Creating Beauty from Scarcity
About
In Tucson, Arizona – a city that averages just 12 inches of rainfall per year – drought isn’t an occasional challenge; it’s a way of life. Yet even in this arid environment, Martha Retallick has transformed her home into a thriving, water-efficient – and water-collecting – urban oasis.
It’s a place that integrates nature with the built environment. Tall ironwood and mesquite trees shade Martha’s house, flowering shrubs like senna and chuparosa provide delightful splashes of color, and the fruit and vegetable gardens provide tasty home-grown food.
Martha’s little oasis also offers endless inspiration. She shares it through the photos on this site, her Water Harvesting 101 audiobook and eBook, her weekly Water Harvesting 101 Podcast, and her City Nature coffee table book.
Water Harvesting 101
Whether you’re a DIY-er from start to finish, or you’re going to hire everything out, here’s the knowledge you need to get started with water harvesting.
Are you a visual learner? The Water Harvesting 101 eBook is packed with Martha Retallick’s color photos – and easy-to-understand captions – that show you exactly how.
Prefer to listen? The Water Harvesting 101 audiobook is professionally narrated and tailor-made for mobile learning.
The Weekly Water Harvesting 101 Podcast
Water harvesting encompasses three activities: Redirecting rainwater away from where it isn’t wanted to where it is; storing rainwater for later use, for example, during a drought; and recycling “used” water.
This weekly podcast covers these topics — and a whole lot more.
City Nature
A Whole Earth Catalog for our time, this book addresses all the important things: food, water, cookies, flowers, bees, and bicycles. Part practical guide, part personal diary, many parts gorgeous coffee table book, City Nature is for anyone looking to learn how to be a better steward of one’s own backyard, as well as a visual celebration of what grows from dirt when we take the time to nurture it. A must for the preservation of our dwindling resources, presented with positivity and
clear instructions!
– Carrie Seid, Artist and Creativity Consultant
Projects
From construction project documentation to weather monitoring, nature photography to language learning, and engineering research to low-cost landscaping, Martha Retallick’s diverse interests are on display here.
This is what happens when you buy a house that needs a lot of work…
Gaining photography skills by focusing up close on backyard magic…
Blog
What will you find in Martha’s eclectic blog? Just about anything! She started blogging in 2007 and still hasn’t run out of things to write about.
Here are the latest posts:
Water Harvesting 101 Podcast: Episode 17 – Trees for Free
Water Harvesting 101 Podcast: Episode 16 – Hot Times in the Garden
Contact
Want to hire Martha for your project?