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
________________________________
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).

Sunday, March 18th at Opal’z in Midtown Palo Alto, a record (approximately) 50 people converged on the upstairs room, normally reserved for birthday parties and soap-making. Instead, these locals were armed with bags of fabrics, paints, papers, ornaments and all sorts of arts and craft supplies. The attendees were eager to swap and jumped in to sort through the piles and boxes of a huge variety of items. Yarns and needles quickly disappeared, the prettiest fabrics snatched up, scrapbooks and more found new homes and luckily were saved from the landfill. The aromas of Annie (Opal’z proprietor)’s fragrant soaps filled the air as people shared stories and filled bags.

The crowd was such that there was a high, steady, hum through the room, and we limited the demos to only paper beads and a few things that can be made from a tshirt, leaving Annie’s other demos for future swaps. There was still a lot of stuff left over at the end (in the future, please remember to stay to take home your extras!), so crafters, teachers, families, and artists can look forward to more supplies at the next Craft swap, to be shared with the Garden Share on May 13th, 11am at Common Ground.

A few photos from this swap, thanks to Annie, are below. Thanks to all who attended! If you couldn’t make it, we hope to see you in May.

Are you a crafter? An artist? A teacher? A parent? Bring your paints, pens, fabrics, yarn, stickers, patterns, craft books, paper goods, stickers, and more to the next Craft Swap. Then take home what you need for your artwork, your lesson plans, your projects. While you’re there, learn a new skill, get to know other people in the neighborhood with similar interests, and score some artsy craftsy loot!  It’s free and fun.

New Demos on paper and rose beads, making lip balm, things to make with a tshirt.
Sunday, March 18th, 1pm-2pm
Opalz, 719 Colorado Avenue, Palo Alto (behind Starbucks, at the corner of Middlefield) – upstairs
opalzoap.com (Please note, this upstairs location is not handicapped-accessible and may have aromas for those who are sensitive)

How does it work? Bring whatever supplies you have (no one will be turned away for being empty-handed) and come watch the demos (light snacks will be provided). At 1:15, grab a bag and start shopping for free. At the end, take home whatever’s left of what you brought (if anything!).

A caveat: you may need multiple bags!

More info at www.transitionpaloalto.org/projects/craft-swap