Transition Palo Alto

In the back parking lot of Common Ground, as people perused plants, melodious music mingled with green garden goods and a cornucopia of crafts, with the whirring of bicycles in the background.

The garden share gathered with seedlings and herbs and plenty of lemons.

The craft table was laden with cloth and papers aplenty.

Tom Kabat (with the able assistance of David Coale) repaired the row of bikes that entered the lot and gave advice on riding comfortably and safely. Herb Moore displayed his Scrapaphony – chimes made out of keys, pipes from tubing, and drums from jars filled with colorful liquids.

Annie (of Opal’z) demonstrated how to wrap the soaps she teaches how to make for gifts, and showed her fragrant rose beads. I showed how to reuse envelopes (turn them around, or use junk mail) with decorative hand-drawn labels and make homemade playdough.

The share, on Mother’s Day, was full of energy, with interplay among crafters, musicians, bike riders, gardeners, kids and adults, and everyone wanting to learn and share. Thank you to all who came, especially to those who helped lead these sharings. A special thanks to all the moms on this Mother’s Day.

Looking for a good read that’s also eco-friendly? Find a Green Shelf near you. A project of the Midtown Palo Alto Green Team, Green Shelves are just that – a bookshelf lined with green paper and stocked with environmentally-friendly reading material for all to borrow and read. Working together with local schools, businesses and public areas, we hope to establish a number of Green Shelves that will carry books on carbon-cutting topics for all ages, nonfiction and fiction alike.

The aim of the Green Shelf is to provide an opportunity to share materials with like-minded people throughout the city as well as to raise awareness and knowledge among the general population. We hope that Green Shelf books will also be the starting points for conversations and building connections in the community. Anyone can pick up a specially-marked book from a green-paper lined Green Shelf, read it and return it when done. You can return it to any other Green Shelf in the city.

The first Green Shelves are at Parents Nursery School (Louis Road and Garland – currently for school-families only) and Philz Coffee (Middlefield and Loma Verde). Be sure to ask about the Green Shelf when you visit these local establishments and others. More locations will be coming.

If you’d like to participate, you can donate books or literature on eco-friendly topics to the Green Shelves. Any books on environmental issues (a few multiples are okay because we can use them at multiple locations), current magazines, kids’ materials, or gardening-related materials (secular materials only) are welcome. You can also participate by suggesting books and locations.

Check out a book at a Green Shelf near you. If you have donations, a suggestion for a book, or would like to have a Green Shelf at your location, please contact the Midtown Green Team by email: midtown (at) pagreenteams (dot) org

Interested in gardening in the Palo Alto area? Get timely hints from the TPA Garden Notes compiled by Master Gardener Romola Georgia.   To get the newsletter and join the Garden Group contact transitionpaloalto AT gmail DOT com .

Below is the latest Garden Notes from Romola.   

-Bart

Transition Palo Alto Garden Notes for May

I’ve been thinking this month about the gardener’s role in protecting and nurturing the soil ecosystem. In addition to the visible earthworms and sowbugs that decompose and shred, we must be mindful of the bacteria, fungi, and nematodes that we do not see, but are also hard at work improving the soil texture and nutrient availability. For growing vegetables in our area:

1. Use compost to improve the soil structure and increase the availability of nutrients and water
2. Use organic fertilizer to provide essential plant nutrients. Our gardens usually need nitrogen. Examples are alfalfa meal or pellets or composted manures which are mixed into the soil at planting time.
3. Use mulch on your vegetable bedsto conserve water, suppress weeds, and encourage that biotic life in the soil as it heats up this month. Straw or unsifted compost works well to protect the soil from the hot sun.

May is heaven for gardeners in the Bay Area

1. Plant out seedlingsof those summer crops you’ve been waiting for:tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. You can nip the lower leaves from your tomato seedlings and set the plant deeply into the soil. It will respond by developing a stronger root system and a healthier structure. Don’t forget to remove all the little buds and flowers from your peppers for the first 3 or 4 weeks. The pepper needs to develop a strong structure and good root system to support the fruits. I also remove any tomato flowers I see at planting time.
2. Squash, beans, cucumbers and melons can be seeded directly in May. Think about the space they will need and any support structure you will offer.
3. You can still directly seed arugula, carrots, beets, radishes, and chard.
4. Flowers and herbs are wonderful for your cooking and also for the beneficial insects they sustain. This year try some basil, dill, parsley, borage, cosmos, marigolds, nasturtiums, sunflowers, or zinnias.

