Permaculture in Kerrville Equals Kerrmaculture
Monday, June 9th, 2008
The Kerrville Folk Festival ended yesterday. That’s right, it lasted 18 days, which is 11 days longer than the next longest music festival I’ve attended (the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival). Kerrville is also the only music festival I’ve been to that actively promotes permaculture. Sandwiched in between the booth where Clif bars were being given away and the music store where CDs were being sold was a booth (wo)manned at nearly all times by Jenny Nazak, the public-relations coordinator of the Austin Permaculture Guild.
The impact of all the permaculture and natural building workshops that have been held at the Quiet Valley Ranch (the festival’s home) over the years is immediately felt upon entering the front gate. The first structure you come to is made out of cob and locally harvested cedar. It is just one of the many buildings on the ranch made out of natural materials. The headquarters for the staff is a small house made of straw bales. And my personal favorite, the gazebo atop Chapel Hill created by Sun Ray Kelley, was made of wood found on the property. It has a living roof that was quite green the last time I saw it. Here’s a photograph of one section of the roof:
All around the ranch, trees have been planted and swales dug to direct ran water to them. The greening of the property will take some time as this is classic Hill Country land, dry, dusty, and rocky. As it is, Quiet Valley Ranch is an oasis of forward thinking in a part of the world that is often quite content with the status quo. I look forward to my next visit to this famed spot (perhaps as soon as October when an intensive Permaculture Design Workshop is being held there. Stay tuned to the Kerrmaculture website for more details….