This fun exercise was a way of thinking about possibilities for a small urban property. It included a dog-trot double yurt house, swales on the slope, a pond, rainwater catchment, and deciduous southern trees.

This large property design included mobile animal pens, and north-facing fruit trees.

This medium rural property included a pond overflowing into wetlands for wildlife, and swaling to zigzag water across the hill for infiltration.

This urban property design included swales to deal with incoming water flow, compost, and a compact lawn area to minimize mowing.

Designing with nature in mind. Patricia shows off a contour model designed to make visualization of water flows, soil types, floodplains, vegetation, etc. easier. This facilitates planning for dams, contour swales for water infiltration, location of houses and roads, and other elements of sustainable site design.

Another contour model, including the entire watershed around a sloped property.

Showing off the final design at the end of the weekend.

Explaining how the flow of cool and warm breezes, sun, and other forms of natural energy affect a design.

A multitude of colorful designs are great communication tools!

The property owner listens to the flood of interesting ideas for her property.