Please join us for a moving and timely film about a young undocumented migrant boy, the teacher who dedicates himself to making a difference in his and other students’ lives, and the enormous burden faced by undocumented children in this age of virulent anti-immigrant attitudes and policies.

East of Salinas takes us to the heart of California’s “Steinbeck Country,” the Salinas Valley, to meet a bright boy and his dedicated teacher — both sons of migrant farm workers. With parents who are busy working long hours in the fields, third grader Jose Ansaldo often turns to his teacher, Oscar Ramos, for guidance. But Jose is undocumented; he was born in Mexico. Like many other migrant children, he is beginning to understand the situation — and the opportunities that may be lost to him through no fault of his own. East of Salinas follows Jose and Oscar over three years: the boy is full of energy, smarts, and potential, while his teacher is determined to give back to a new generation of migrant children.

Many of the students that enter Oscar’s third grade class at Sherwood Elementary School in Salinas have never been to the beach, even though it’s only twenty miles away. Their parents work from sunup to sundown. They live in cramped apartments in neighborhoods plagued by gang violence. The kids take on the day- to-day stresses of their parents: making ends meet, dealing with acute health issues, fearing deportation. In the face of these challenges, Oscar gives his student’s access to a world that often seems beyond their reach.

Jose is one of Oscar’s most gifted students. Despite having moved between seven different schools in three years he still excels in math. But Oscar can only do so much. For Jose, a student with such promise, East of Salinas demonstrates the cruelty of circumstance — a cruelty that touches on the futures of millions of undocumented kids in America. See the trailer…

Friday September 22 25, 7:30-9:30pm
Fireside Room, Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
505 E. Charleston, Palo Alto
FREE (donations appreciated)

The Transition Palo Alto Sharing Committee is working on the Halloween Costume Swap and Fall Share Faire.  You should join one of these – there as much fun as the Share Faires themselves!

 
Do Save the Date:  October 8, from 1-3 PM, in rooms A-6 and A-7 at Cubberley Community Center.  Stay tuned for details.  We’ll look forward to seeing you there.

Five people met under an oak tree in the beautiful Common Ground Garden on a perfect summer Northern California afternoon.

Caryn brought concord grapes.  They came with a story:  she has to watch for ripeness and pick them the day before they reach perfection.  Otherwise, a mother raccoon and her babies have a feast – and make a mess.  We could see why the raccoons would be excited – the grapes were perfect.

Ellen brought jujubes, which came with a story too.  Ellen was visiting LA, where she walked around the neighborhood for a little relaxation.  She encountered a jujube tree, overloaded with fruit.  She picked one that was hanging over the sidewalk and found it delicious.  She wanted more, but wanted to talk to the homeowner first.  Passing by the next day, she saw the homeowner in the yard, worrying over the downed jujube tree, which had fallen overnight!  She stopped to chat, and of course got permission to harvest as many as she wanted.

Herb showed us the unpainted signs for the upcoming Phoenix Garden workday on August 19.  The signs are already works of art.  When volunteers have painted them they will become masterpieces.

Peter had Christmas Lima Beans, leftover from his trip to Slow Food Nations in Denver.  He encouraged the others to keep them until spring, then plant them widely.  The beans are on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, which raises awareness for rare and heirloom varieties.  Let’s make this one a little bit less rare.

Which got William reflecting on beans,and peas and other legumes.  After which he finally wondered if any of them were perennials, something about which he had a vague memory.  None of us knew, not that it mattered.

If you know, or want to know, about perennial beans join us for the next Garden Share.  William has promised to look up perennial beans for us – he’ll Share what he learns when next we convene under the oak in the Garden.  See you then.

Saturday, August 26, 6:30 to 8:30 PM,
Los Altos Library, 13 South San Antonio Road, Los Altos, CA 94022 [Map]
Free, RSVP Required

In the not too distant past, people in many cultures were growing all of their food and spending less than an hour per day to do it. In this presentation, John Jeavons will present a path towards creating a sustainable food system, and why it is essential that we follow it, now. In short, he will discuss how we can grow each person’s food on 1% of the area used by conventional farming, while building soil and saving water. Moving our society toward sustainable food production is becoming ever more pressing and Jeavons will discuss how resilient communities can be built around localized food systems.

