Hello, to Mark, the owner of this group.

 

I thought you may be interested to know that Sustainable Sacramento is the name of the new Earth Day grant program. The funding was generated by the River City Run event.

 

Perhaps you could spearhead a local project in behalf of the North Highlands Garden Club.

 

Regards,

 

Jerry Bachman

 

 

Request for Proposals for the 2005-2006 Sustainable Sacramento Grants
“Earth Day Every Day” is a philosophy familiar to many, but challenging to apply in our daily lives. The Sacramento Area Earth Day Network is delighted to offer the community support for sustainable living practices and projects. Funding for the grants was raised by the River City Run 5 and 10 K run/walk held annually to honor World Environment Day (Sunday near June 5th). The guidelines for the 2005-2006 Sustainable Sacramento Grants are below. The purpose of this grant program is to inspire, encourage, and financially support local organizations’ efforts to build a sustainable and healthy community in Sacramento County. Organizations are encouraged to develop and conduct an educational activity or project that helps bring elements of sustainable living to their neighborhood, school, church, or community. All grantees are encouraged to display their project efforts at Sacramento’s annual Earth Day Celebrations held near Earth Day, April 22 and on SAEDN’s website ( http://www.earthdaysac.org ). Applicants may submit project proposals with budgets of up to $1,500, although the Sacramento Area Earth Day Network may grant less than requested. Grant proposals must be postmarked by December 1, 2005. They may be mailed or emailed to the address below. If you have questions, please contact: Kathy Ries, Director Sacramento Area Earth Day Network Sacramento Area Earth Day Network (SAEDN) 441 La Purissima Way Sacramento, CA 95819 projectcoord@... 916-739-6705.

----- Original Message -----

From: Dameon

To: NorCal Ishmael

Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 3:16 AM

Subject: [NorCal_Ishmael] Got my blood boiling

I decided to take a few hours off from studying for finals to read some wikipedia articles.  I stumbled across the article of a woman that has in recent months become my arch nemesis: Ann Coulter.  The following quote exemplifies why I loathe her so:

 

"The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet -- it's yours. That's our job: drilling, mining and stripping. Sweaters are the anti-Biblical view. Big gas-guzzling cars with phones and CD players and wet bars -- that's the Biblical view." - from her column "Oil Good; Democrats bad" (http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/coulter101300.asp) October 12, 2000

 

D

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." ~ Albert Einstein

---

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. Learn more.

There is no one right way to live.

Sign up for the Karma patrol!

 

 

See you there!

 

Jerry B.

 

Growing a market

Heidi Watanabe nurtures her organic produce from fields to sellers' stalls

By Gwen Schoen -- Bee Food Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, April 27, 2005

The morning was glorious. The sun was so bright, it made your eyes water. The air was crisp and clean, with just a touch of dampness.

It was the kind of morning that pulls at your senses and begs you to go outside and enjoy the garden.

And there, on her knees in the wet dirt, was Heidi Watanabe, doing exactly what many of us dream of doing on such a beautiful day. She was planting tomatoes at her West Sacramento farm. The look of pure joy on her face filled us with envy.

"We're about finished putting in the tomatoes," she said, her hand sweeping the air as though welcoming visitors to her home.

"We put in about 10,000 plants. Ten varieties, 1,000 plants of each. It's our largest crop and one of our most popular items," she said.

Heidi and her husband, Clark Watanabe, farm 7 acres of land tucked between Jefferson Boulevard and the Sacramento River in West Sacramento. At local farmers markets, they are best-known for organic heirloom tomatoes. During tomato season, customers are often three deep around the Watanabe stand.

They also grow a variety of organic fruits and vegetables, including radishes, squash, beets, onions, garlic, salad mix and flowers.

The farm, which has been in Clark's family since 1953, was fallow for many years until Heidi discovered the feel of soil between her fingers and the joy of tending the vegetables she so lovingly plants by hand. Today, the prolific farm produces enough fruit and vegetables for Heidi and Clark to make a modest living.

"I love working at the farmers markets," Heidi said. "People who shop there like to know the source of their food. They want to know how it was grown, and I think that's important. They also tell us what they hope we will grow. This year we planted herbs and added Roma tomatoes because our customers kept asking for them.

