What’s wrong with bottled water?

What’s wrong with it:

  1. the water is not necessarily better
  2. fossil fuels and carbon footprint
  3. plastic and downcycling
  4. the entire use-it-once-and-throw-it-“away” mentality

And there’s more …

  • read about how bottled water companies are stripping water resources from our mountain ecosystems (Sierra Club pdf)

What you can do …

  • use reusable containers (carry your own mess kit).
    • don’t get distracted by the dizzying array of water bottles for sale. remember that’s runaway consumption too! you only need one, and you can make do with something as simple as a mason jar.
  • use tapwater (unless you know for sure that location’s tapwater is polluted)

Feeling distressed about climate change?

The LA Times ran an article “Feeling distressed about climate change? Here’s how to manage it.” Yet their so-called solutions seemed to come to a screeching halt at processing grief. Let’s expand on that …

I’ve been “feeling distressed about climate change” for over 20 years. Those feelings of distress are what launched all this change-making, all the books, all the projects. In other words, we can transform distress into a powerful catalyst for creating positive change.

Yes, there is grief. Yes, there are deep emotions — including the love mentioned nearly as an afterthought by the LATimes article.

But an outpouring of those emotions — through action, through community connections, through building the world we wish to see — can be a powerful release. Continue reading “Feeling distressed about climate change?”

Resources for my Soil Building class

When we pull harvest from the garden, week after week, we are taking from the garden ecosystem. We are taking from the soil.

Here in Southern California, where we can harvest year-round (with a seasonally-appropriate crop mix), that means we are taking from the soil constantly. In order to maintain basic soil fertility, we must always be building-building-building up our soil.

That means compost, it means mulch, it means worm castings, it means doing all the things that cultivate rich, alive, healthy organic garden soil.

Here are some resources we mentioned during the Jan 10 class: Continue reading “Resources for my Soil Building class”

Gardening with crutches update

Today marks the 7-month anniversary of when I fell down the stairs and broke my ankle. What a journey this has been!

Thanks to physical therapy (amazing!) and then doubling up on yoga classes at LiveYogaWellness, my progress climbing back out of the injury-hole has been phenomenal! In the bleak depths of those injury days, I never thought I’d come this far — perhaps ever. 

Over the holidays, my family and I even went hiking! Ok, ok, the relatively flat trail around Palos Verdes bluffs, but it was a big deal to me. Continue reading “Gardening with crutches update”

Resources for my Permaculture Observation class

Permaculture is a design system that begins with “what is” and launches from that starting point into “what will become.” Rather than making a strict decision about the final outcome from the very start, the designer begins with what is already on the site.

We learn to work with Nature as our partner. We learn how to work with — rather than against — the influences to the site. How do people/animals already use this space? How do wind/sun/heat/weather affect it? What thrives here, and what isn’t thriving?

In this class, we practiced training our eyes to see — what is needed, what do we need to do next in this space. What do we need to shore up, and what should be re-worked? What is the garden asking for?

Here are some resources we mentioned during class:

Continue reading “Resources for my Permaculture Observation class”

Help in planning your Cool Season Garden

Resources from my talk at the Seed Library of Los Angeles:

Planting Your Cool Season Garden – Sep 21

The cool season can be some of the most productive months in our Southern California Gardens, and the Brassica family is the star of the show.

Brassicas include kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbages, turnips, radishes, arugula, and more!

On Saturday Sept 21, Joanne will speak at the Seed Library of Los Angeles meeting about how to plan your cool season garden for seedsaving as well as yummy vegetables for your table. She’ll show you how to plan a garden to minimize varietal crossing. Continue reading “Planting Your Cool Season Garden – Sep 21”

Sea level rise in California

In case you missed it, there was a well-written article in the LA Times about sea level rise and the California coastline. According to the article, the sea is now rising here on the west coast faster than anywhere in the world.

Sea level rise threatens not only ocean-front mansions and popular beachside restaurants. It will lead to erosion of ocean-facing cliffs, such as killed 3 people in Encinitas this month. Continue reading “Sea level rise in California”