John Jeavons is the Executive Director of Ecology Action, headquartered in Willits, California. He is known internationally as the author of the best-selling book“How to Grow More Vegetables—and Fruits, Nuts, Berries and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible With Less Water Than You Can Imagine”, as well as author, co-author and/or editor of over 40 publications on the topic of biologically intensive food- and soil- growing. For the past 45 years Jeavons has devoted his time to research, develop and teach a small-scale, resource-conserving agricultural method — GROW BIOINTENSIVE®. This high-yield food raising approach is being successfully practiced in over 150 countries—in virtually all climates and soils where food is grown, and by organizations such as UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Peace Corps.

The Foodshed Forum is a partnership of Slow Food South Bay, Transition Palo Alto and the San Mateo County Food System Alliance, bringing together the community for talks on important food system topics in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

The TPAers who participated in this year’s nectarine harvest already had the great pleasure of meeting the Masumoto family. For everyone else, you’re in for a treat!

“How many harvests do you have in you?” is the perennial echo that reverberates across the Masumoto Family farm. Changing Season: On the Masumoto Family Farm chronicles a transitional year-in-the-life of famed farmer, slow food advocate, and sansei, David “Mas” Masumoto, and his compelling relationship with daughter Nikiko, who returns to the family farm with the intention of stepping into her father’s work boots. Mas’ hopes and hesitations for the future are shored up with his daughter’s return, as the family must navigate the implications of Mas’ 60th birthday and triple bypass surgery. The film is interspliced with moments of Nikiko’s razor sharp meditations on her family’s internment during WWII and her role as a queer, progressive farmer in the Central Valley. See the trailer…

Friday August 25, 7:30-9:30pm
Fireside Room, Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto
505 E. Charleston, Palo Alto
FREE (donations appreciated)

Sponsored by Transition Palo Alto and Slow Food South Bay

On Saturday, Transition Palo Alto held its first ever Share Faire at Common Ground Garden and what a great place it was to have a Share Faire!  With plenty of space to spread out, that’s just what we did around the beautiful garden space.

Our neighbors shared lots of skills.  Diane Ruddle taught us how to make white kimchi.  Hillie Salo showed us how to save tomato seeds.  William Mutch demonstrated the fine art of sharpening blades.  Wendy Breu showed us how to make fine crafts out of paper.  Hamsa Ramajayan had a gaggle of kids to show how to make fairy gardens.  And our host, Paul Higgins, demonstrated watering techniques AND showed us how to thresh, winnow and mill – using a bicycle-powered mill assembled by the girl scouts! – wheat grown in the garden.

There were, of course, lots of things to share:  books, clothes, household goods, garden goods and produce and much more.

Thanks to the volunteers who helped set-up, operate and clean-up the Share Faire.  We can’t do this without a community.

We’ll look forward to returning to the wonderful Common Ground Garden for another Share Faire soon.

Transitioners spent a delicious afternoon July 30 processing the nectarines still left from the harvest at Masumoto Family Farm. The creative and fruit juices flowed, as participants fashioned jam, gazpacho, salsa, pie, and canned slices from the divine fruit.

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Garden share enthusiasts and participants in the South Bay Bioregional Hub came to Full Circle Farm for a last garden share and gathering July 23.

The garden shares will be continuing, and organizers will be on the lookout for a new public venue.  Meanwhile, the plan is for participants to take turns hosting in their driveways.  We’ll share info about where the garden share is each month.

A bunch of TPAers adopted nectarine trees at the Masumoto Family Farm this year. The farm is a multi-generational enterprise of the delightful and inspiring Masumoto family. The farm specializes in peaches and nectaries, which Nikiko Masumoto calls the ‘anti-convenience fruit’ because they require lots of attention and care to produce the fragrant and juicy fruit loved by so many.

The first crew harvested on July 22, and a fine time was had by all. The next crew is due to finish clearing our three trees on July 29th.

There will be lots of fruit, and when that happens, it’s time for a skillshare!  Whether or not you participated in the harvesting, you’re invited to a skillshare on July 30 in Sunnyvale. Join in as we prepare and preserve much of the fruit, and then enjoy a potluck dinner. Send email to barbaraweinstein2@gmail.com to RSVP and for the skillshare location and other details.

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