Fruit trees: Don’t forget to thin your fruit. Thinning is an important aspect of fruit tree care, promoting not only healthier fruit, but also avoiding alternate bearing syndrome (a lot of fruit one year and very little fruit the following year.) Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots will benefit from reducing to one fruit per cluster or making sure that no two fruits touch each other. Stone fruit can be twisted off, but pome fruit should be clipped with your pruners. If you expect a large harvest or cannot use all your fruit, consider contacting Village Harvest http://www.villageharvest.org/ They will harvest your trees and donate a portion to the needy. They also have tips on managing your trees.

It’s feedback time. Transition Palo Alto has been sending this garden note for several months to the “garden interest” group. Please send me some feedback. What has been useful? What has been interesting? What would you like more of? What else would you like to see in the garden note Please send comments to:

Romola Georgia  (c/o transitionpaloalto@gmail.com )

The purpose of this group is to share information, resources, questions, and events about vegetable gardening. Our wonderful Mediterranean climate permits us to grow and eat from our own gardens in every month of the year.

To get the newsletter and join the Garden Group contact transitionpaloalto AT gmail DOT com .

MOTHER’S DAY GARDEN-CRAFT-BIKE-MUSIC SHARE

Neighbors sharing food, exchanging crafts, repairing bikes, and making music

Sunday, May 13 11am – noon FREE !
Common Ground Organic Garden Supply & Education Center
559 College Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Hop on your bikes with your favorite mother for this 4 Event Mother’s Day Share. Join us to share your garden and kitchen bounty, your extra arts and crafts supplies. Bring what you have to share; take home something you don’t. You’ll also learn to make homemade musical instruments and get a (or learn to do your own) bike tunup. Bring your bikes, homegrown fruit, vegetables, eggs, herbs, honey, flowers, paints, markers, fabric, yarn, paper, patterns, books, garden/craft tools, kits and more. Be sure to bring a bag to take home the bounty!

Local Garden Share – Bring extra bounty from the garden (produce, fruit, herbs, eggs, honey, flowers, plants in pots), things made in the kitchen from the things from the garden, seeds, seedlings, tools, utensils, books, magazines. Anything garden and food-related is welcome.

Craft Share – Bring your arts and crafts supplies and tools, and even artistic creations to share. At 11:30, we’ll have demos on rose beads and packaging, homemade supplies and envelopes, and more, along with wind chimes and musical instruments (see Scrapaphony below).

Bicycle workshop – Let’s work together to do minor maintenance and make minor adjustments to improve your bike for efficiency, safety and comfort, with Tom Kabat. He’ll help you with: Tire pressure, Oiling squeaky chains, Seat ergonomics, Adjusting bar position for good wristernomics, Adjusting gears, brakes and headsets. He can also coach you through fixing a flat tire!

Scrapaphony – Fun with Fun Sounds – a workshop in making musical instruments from scraps with Herb Moore. He’ll be sharing examples of simple homemade “instruments,” wind chimes from spare keys, a canning jar “water drum.” He’ll also share an approach to exploring sound with found objects.

Throughout the Bay Area, neighbors are coming together for sharing locally grown, fresh produce, as well as arts and crafts supplies, and other household items. Our Palo Alto sharing event is supported by a coalition of community ecological organizations and neighborhood groups including: Acterra, Barron Park Green Team, Midtown Green Team, Barron Park Garden Network, Barron Park Assn, Common Ground, City of Palo Alto Community Gardens, Slow Food South Bay, Transition Palo Alto and Transition Silicon Valley.

The Common Ground store is open during the event, so plan to stop in to get any supplies you need to continue your garden bounty or more. Also, the event is located only 3 blocks from the California Ave Farmers’ Market, which is open from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. You will have time to shop or have lunch at the market after the event.

