoor play space and recreational activities for residents and families in San Carlos. Planned amenities for the park include a pavilion with basketball courts, playground equipment, walking trails and a soccer and baseball field. The park is just the first phase of a series of improvements planned for the area. Precinct 4 will also break ground later this summer on a new community resource center to replace the existing, outdated one that hosts community events for children and their parents.

Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios, center left, and Ernesto Narvaiz, center right, toss dirt during the ground breaking ceremony for the Sunflower Park in San Carlos. The park will provide outdoor play and recreational activities for residents in the  area.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Joseph Palacios said the new park and community resource center are needed improvements for San Carlos, a rural community with about 6,000 residents, making it larger than some of the county’s cities. Palacios said the county is currently under-serving its youth in San Carlos because it can only take in about 35 percent of those who sign up for its summer program. In an impoverished community where many families lack Internet access or even a computer, the community resource center fulfills a fundamental need for San Carlos.

“It’s not just improving the quality of life,” Palacios said, adding that the space will fulfill the needs for now and the immediate future. “It pretty much will be the flagship for their community, the place where they go and take pride in.”

Rendering of the three phases of Sunflower Park. Phase I is in the lower right-hand corner.

Construction costs for the park’s first phase are estimated at $500,000, but the total cost over three phases will be about $1.1 million. The San Carlos community resource center will cost about $1.2 million. Precinct 4 is covering the initial $500,000 cost for the park’s first phase, while funding from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development is slated for the rest.

Once both are completed, it will vastly improve the quality of services in San Carlos, said Alicia Rodriguez, the San Carlos community director for Precinct 4. In addition to the children’s summer program funded entirely by churches and charities and handled by parent volunteers, the community resource center hosts educational courses — helping residents get their GED diploma or learn English — and other special events in San Carlos.

East/Courtyard Elevation * Community Resource Center

North/Courtyard Elevation * Community Resource Center

South Elevation from Hwy. 107 * Community Resource Center

The park will also add a recreational venue for a community that previously lacked those options. “It’s a blessing,” Rodriguez said. “This is going to be a place that will improve our community.”

Town Hall * Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Projects

Newspaper Article Published Friday, June 28, 2013 by: Jared Janes | The Monitor

Hidalgo County Precinct 4 will expand parks and roads, work on economic development and partner with other governments to save money, Commissioner Joseph Palacios said Thursday as he laid out ongoing projects and future plans for his precinct. The precinct is expanding 10th Street through to Monte Cristo, adding 80 acres of new park space (designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP) and starting work on drainage improvements funded by last year’s bond referendum, Palacios said at the first of a series of town hall meetings. But Palacios said the traditional role of a county commissioner is evolving to encompass increasingly complex issues: economic development and health care. 

Joseph Palacios, Hidalgo County Pct. 4 Commissioner addresses constituents at a town hall meeting Thursday, 

held at the City of Edinburg Commission Chambers, to lay-out ongoing precinct projects and discuss future plans.

“As we grow, there’s going to be a great demand for every experienced people who are out there committed to learn and figure out how to solve the problems of today and tomorrow,” Palacios said. “It’s not just paving streets and maintaining roads; the evolution of the role of a commissioner has to be rooted in a comprehensive experience in everything.”

Palacios hosted the town hall meeting Thursday to share upcoming projects and plans for the precinct, including parks, drainage, public safety, new facilities and road construction. Palacios also announced his intent to seek a second term as Precinct 4 commissioner when the seat is on the ballot again next year.  He secured an endorsement from his prior opponent and former Commissioner Oscar Garza, who introduced Palacios at Thursday’s town hall.

Palacios told constituents that one of the precinct’s priorities is completing drainage projects funded in last year’s $184 million drainage referendum. In Edinburg and McAllen, the precinct’s home base, the drainage referendum will fund eight major projects designed to add additional capacity to existing drainage ditches through a system of pumps and gates. By using in-house construction and engineering crews, Precinct 4 also saved an estimated $2 million off about $7 million in previously funded drainage work, Palacios said. The precinct has also worked with the Texas Department of Transportation to leverage local resources with state dollars to reduce traffic congestion and improve highway safety.

Rendering of the proposed Emergency Services Facility for the San Manuel / Linn area in northern Hidalgo County. The $1.3 million facility will house the local fire department and be a satellite office for county and state law enforcement agencies. Mata+Garcia Architects LLP was selected as architect for the project; consultants include Chanin Engineering (Structural),  Sigma HN Inc. (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing) and LeFevre Engineering (Civil).

Precinct 4 is working with TxDOT to reconstruct and widen 10th Street from University Drive to Monte Cristo. The $13.7 million project is being funded with only about $3.3 million in county funds. The county also kicked in about $1.2 million on a $13.2 million partnership between TxDOT, McAllen and the Hidalgo County Metropolitan Planning Organization to develop Ware Road from Mile 3 North to Mile 5 North.

Phase One of the proposed Sunflower Park, at the corner of Hwy. 107 and Sunflower Road in San Carlos, Texas. The park was designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP, CLH Engineering (Structural), Prodigy CM (MEP) and LeFevre Engineering (Civil). The park includes a pavilion, walking trails, playground, picnic shelters and support facilities.

But Palacios said he was proudest of the precinct’s efforts to improve quality of life in its neighborhoods. This spring, the precinct will begin work on parks in the Linn-San Manuel and San Carlos areas that provide recreation and amenities to rural residents that are generally reserved for cities, Palacios said. With only one other park in the precinct, the 80 new acres will expand existing acreage by 400 percent.

Rendering of the Sunflower Park Master Plan - designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP.

The precinct is also building a $1.2 million community resource center in San Carlos (designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP) — replacing one outgrown by the community of about 6,000 people — and plans to construct a multi-purpose facility for emergency services in Linn-San Manuel (designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP) that will serve as a home for its volunteer fire department and law enforcement agencies. Palacios said his office built its list of planned projects around the comprehensive needs of its residents. “We’ve got growing pains and needs,” Palacios said. “It’s never going to be done. Our job never ends.”

 East Elevation of the proposed San Carlos Community Resource Center and designed by Mata+Garcia Architects LLP, Chanin Engineering (Structural) Sigma HN Inc. (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing) and LeFevre Engineering (Civil).