Wednesday, February 16, 2011

SLOLA's General Meeting WILL Be Held Saturday - Regardless Of Weather!

This is the third logo submitted by Sarah Lavoie for SLOLA - there are subtle differences, and I've heard from several folks with ideas.  What are your thoughts?  (Scroll below to earlier posts for the other two submissions.)  And come to the meeting this Saturday to help us choose! 

The weather folks, who are the ones we think might know something we don't, are all jumping up and down proclaiming a 'storm' for this coming Saturday.  I've held events at The Learning Garden for almost ten years now and I've only seen two events canceled because of rain:  However, I have located a room on campus to hold the SLOLA meeting in if it is raining or too cold for the coming SLOLA meeting - come to the patio where we usually meet and we'll have folks to direct you to the indoor space, it's very close to the patio where we've had the last two meetings.  

We will carry on!  Come on over and join SLOLA, the ground-swell way to deal with the destruction of our food system!

Our proposed agenda will be posted on the SLOLA blog very soon!  

david

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Upcoming Events In February and March At The Learning Garden!

A flowering peach at The Learning Garden.  This is only one of several trees in full bloom, but don't be fooled.  This warm weather is only an interlude -we'll be back to cold before we get the 'real thaw' sometime in March.  It is still advisable to dress warmly for all events at the Garden!


13 February 1 PM to 4 PM – We are starting an Ayurvedic Garden in the Learning Garden! The herbs of Ayurveda are from the sub-continent of India and are closely associated with Yoga – they share that common culture. Come out and help put the start of this garden in place and learn about these wonderful plants and their benefits! For more information – contact the Gardenmaster. Free, in the Garden

19 February – 9 AM to about Noon – Westside Produce Exchange holds it's monthly exchange of excess produce. If you have too much of one thing from your garden, Naomi and her crew of volunteers (you can volunteer too!), accept the extra produce, divide it up and return it to the rest of the participants. It's a fabulous idea – you have too many turnips, another one has too many pomegranates (it really happens!), each of you drop off your excess and come back in a couple of hours and viola – there are a few pomegranates for you and a few turnips for them along with all the rest of the shared stuff. Westside Produce has the details.   Simply Brilliant! Free on the Chi Patio.

19 February 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM – The third meeting of SLOLA, the Seed Library of Los Angeles and our 2nd Seed Swap! Working hard to insure a clean, non-GMO, and healthy food supply for all of us, and especially the marginalized communities. $10 to join and participate, the membership is non-expiring (for $10!) and allows you to borrow seeds from the library when it's up and running. You borrow your seeds for free and at the end of the season, you return the same amount to the seed library to be loaned out next year. $10 to become a member, but after that.  SLOLA on the Web  On the Chi Patio

26 February 10 AM – 2 PM - Create Your Own Fruit Trees! A seminar for gardeners on getting new plants without seeds! Get a small piece of a rosemary or a grape and grow your very own plant – taste your neighbor's delicious peach, get a bit of the tree and graft your own fruit tree! You will learn all the ways to make more plants from other plants to enhance your gardening skills and take your gardening to the next level! You can end up with one tree with many different apples or a citrus with different oranges, lemons and limes! You will take home your own grafted tree! $35 plus a $10 materials fee, on the Chi Patio. Prepay via PayPal at www.tlgdaily.blogspot.com. Email the Gardenmaster for more details. Coffee and tea are served -bring your own cup.  

05 March – 9 AM to Noon – Our monthly Growing Food In Southern California! Only a person who has not gardened here can declare that we have no seasons! We do and the plants know it! When do you plant beets, beans, carrots, corn peppers, basil? All this and more is covered in our month by month series of what to do and when to do it! With over 30 years of growing food organically under his belt, metaphorically speaking of course, Gardenmaster David King's lectures are full of information, tidbits and hints that can't be found in any book! (Yet... ) $25 on the Chi Patio – coffee and tea are served -bring your own cup.

david

Friday, February 4, 2011

This Saturday Is the Growing Food Class!

In a photo by Barbara Treves from last weekend's seminar, "Essentials of Vegetable Seed Saving," Gardenmaster David King holds a couple of screens for separating out chaff from seed that's being saved.

This Saturday, the usual first Saturday of the month class, Growing Food In Southern California meets in The Learning Garden on the Chi Patio from 9 AM to Noon.  We'll cover finishing off our cool season gardens and starting our tomatoes and basil for the coming hot months.  The weather should be absolutely delicious for gardening this weekend so we'll spend some time out in the garden planting and checking out the harvest from this last season!  If we have folks with fruit trees we'll show how to best prune fruit trees at this time of year and all the other tasks we need to get out of the way in our gardens!  Remember, if you want a good tomato, pepper and cucumber crop this year, now is the time to start and we'll show you exactly what works!

Class is $25 and you'll probably have some take home material from the class (plants, seeds or harvest!)  Hot tea and coffee will be served - bring your cup!