The Palo Alto Weekly ran a nice article about garden circles in its latest issue (May 4) on the front page of the Home & Real Estate section, page 45.
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=25237

Several Transition people are mentioned, including Paul Heft, Debbie Mytels and Annette Isaacson. Several other Transitioners are past members of the circle.

Garden Circles combine several themes of Transtion — communtiy, good and DIY. And as the article makes clear, they are a lot of fun.

If you are interested in joining an existing garden circle or starting a new one, contact one of the members or transitionpaloalto AT gmail DOT com. There’s another garden circle that is centered in Barron Park.

They do know beans
Midtown gardeners share knowledge and bounty

Dexter Girton knows the best way to defend his hard-earned backyard bounty from even the craftiest squirrel.

“Loose netting, with no holes,” he said. “If the netting is too tight, the squirrels will crawl under the netting. Believe me; I’ve seen them do it.”

He should know; he’s been growing fruit and vegetables in his yard for 30 years and can offer invaluable advice ranging from fending off various pests to spacing one’s plants inside their gardens.

Girton now shares his knowledge and experience with the community through the Midtown Garden Circle.

“I was part of the California Rare Fruit Growers that meets in San Jose for many years, but I wanted to make contact with gardeners closer to home in Palo Alto. I also wanted to make additional gardener friends; that’s what it was really about,” he said.

…
“My partner Paul and I wanted to start growing our own food, but we didn’t have any prior experience,” member Annette Isaacson said. “Paul had done some research, but we thought it would be really nice to have some practical knowledge. The members of the circle were so supportive and nice, even though we were just beginners.”

…
Debbie Mytels originally came up with the idea of a support group in hopes of spurring a “movement” for local home food gardeners back in 2005.

“Small groups were the best way to reinforce new learning and behavior, and they also provided an outlet for new social connections within the community,” she said.

“The people and the friendships are the most important to me about the group,” Girton said. “I have developed many gardening friends through the group.”

Members also said that they would like to develop food sources closer to home. “Getting closer to the food supply is becoming even more beneficial for everyone due to the rising costs of gas,” Isaacson said. “People have also developed an interest in where their food is being grown.”

MORE TEXT AND PHOTOS AT ORIGINAL ARTICLE.

Super Films of Vision and Hope film night last Friday (5/4)! Everyone loved the Urban Farming Guys videos. To see the ones we saw and some more, go to http://theurbanfarmingguys.com/.

Next Friday, May 11, 7:30pm, we’ll be showing YERT, Your Environmental Road Trip. Don’t miss this award winning adventure. Called to action by a planet in peril, three friends hit the road – traveling with hope, humor, and all of their garbage – to explore every state in America in search of the extraordinary innovators and citizens who are tackling humanity’s greatest environmental crises.

Should be another excellent evening of film and discussion. Then on Friday May 18 we’ll close the series with our 100 Mile Potluck – starting at 7pm.

All at World Centric, 2121 Staunton Ct, Palo Alto

The first Global Spirits hike, sponsored by Globalicious and Transition Palo Alto, was held 4/22 at Russian Ridge.

The hike featured magnificent views, some “tree yoga,” and even a reptilian friend.

A grand time was had by all! The next hike will be at Hidden Villa May 12. Global Spirits hikes are for people who want to share love for the world, its diverse people, and the outdoors. For more information, see the May calendar of events or contact transitionpaloalto@gmail.com.

MOTHER’S DAY GARDEN-CRAFT-BIKE-MUSIC SHARE

Neighbors sharing food, exchanging crafts, repairing bikes, and making music

Sunday,  May 13 11am – noon      FREE !
Common Ground Organic Garden Supply & Education Center
559 College Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94306   

Hop on your bikes with your favorite mother for this 4 Event Mother’s Day Share. Join us to share your garden and kitchen bounty, your extra arts and crafts supplies. Bring what you have to share; take home something you don’t.   You’ll also learn to make homemade musical instruments and get a (or learn to do your own) bike tunup.  Bring your bikes, homegrown fruit, vegetables, eggs, herbs, honey, flowers, paints, markers, fabric, yarn, paper, patterns, books, garden/craft tools, kits and more. Be sure to bring a bag to take home the bounty!