"It is fun when our customers come back and tell us how much they enjoyed what they bought."

During the summer, the Watanabes sell produce at a farmers market nearly every day of the week. Early in the morning, they walk the fields, pick what's ripe, load it into a truck and head to market. Every Saturday, their produce stands can be found at markets at both the Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights and at Country Club Plaza at Watt and El Camino avenues in Sacramento.

While Clark grew up working summers on the farm with his grandfather, Heidi is new to farming. Seven years ago, she was floating in life, as she says. She worked as a retail clerk, rushing to work, rushing home, looking forward to days off and time outdoors.

"I just wasn't accomplishing anything of value," said Heidi, 32, a Sacramento native. "I graduated from high school (Encina, class of '91), but I needed a purpose. One day Clark suggested I plant some vegetables on the land behind his grandmother's house, and that really was the beginning of our farm."

The first year was devoted to clearing the land, which looked more like a jungle than farm acreage. Clark's grandmother Mary, 83, still lives in a small house at one end of the property. Clark's grandfather passed away 10 years ago at age 93. Although Mary still has her own small flower and vegetable garden, nearly a generation had passed since anyone cultivated the land.

"I started working on it, clearing a little patch at a time," Heidi said. "The first year I planted pumpkins and squash, and I sold the excess at a farmers market. I was so excited. And I felt so good when I was outside working in the fields. The change in me was amazing.

"In the beginning, I really didn't know what I was doing, but the soil here is very fertile because it is so close to the river. Everything grows really well. Clark majored in agricultural science at the University of California, Davis. He was working for agricultural companies at the time. He taught me a lot and he got some of the old machinery working again."

The second year, Heidi planted tomatoes. Then she added onions, salad greens, beets and radishes, everything her customers at the farmers market requested.

Not long after Heidi's first pumpkin crop came in, Clark's parents, Roy and Ann Watanabe, showed up, offering to help. They still come to the farm every day. About a year ago, Clark left his corporate job to become a full-time farmer with his wife.

Today, dressed in denim shorts, boots and sweat shirt, her face scrubbed so clean it glows, her hair pulled through the top of a big straw hat, she looks and sounds every bit the seasoned farmer with just as many concerns over weather, water, bugs and rodents as a large corporate grower.

This spring, just as she had finished planting much of the tomato crop, a heavy hailstorm stomped across the field. The damage was easy to spot.

"Most of the plants survived, but the ones that got a direct hit will have to be replaced. You just never know how things are going to go," she said. "The cool spring and all of the extra rain has put things a little behind, but we will catch up as soon as the weather warms up."

This is a seven-day-a-week job. You can't call in sick. You can't stay home when it rains or it's too hot. You will never have pretty fingernails. Sometimes it hails and you have to start over. And sometimes there's no paycheck at the end of the week.

"We have changed our lifestyle," Heidi said. "We live very modestly in a little house just across the river from the farm. And we watch our expenses carefully. But the farm has enriched our lives so much that it has been worth every sacrifice. This is what I was meant to do. Every day, I wake up and I can't wait to get outside and go to work."

Heidi's dog, a rescue pup named Copper, bounds across the field chasing birds as the young woman with the sparkling eyes, rosy cheeks and muddy knees stoops to pull the last of the beet crop. Not everyone would love this lifestyle, but she has found her purpose.

I thought you might appreciate this link to Richard Heinberg's e-letter.

 

 

Regards,

Jerry Bachman

Hi everyone,

There is a wonderful article on the front page of the Taste Section of
today's Sacramento Bee about Heidi Watanabe and the Watanabe Organic Farm.
 Heidi and her husband are from West Sacramento and grow organic produce
and sell at a number of the farmer's markets in the area.  I happened to
have become acquainted with Heidi when going to one of the farmer's
markets she participates in.  She is a really wonderful person, and they
have really good produce.  The article also has a sidebar with all the
farmer's markets in the greater Sacramento area listed.  It is well worth
getting a copy of and/or looking at.

