Pasadena weekend: January 9-11

Participate in gardening events and docent-led walks, attend a meeting on climate change. Plus: ongoing and recurring events, and this week's random read.

Gardening, lecture. On Saturday morning, Descanso Gardens (La Canada) will host a presentation titled Lush and Low-Water Garden Design with Cassy Aoyagi from the Theodore Payne Foundation.

Gardening, hands-on. The Eaton Canyon Nature Center's gardening group will meet on Sunday morning. Volunteers are invited to help maintain the Nature Center's gardens and native vegetation. Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden (usually) meets on Sunday mornings.

Walks, docent-led. On Saturday morning, the Arboretum (Arcadia) will host its regular walking tour as well as a bird walk, led by Julia Ray from the Pasadena Audubon Society. Guests with any level of birding knowledge may join. The Eaton Canyon Nature Center will offer a guided walk for families, also on Saturday morning, and a native plant walk on Sunday morning. Descanso Gardens (La Canada) has docent-guided seasonal walks on its calendar for Saturday and Sunday morning.

Climate change. The Pasadena-Foothills chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby will hold its monthly meeting on Saturday morning. All are welcome.

The Arroyo Food Co-op is open on Saturdays and Sundays for shopping and pick-ups (in addition to Tuesdays.) Orders placed online by Sunday midnight will be available for pick-up starting next Tuesday. For Saturday afternoon, the co-op has added a discussion of Chinese medicine with Jad Dawson to the calendar. In other news, it is hiring staff members.

Two City surveys. Pasadena Public Works is asking members of the community to weigh in on the future of trees in the city. Pasadena Water and Power is conducting a survey on the city's energy future. (Note: PWP has not posted any information on when the survey period ends, but as of this printing the link was still up.)

Cycling. On Sunday morning Pasadena Cyclery will hold Gwen's Group Ride and the Sunday Morning Neighborhood Stroll. For details see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA.

Got kids? On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center is hosting a family nature walk. Bring your small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat. Also on Saturday morning at the Nature Center: the weekly Nature Tails Story Hour which includes stories, nature walks and puppet shows for children ages 3-5.

Exhibition. As part of the Pasadena Arts Council's AxS Festival, the Armory presents Karin Apollonia Müller's World’s Edge, a photographic exploration of the intersection between the natural landscape and complex urbanization. Ends next summer.

Random read. Like to feel righteous about what you eat? An article by Rowan Jacobsen in Outside profiles what might just become the future of food: the plant-protein-based concoctions of a start-up called Beyond Meat. The company's scientists promise to provide juicy tasting, perfectly textured burger patties with more protein than beef and more omegas than salmon but none of the environmental downsides. While The Top-Secret Food That Will Change the Way You Eat is an eery read for those in the no-processed-foods camp, it is also a fascinating story.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: December 19-21

Join others on walking tours, celebrate the season. Plus: ongoing and recurring events, and this week's random read.

Holiday Party Potluck. Transition Pasadena, Throop UU Church and Throop Learning Garden are hosting a Holiday Party Potluck. The event features a cookie swap and a plant swap, music, crafts and more.

Walking tours. The Arboretum will hold walking tours on Friday and Saturday morning.

The Arroyo Food Co-op is now open on Saturdays and Sundays for shopping and pick-ups. Orders placed online by Sunday midnight will be available for pick-up starting next Tuesday.

Gardening. Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden (usually) meets on Sunday mornings.

Survey. Pasadena Water and Power is conducting a survey on the city's energy future. To participate go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PWP_Energy_Future2014. (Note: PWP has not posted any information on when the survey period ends, but as of this printing the link was still up.)

Cycling. On Sunday morning Pasadena Cyclery will hold Gwen's Group Ride and the Sunday Morning Neighborhood Stroll. For details see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA.

Got kids? On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center is hosting a family nature walk. Bring your small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat. Also on Saturday morning at the Nature Center: the weekly Nature Tails Story Hour which includes stories, nature walks and puppet shows for children ages 3-5.

Exhibition, continuing. As part of the Pasadena Arts Council's AxS Festival, the Armory presents Karin Apollonia Müller's World’s Edge, a photographic exploration of the intersection between the natural landscape and complex urbanization. Ends next summer.

Random read. When the residents of Shishmaref, Alaska, voted to collectively move to safer ground in July of 2002, their small town became an overnight sensation: More than five dozen news crews visited Sarichef, the island Shishmaref sits on, in 2003 and 2004 alone. But 12 years after the vote, the town of 563 people remains where it always has been, while the threat that the rising ocean might wash over it has only intensified. The Huffington Post's environment and energy editor, Kate Sheppard, has documented Shishmaref's journey from hopeful to hesitant and back in a story titled Climate Change Takes a Village. Considering that 16.4 million Americans live in coastal areas prone to flooding, her reportage leaves the reader with this question: "If we can't figure out how to save a village with fewer than 600 people from falling into the sea, what hope is there for everyone else?"

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: November 21-23

Share your produce and homemade items, watch a movie, explore the Arboretum. Plus: ongoing and recurring events and this week's random read.

Share Faire in the Park. RIPE Altadena is hosting its monthly Share Faire on Sunday. Bring your fresh produce, homemade items and delights that might accompany a Thanksgiving meal to Farnsworth Park and share your abundance.

Occupy the Farm. Beginning this Friday, November 21, the Laemmle Playhouse 7 will show Occupy the Farm. The documentary tells the story of a community in California's urban East Bay taking action: 200 farmers occupy a piece of farmland, plant 15,000 seedlings to feed the community and disrupt plans to build a shopping mall.

Walking tour. The Los Angeles County Arboretum is holding a one hour long, docent-led walking tour that will provide visitors with an introduction to the Arboretum.

The Arroyo Food Co-op is now open on Saturdays and Sundays for shopping and pick-ups. Orders placed online by Sunday midnight will be available for pick-up starting next Tuesday.

Exhibition, ending. Only ten days left to see the an exhibition at Descanso Gardens in La Canada. Titled Signs of Life, it aims to look at water "in all its moods and states." Ends November 30.

Gardening. Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden (usually) meets on Sunday morning.

Survey. Pasadena Water and Power is conducting a survey on the city's energy future. To participate go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PWP_Energy_Future2014. (Note: PWP has not posted any information on when the survey period ends, but as of this printing the link was still up.)

Cycling. On Sunday morning Pasadena Cyclery will hold Gwen's Group Ride and the Sunday Morning Neighborhood Stroll. For details see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA.

Got kids? On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center is hosting a family nature walk. Bring your small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat. Also on Saturday morning at the Nature Center: the weekly Nature Tails Story Hour which includes stories, nature walks and puppet shows for children ages 3-5.

Pasadena's watering schedule for the winter now applies. