It's time again for that extravaganza of greenness called the Green Festival! A collection of great speakers, green exhibitors, and a nexus for the liberal political and environmental communities. The Ecology Center will, of course, be exhibiting, so come on by our booth and say hi.
This event always astonishes me with it's attendance. It's huge. There are people everywhere - and they're pretty much all engaging, and interested, and thinking about sustainability in big ways and in small ways. There are always new products, new ideas, and revitalizations of old ideas.
If you're into environmental issues, curious about them, or even dubious - come out and get the best info the bay area has to offer!
see you there,
jill
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Serendipity
So, I just got a call from an author while I was reading her book. How Random is that? Well, maybe not random, because I do try to read at least some of the new books as they're comming out. And this one is on garbage - which is pretty central to our work at the Ecology Center. But still - It's nice to know that synergy is in play.
The book is "Gone Tomorrow: the Hidden Life of Garbage" and it's great so far! check it out.
Others that I've read recently and recommend:
"King of Fish" - a fantastic natural history of Salmon
"Introduction to Water in California" - a great history of California's water, human impact, dams, and water policy.
"Deep Water" - another Dam book - this one international, and written in a narative format about three people who work around dams.
"Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norell" - but that's not an ecology book and we don't sell it (however it is wonderful!)
js
The book is "Gone Tomorrow: the Hidden Life of Garbage" and it's great so far! check it out.
Others that I've read recently and recommend:
"King of Fish" - a fantastic natural history of Salmon
"Introduction to Water in California" - a great history of California's water, human impact, dams, and water policy.
"Deep Water" - another Dam book - this one international, and written in a narative format about three people who work around dams.
"Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norell" - but that's not an ecology book and we don't sell it (however it is wonderful!)
js
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Here's to a little encouragement
Thanks to an encouraging e-mail from spain - here are some updated thoughts...
Whole Organic Food Book: A Guide for Growers and Eaters
By Dan Jason, a dedicated gardener, seed saver, and vegetarian. Jason owns Salt Springs Seeds, in B.C..
This is an interesting mix of narrative, activism, gardening, and cooking. With sections on organic growing, commonly (and uncommonly) grown backyard food crops, and the whole and organic foods community. It's a bit of gentle crusading... maybe that's the wrong word, but you definitely come out of the book knowing exactly what Jason thinks of industrial agriculture, big seed companies, and genetically modified organisms, and what he thinks should be done about it. Thankfully, I agree with him on all counts.
The Whole Organic Food Book begins with a 40 page discussion of organic growing methods. It has an especially good section on cover crops. In the food section Jason focuses on beans and grains, he covers wheat, barley, oats, quinoa and amaranth, and a bunch of different beans: cool weather and warm weather. For each, you’ll get everything you need to sow, grow, harvest, store and cook the crop, including recipes. He closes by discussing seed saving, threats to genetic diversity and GMOs, and other topics related to industrial agriculture. This is an easy to read and informative book for anyone, but it’s vegetarian back yard gardeners who are trying to move toward food self sufficiency will especially benefit. Jason’s focus on protein rich plants and his demystifying descriptions of grain growing, harvesting, threshing and storing will be extremely useful to those of us who have been intimidated by grains. There are also detailed descriptions of growing, drying, harvesting and storing dried beans.
Bottom line:
Especially recommended for intermediate to advanced back yard gardeners who are interested in organically growing more of their own food. Cover crops, plant rotations, green manure, the depth of coverage of grains and dried beans, and seed saving takes the gardener beyond beginner stage.
It is easily accessible, and would also be excellent for beginners who are ready to take their back yard gardening to the next level.
Finally, there’s a lot of information and informed opinion about seed saving, genetic diversity, GMOs organic growing and industrial agriculture. Gardeners who are interested in having more information about these issues will find some great substance in the book. I’m often asked about books that will help introduce others to these topics, so if there’s a gardener in your life who you want to gently introduce to sustainable agriculture, vegetarian eating or organic gardening, this would be a great gift book.
I hope you like it!
Jill
Whole Organic Food Book: A Guide for Growers and Eaters
By Dan Jason, a dedicated gardener, seed saver, and vegetarian. Jason owns Salt Springs Seeds, in B.C..