Local Garden Share – Bring extra bounty from the garden (produce, fruit, herbs, eggs, honey, flowers, plants in pots), things made in the kitchen from the things from the garden, seeds, seedlings, tools, utensils, books, magazines. Anything garden and food-related is welcome.

Craft Share – Bring your arts and crafts supplies and tools, and even artistic creations to share.  At 11:30, we’ll have demos on rose beads and packaging, homemade supplies and envelopes, and more, along with wind chimes and musical instruments (see Scrapaphony below).

Bicycle workshop – Let’s work together to do minor maintenance and make minor adjustments to improve your bike for efficiency, safety and comfort, with Tom Kabat. He’ll help you with: Tire pressure, Oiling squeaky chains, Seat ergonomics, Adjusting bar position for good wristernomics, Adjusting gears, brakes and headsets. He can also coach you through fixing a flat tire!

Scrapaphony – Fun with Fun Sounds – a workshop in making musical instruments from scraps with Herb Moore. He’ll be sharing examples of simple homemade “instruments,” wind chimes from spare keys, a canning jar “water drum.” He’ll also share an approach to exploring sound with found objects.
 

Throughout the Bay Area, neighbors are coming together for sharing locally grown, fresh produce, as well as arts and crafts supplies, and other household items. Our Palo Alto sharing event is supported by a coalition of community ecological organizations and neighborhood groups including: Acterra, Barron Park Green Team, Midtown Green Team, Barron Park Garden Network, Barron Park Assn, Common Ground, City of Palo Alto Community Gardens, Slow Food South Bay, Transition Palo Alto and Transition Silicon Valley.

The Common Ground store is open during the event, so plan to stop in to get any supplies you need to continue your garden bounty or more.  Also, the event is located only 3 blocks from the California Ave Farmers’ Market, which is open from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.  You will have time to shop or have lunch at the market after the event.

How are folks coping with today’s economic and environmental crises? It’s easy to lose hope when faced with a mountain of tough economic problems on top of climate change and other environmental woes

In this film series, we’ll take a look at how people are living creatively, finding ways to be resilient and thrive as the world comes apart around us.

Friday April 27 – Urban Roots
Detroit, once an industrial powerhouse, is now devastated by the collapse of manufacturing and loss of population. But now against all odds, seeds of change are taking root. See how dedicated Detroiters are working tirelessly to fulfill their vision for locally-grown, sustainably farmed food in a city that had given up hope.

Friday May 4 – Farmin’ in the Hood
It’s an amazing story of about 20 families that uprooted from suburbia and made their homes for good in one of the most blighted neighborhoods in the U.S. “We took the seeds in our pockets and every square foot we owned and went about like mad scientists testing out innovative ideas from all around world and making them work in one of the most blighted neighborhoods in the US.”

Friday May 11 – YERT – Your Environmental Road Trip
Don’t miss this award winning adventure. Called to action by a planet in peril, three friends hit the road – traveling with hope, humor, and all of their garbage – to explore every state in America in search of the extraordinary innovators and citizens who are tackling humanity’s greatest environmental crises.

Friday May 18 – 100 Mile Potluck – STARTS 7pm
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World Centric 2121 Staunton Ct., Palo Alto
Meet and greet (and Dec. 9 potluck) 7 P.M.
Meet and greet 7:00 P.M. Films and discussion 7:30 – 9:30 P.M.
Sponsored by Transition Silicon Valley, Transition Palo Alto, and World Centric

The Cool Cities challenge is an exciting effort to achieve dramatic carbon reduction by working at the community level. Thanks to the efforts of Transitioners David Coale, Annette Issacson, and Annette Puskarich, Palo Alto is included in the list of target cities for the challenge, along with Davis, Sonoma CA, and three cities in Brazil. The ultimate goal is to make a real difference in the climate change game by involving folks locally.

To learn more, don’t miss this upcoming community meeting with David Gershon, creator of the Cool City Challenge and author of Low Carbon Diet.

Cool City Challenge: Reinventing Our Cities From the Bottom Up To Achieve Dramatic Carbon Reduction, Vibrant Livability and Green Prosperity
Monday, April 2nd
7-9pm
Lucie Stern Community Center (1305 Middlefield Rd), Community Room

This community meeting organized by the Palo Alto Community Environmental Action Partnership (CEAP).