Our next Organic Sacramento meeting will be this Monday night (May 2,
2005) at 6:30 p.m. at the Stockton Blvd. Resource Center, 5625 Stockton
Blvd. (the southeast corner of Stockton and Fruitridge in the Fruitridge
Shopping Center).  We hope you will be able to attend this meeting, as we
have a number of important agenda items to address, including a
presentation by Ian Oeser on a forthcoming Green Directory, debriefing
about The Future of Food screenings and a possible follow-up meeting for
the Sacramento event, organizational/logistic prospects and update on the
website, possible fundraiser for Soil Born Farm, West Nile Virus update,
and thoughts on attending the County Plan meetings, etc.

Bill Maynard has distributed an update about the status of new and
upcoming community gardens in and around Sacramento, which is included
toward the end of this e-mail.  It is great to see what kinds of things
are happening, and the energy that is going into creating these gardens.
Bill is doing a wonderful job !!  (I don't know if this had been mentioned
before, but Bill was recently nominated for a special award for his work
with community gardens, where the first prize was receiving a car for
life.  While he didn't win the car, he was one of the finalists and did
receive a trip to Washington, DC as well as other significant recognition
and, I believe, prizes.  It was quite an honor, which he is well deserving
of !!)

Also, the County of Sacramento is currently working on the County Plan for
the next 10 years.  They will be holding a series of meetings, which would
be good for Organic Sacramento and other like-minded groups to participate
in, in order to include the "green" perspective.  We are hoping to have at
least 2 people at each meeting, so if you, or someone you know, would be
willing and able to attend one or more of these meetings, would you let me
know, so we will know that that day and location is covered.  I am
attaching the schedule below, as well.

Be sure to check out our website when you have a chance.  We are making
changes to it, and are open to input and to suggestions as to other
possible ideas and design as well as content options.  (I can't guarantee
about if and when the changes will be done, but we are doing the best we
can to make as much happen as quickly as possible.)

Hope you are having a wonderful week, and will be able to make it to
Monday's meeting.  Keep in touch !!  (See additional information below.)

                                                                                                             Kim



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SACRAMENTO AREA COMMUNITY GARDEN COALITION

MAY MEETING:
Tuesday, May 17, 2005 (I believe this is the date, but it is best to call
to confirm)
6:30 p.m. 46th and T street, Coloma Community Center (Sacramento)
Room to be posted.  (We are resuming the meetings after conflicts with
meeting dates and locations... but we are ready to press on...lots to talk
about...)


*******************  THIS IS AMAZING ! ! ! ! !  *************

8 new community gardens are starting up this year !!

NOW OPEN:
Phoenix Park Community Garden - near Hazel and Madison (must live in the
Fair Oaks
Park and Recreation District)

OPEN NOW AND TAKING PLOT RESERVATIONS:
Florin Reservoir Park and Community Garden (City of Sacramento - Power Inn
Road and 53rd) open to residents of Glen Elder and Lemon Hill areas).

OPENING IN APPROX 30 DAYS TO GARDEN
Hazel Strauch Park and Community Garden (City of Sacramento - Northgate
area).

COMING SOON:
Elk Grove Community Garden (south of Elk Grove Park) BREAKING GROUND ANY DAY.

Johnson-Neely Park (Fall 2005) Out to BID at this time (City of Sacramento
- 11th and F Sts.).

2 - Oak Park Community Gardens! Tilling and staking taking place.

Fremont Mews - (Ron Mandella Community Garden Remainder parcel -Name not
confirmed
at this time) should be open at the end of 2005.

*******
COMMUNITY GARDENS IN THE PLANNING STAGES:
Ninos Park Way (city of Sacramento)

******************************

WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE !
People are NOW asking for community gardens in their parks and schools!

****

Just in time to help...a NEW CROP of MASTER GARDENERS for Sacramento
County !!!!
Graduating in MAY, 2005. CONGRATS !

************
Want to start a Community Garden in YOUR neighborhood? Come to the meeting
and find out how!

School Gardens ... now is the time to start planning for next year ...
Symthe and Northwood Schools contacted SACGC for help in planning their
garden for the fall.

Jonas Salk School Urban Ag. Project in Development / Study stages
Jed Smith School Urban Ag. Project in Development / Study stages

************
Need to borrow a tiller for your community garden plot? SACGC has a tiller
and equipment to loan out... but you have to attend the meetings to gain
access to it.