This is an interesting mix of narrative, activism, gardening, and cooking. With sections on organic growing, commonly (and uncommonly) grown backyard food crops, and the whole and organic foods community. It's a bit of gentle crusading... maybe that's the wrong word, but you definitely come out of the book knowing exactly what Jason thinks of industrial agriculture, big seed companies, and genetically modified organisms, and what he thinks should be done about it. Thankfully, I agree with him on all counts.
The Whole Organic Food Book begins with a 40 page discussion of organic growing methods. It has an especially good section on cover crops. In the food section Jason focuses on beans and grains, he covers wheat, barley, oats, quinoa and amaranth, and a bunch of different beans: cool weather and warm weather. For each, you’ll get everything you need to sow, grow, harvest, store and cook the crop, including recipes. He closes by discussing seed saving, threats to genetic diversity and GMOs, and other topics related to industrial agriculture. This is an easy to read and informative book for anyone, but it’s vegetarian back yard gardeners who are trying to move toward food self sufficiency will especially benefit. Jason’s focus on protein rich plants and his demystifying descriptions of grain growing, harvesting, threshing and storing will be extremely useful to those of us who have been intimidated by grains. There are also detailed descriptions of growing, drying, harvesting and storing dried beans.
Bottom line:
Especially recommended for intermediate to advanced back yard gardeners who are interested in organically growing more of their own food. Cover crops, plant rotations, green manure, the depth of coverage of grains and dried beans, and seed saving takes the gardener beyond beginner stage.
It is easily accessible, and would also be excellent for beginners who are ready to take their back yard gardening to the next level.
Finally, there’s a lot of information and informed opinion about seed saving, genetic diversity, GMOs organic growing and industrial agriculture. Gardeners who are interested in having more information about these issues will find some great substance in the book. I’m often asked about books that will help introduce others to these topics, so if there’s a gardener in your life who you want to gently introduce to sustainable agriculture, vegetarian eating or organic gardening, this would be a great gift book.
I hope you like it!
Jill
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Events
Ok, so we've just finished the flurry of Earth Day events. Happy 35th anniversary! It's pretty cool to remember that the Ecology Center Berkeley began (along with many other Ecology Centers) with that first earth day. 35 years later, we're still around, still doing fantastic, visionary work, and still expanding!
Berkeley Earth Day was nice - but it rained. We were prepared, however, so there was no book wetting going on. It was a good excuse to bring out some stuff that doesn't usually get to go to the park with us. Glass - not only is it recycled, but it's water proof! So, we had a 'waterproof stuff' table that was not completely protected by our tents, and a book table that was. It was fun! I also got to go to Oakland Earth Day this year - a shorter event right outside city hall. Somehow, even though it was shorter, I feel like I got to talk to more people. So, if you're one of them, I hope you'll come in and see the Resource Center.
Last weekend, I also got out to a Simplicity conference. 'Living More With Less" good idea. Saw some of the usual EC crowd there, but many new faces, and I got a bunch of books specifically for the conference. Some of them are really good. Check them out online - I changed the 'sustainable living' list on our webstore to 'simple living' for a while to make thme more visible.
have a great May!
js
Berkeley Earth Day was nice - but it rained. We were prepared, however, so there was no book wetting going on. It was a good excuse to bring out some stuff that doesn't usually get to go to the park with us. Glass - not only is it recycled, but it's water proof! So, we had a 'waterproof stuff' table that was not completely protected by our tents, and a book table that was. It was fun! I also got to go to Oakland Earth Day this year - a shorter event right outside city hall. Somehow, even though it was shorter, I feel like I got to talk to more people. So, if you're one of them, I hope you'll come in and see the Resource Center.
Last weekend, I also got out to a Simplicity conference. 'Living More With Less" good idea. Saw some of the usual EC crowd there, but many new faces, and I got a bunch of books specifically for the conference. Some of them are really good. Check them out online - I changed the 'sustainable living' list on our webstore to 'simple living' for a while to make thme more visible.
have a great May!
js
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
It must be spring
It must be spring, 'cause compost and seeds are flying off the shelves around here. I'm glad people are liking our seed selection... as you can see from previous postings, I spent a ton of time choosing which varieties to stock. There are some unusual things that seem especially popular: strawberry spinach, some cool red carrots, and our midget melons especially.
