SEED CLIPPER CLEANER
We (NSF) are purchasing a seed cleaner and screens to make our seed processing more efficient and to provide higher quality seed for our seed distribution programs. The new seed cleaner costs $5,800 and is partially funded for $3,500 by a USDA SARE grant that NS/S received to work on heirloom wheats in Arizona. The seed cleaner uses different types and sizes of screens for cleaning a variety of crops. At the Conservation Farm, we grow and clean a lot of crop diversity, therefore we will also be purchasing a set of 13 screens for the seed cleaner that cost $60 each ($780). This seed cleaner is a small-scale, 2-screen type that is an appropriate model for small-scale farms. It will be available to our farming community to use, including Borderlands Restoration who work on native plant seed conservation for land restoration. It is an example of appropriate technology that is transferable to other small farms and it could be run on solar power.

OVERHEAD SPRINKLER SYSTEM
We are in the process of improving our water and energy conservation on the Farm by switching from flood irrigation to overhead sprinkler irrigation. The Farm has always pumped water up to an irrigation pond using a lot of electrical energy in order to flood irrigate. The pond is now in a endangered species restoration project with Fish and Wildlife that requires a continuous level of water to be maintained in the pond. For this reason, and for reducing the Conservation Farm’s water and energy use, we have decided not to use the pond to flood irrigate. We are looking to fund the equipment for an aluminum sprinkler irrigation system that will include mainlines, moveable hand-line sprinklers, and valves. This system will replace the gated PVC pipes that we have been using to flood irrigate. The aluminum pipes and metal sprinklers will be more durable and eliminate PVC from our farm landscape. PVC is a material that breaks down under UV in 3 to 7 years and it is not recyclable when it wears out.

Thank you Director Nancy Wall for arranging this grant.

Central and Latin America, Funded Projects, Grants, North America Cleaner, Clipper, Conservation, Farming, Gardening, Irrigation, Native Seeds/SEARCH, Preservation, water

2013 Washed Ashore Project

March 2, 2015Written by Amaterra

2013 Washed Ashore Project

This project uses giant sea life sculpture made entirely of marine debris to teach children and adults how to help save our seas. A $1000 grant in 2013, arranged by Board member Joe Swaffar, helps develop educational materials for the classroom.

Look at the program and a more detailed view of the project by opening their PDF:

washedashore

Funded Projects, Grants Art, Debris Cleanup, Education, Fish, Marine Debris, Oceans, Preservation, Save our seas, Sculpture, Sea

The Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory 1992 – 1994

January 1, 1995Written by Amaterra

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Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory 1992 – 1994

The Desert Laboratory was founded in 1903 by the Carnegie Institution to further arid lands research. Scientists early on established permanent vegetation research plots on Tumamoc Hill, an 869-acre preserve now surrounded by Tucson city development. Some of these same plots continue to be studied making the Desert Laboratory one of the longest environmental reasearch projects in history. Today the photographs and collections of the laboratory form the basis of understanding of how our present environment is part of a long continuum of desert change.

Amaterra provided mailing list soft-ware, helped create a newsletter, and participated in fund raisers to raise public awareness and support for the Desert Laboratory.

OUR THANKS TO AMATERRA

“This newsletter would not be possible without the enthusiastic support, energy and skills of Amaterra, a non-profit organization in service to the Earth.

Amaterra sponsors caretaking projects throughout the Southwest: at Sand Canyon Pueblo in Colorado for over a period of eight years, they cataloged plants and animals, collected meteorological data, and built a field research support facility for Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. At the Nature Conservancy’s Canelo Hills Preserve near Sonoita, Arizona, they restored some of the preserve’s nineteenth century buildings and provided round the clock caretaking for two and a half years.

Amaterra has now chosen Tumamoc Hill and the Desert Lab as a place worthy of protection, preservation and sponsorship. Our deep thanks especially go to Roger Irwin, president, board member Otis Bronson and Advisory Committee Member Nancy Wall. Otis Bronson, in particular, is contributing his skills as layout editor for Tumamoc. Amaterra donated the Filemaker Program which has facilitated our communication and record keeping beyond measure! Finally, Amaterra contributes significant financial support for the publication of our newsletter. Muchas gracias,” Martha Ames Burgess, Editor (October, 1993)

Find out more about Tumamoc today at: http://tumamoc.arizona.edu/

Direct Involvement, Funded Projects, Grants Amaterra, Caretaking, Communication, Conservation, Conservation Agriculture, File management, Nature Conservancy, Preservation, preserve, Protection, Record Keeping, Sponsorship

Amaterra

Tag: Preservation

2014 Amaterra $1000 grant to assist NSS in the following two projects

2013 Washed Ashore Project

2013 Washed Ashore Project

washedashore

The Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory 1992 – 1994