************
Garden Mosaics Program - gardening with kids educational seminar Grant
High School April 30th 9-1p.m. RESERVE YOUR SPACE NOW by contacting Bill
by phone or at the meeting.....approximately 8 spaces left !

***************

HAPPY 2nd SEASON TO
Southside Community Garden
and
HAPPY 3rd SEASON TO
the Carmichael Community Garden at Sutter Park

******************

YEAR Number 3 for SACGC coordinating National Make a Difference Day in
Sacramento
Saturday October 22, 2005  9- 4pm. We will again have access to over 400
workers ... all dedicated to work on School and Community Gardens and
Urban Green Spaces!...May / June 2005 will be the call for your
projects...don't miss out on your crew of 10 workers for your site!

**************************

UPDATES
American Community Garden Association's 2006 Conference. This is being
tentatively being planned for Los Angeles (alternate city - Boston, Mass.
or Hartford, Conn.).

**********************
For more information, contact: Bill at 508-6025.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


County Plan Town Hall Forums

Overview - Town Hall Forums (as presented on the County of Sacramento
Website)

The Town Hall Forums are designed to be interactive sessions where you can
provide input into the development of the General Plan. There are three
phases of the Town Hall Forums in addition to the public hearing and
adoption phase.

Overall Schedule

Below includes Timing, General Plan Topic, Outreach Phase, and
Opportunities for Input

May-June 2005, Issues and Vision, Phase 1: Neighborhood Level, 14 Town
Hall Forums
January - February 2006, Land Use Alternatives, Phase 2: Community Level,
12 Town Hall Forums
Spring 2006, Policies and General Plan, Phase 3: Citywide Level, 3 Town
Hall Forums
Early 2007, Environmental Analysis, Public Hearings and Adoption Planning
Commission and City Council Hearings
Note:  Meeting dates will be posted here as they are set.

Phase I is focused on developing a vision for the City and our
neighborhoods over the next 25 years given the growth we are expected to
experience during this period.
Phase II focuses on the land use alternatives and the choices we face in
our communities as we grow. Participants will discuss and analyze the
trade-offs associated with different development patterns.
Phase III looks at the entire city and what the General Plan means for all
of us. Participants will gain an understanding of what the
Council-approved land use plan means for the city as well as for our
neighborhoods and businesses.

Public hearings will be the final opportunity for input. The Planning
Commission and the City Council will both hold public hearings on the
draft General Plan and Environmental Impact Report. Adoption of the
General Plan is expected to occur at the end of the public hearing
process.

Phase I: Issues and Vision

The following Town Hall Forums have been scheduled for phase I. Click here
for a schedule you can print. (In PDF format)

May 16, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
George Sim Center, 6207 Logan Street, Sacramento

May 18, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Kennedy High School, 6715 Gloria Drive, Sacramento

May 19, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Meadowview Services Center, 2812 Meadowview Road, Sacramento

May 21, 2005, 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
South Natomas Center, 2921 Truxel Road, Sacramento

May 23, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Hart Senior Center, 915 27th Street, Sacramento

May 25, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
La Familia Counseling Center, 5523 34th Street, Sacramento

June 1, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Robertson Community Center, 3525 Norwood Avenue, Sacramento

June 4, 2005, 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Clunie Community Center, 601 Alhambra Boulevard, Sacramento

June 6, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Ben Ali Shriners Center, 3262 Marysville Boulevard, Sacramento

June 8, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
McClatchy High School, 3066 Freeport Boulevard, Sacramento

June 11, 2005, 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Consumnes River College - Cafeteria, 8401 Center Parkway, Sacramento

June 15, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Coloma Community Center, 4623 T Street, Sacramento

June 16, 2005, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Natomas Charter School, 4600 Blackrock Drive, Sacramento

June 18, 2005, 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Consumnes River College - Cafeteria, 8401 Center Parkway, Sacramento

Phase II - Land Use Alternatives/Choices
Coming in January - February 2006. No meetings have been scheduled.

Phase III - Policies and General Plan
Planned for Spring 2006. No meetings have been scheduled.

--
Kim Glazzard
Organic Sacramento