I've been working madly on our new store website. We'll be selling books on-line, hopefully by the end of the week. Also, we're getting ready for our spring round of tabeling and outside events. I'll be in downtown Oakland tomorrow, Berkeley Earth Day on Saturday, and the Living More with Less conference the next Saturday. In the meantime, we're hosting our very own Prof. Raquel Rivera-Pinderhughes here on Wednesday the 27th. Why our very own? She's on our board, was my undergraduate academic advisor, and as a grad student I worked as her research assistant (just before I came to the Ecology Center).
Anyway, I hope to see you at any or all of these events. Be sure to tell me if you've seen this! Someone asked me the other day... "oh yeah, you're the one that does that blog right?". It was my first in person indication that there are really people out there!
thanks,
js
I've been working madly on our new store website. We'll be selling books on-line, hopefully by the end of the week. Also, we're getting ready for our spring round of tabeling and outside events. I'll be in downtown Oakland tomorrow, Berkeley Earth Day on Saturday, and the Living More with Less conference the next Saturday. In the meantime, we're hosting our very own Prof. Raquel Rivera-Pinderhughes here on Wednesday the 27th. Why our very own? She's on our board, was my undergraduate academic advisor, and as a grad student I worked as her research assistant (just before I came to the Ecology Center).
Anyway, I hope to see you at any or all of these events. Be sure to tell me if you've seen this! Someone asked me the other day... "oh yeah, you're the one that does that blog right?". It was my first in person indication that there are really people out there!
thanks,
js
Friday, April 01, 2005
Letters to the Valley: A Harvest of Memories
This new little book by David Mas Masumoto is a treasure of family, community, agricultural, American, and global insights. It's short, I read it in one morning, with sun beaming down and a hot cup of tea in my hand. It was perfect for this books style.
Slow, lush prose, beautifully accented with illustrations by Doug Hansen. It's a testament to good food, carefully grown: to family farmers, organic farmers and central valley agriculture, but it's also a deeply moving statement about community and family. The letters range from discussions about old time peach varieties, to farmworkers, to Masumoto's Japanese-American family's experiences of WWII: both from internment camps and from the battlefield.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
js
Slow, lush prose, beautifully accented with illustrations by Doug Hansen. It's a testament to good food, carefully grown: to family farmers, organic farmers and central valley agriculture, but it's also a deeply moving statement about community and family. The letters range from discussions about old time peach varieties, to farmworkers, to Masumoto's Japanese-American family's experiences of WWII: both from internment camps and from the battlefield.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
js
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Seed Savers Exchange
This is the seed vendor that I'm so excited about. Most of the text is from their catalog:
Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization of gardeners and plant collectors who are saving and sharing ‘heirloom’ (handed-down) seeds that gardeners and farmers brought to North America When their families immigrated. Since it was founded in 1975, their members have distributed an estimated one million samples of rare garden seeds, no being widely used by alternative seed companies, farmers markets, chefs and CSA growers.
Heritage Farm is Seed Savers Exchange’s 890-acre headquarters near Decorah, Iowa. It includes preservation gardens, historic orchard, herds of Ancient White Park Cattle and several miles of hiking trails.
The Preservation Gardens are planted on 23 acres of certified organic land and are on public display. Seed Savers maintains 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties including 5,500 tomatoes, 4,500 beans, 2,000 peppers, 1,200 squash, 1,100 peas, 1,000 lettuces and more. Each summer 10% of each crop is planted on a 10-year rotation to renew the seed collection. Few gardeners have ever seen this stunning genetic diversity or realize how much of our garden heritage is in danger of extinction.
In 1900 there were 7,000 named varieties of apples in the U.S., but less than 1,000 of those still exist today and are steadily dying out. To halt this constant genetic erosion, Seed Savers Exchange has developed the most divers public orchard in the U. S., where 100 pre 1900 apple varieties are on display. The orchard also maintains about 200 hardy grapes developed by widely-known grape breeder Elmer Swenson.
Finally, Heritage Farm maintains Ancient White Park Cattle. This truly ancient breed roamed the British Isles before the time of Christ, but less than 1,000 now survive worldwide. Seed Savers Exchange’s breeding program began in 1987 and was the first in the U.S. Today there are about 300 of these extremely rare cattle in the U.S. with more than 80 living at Heritage Farm. They have distinctive white coats, black-tipped lyre-shaped horns, and black noses, ears and hooves.
Seed Savers Exchange and Heritage Farm have provided the models for genetic preservation projects and organizations in more than 30 countries.
While not all of their seeds are certified organic, they do have a safe seed pledge: “Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners, and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of the natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds.”
Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization of gardeners and plant collectors who are saving and sharing ‘heirloom’ (handed-down) seeds that gardeners and farmers brought to North America When their families immigrated. Since it was founded in 1975, their members have distributed an estimated one million samples of rare garden seeds, no being widely used by alternative seed companies, farmers markets, chefs and CSA growers.
Heritage Farm is Seed Savers Exchange’s 890-acre headquarters near Decorah, Iowa. It includes preservation gardens, historic orchard, herds of Ancient White Park Cattle and several miles of hiking trails.
The Preservation Gardens are planted on 23 acres of certified organic land and are on public display. Seed Savers maintains 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties including 5,500 tomatoes, 4,500 beans, 2,000 peppers, 1,200 squash, 1,100 peas, 1,000 lettuces and more. Each summer 10% of each crop is planted on a 10-year rotation to renew the seed collection. Few gardeners have ever seen this stunning genetic diversity or realize how much of our garden heritage is in danger of extinction.
In 1900 there were 7,000 named varieties of apples in the U.S., but less than 1,000 of those still exist today and are steadily dying out. To halt this constant genetic erosion, Seed Savers Exchange has developed the most divers public orchard in the U. S., where 100 pre 1900 apple varieties are on display. The orchard also maintains about 200 hardy grapes developed by widely-known grape breeder Elmer Swenson.
Finally, Heritage Farm maintains Ancient White Park Cattle. This truly ancient breed roamed the British Isles before the time of Christ, but less than 1,000 now survive worldwide. Seed Savers Exchange’s breeding program began in 1987 and was the first in the U.S. Today there are about 300 of these extremely rare cattle in the U.S. with more than 80 living at Heritage Farm. They have distinctive white coats, black-tipped lyre-shaped horns, and black noses, ears and hooves.
Seed Savers Exchange and Heritage Farm have provided the models for genetic preservation projects and organizations in more than 30 countries.
While not all of their seeds are certified organic, they do have a safe seed pledge: “Agriculture and seeds provide the basis upon which our lives depend. We must protect this foundation as a safe and genetically stable source for future generations. For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners, and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants. The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of the natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds.”
In the interim
Hello folks, it's been a while... I've been bogged down in end of year, then beginning of the year work.
The highlights:
- Inventory's over and I don't have to do it again for a year.
- I spent tons of time with seed catalogs, and besides now being extremely impatient for spring, we've got a new vendor that I'm excited about.
- Calendars have pretty much come and gone.
- The flood of book catalogs has slowed from a completely-out-of-hand rate to a still-can't-keep-up rate. I've got a stack about 2 feet high at the moment. All books, all the time!
- I had a blast at the San Francisco International Gift Show last weekend. Surprisingly, I found more eco-friendly products than I expected. I'm particularly looking forward to the jelle bath, but that's a whole nuther topic.
- We're starting to sell seeds, soil, fertilizer, compost etc., so the springtime struggle to have enough of all of the above in stock, while still having room to move around in the store is on again.
I'll tell you more about the seeds soon...
Happy 2005 everyone!
jill
The highlights:
- Inventory's over and I don't have to do it again for a year.
- I spent tons of time with seed catalogs, and besides now being extremely impatient for spring, we've got a new vendor that I'm excited about.
- Calendars have pretty much come and gone.
- The flood of book catalogs has slowed from a completely-out-of-hand rate to a still-can't-keep-up rate. I've got a stack about 2 feet high at the moment. All books, all the time!
- I had a blast at the San Francisco International Gift Show last weekend. Surprisingly, I found more eco-friendly products than I expected. I'm particularly looking forward to the jelle bath, but that's a whole nuther topic.
- We're starting to sell seeds, soil, fertilizer, compost etc., so the springtime struggle to have enough of all of the above in stock, while still having room to move around in the store is on again.
I'll tell you more about the seeds soon...
Happy 2005 everyone!
jill
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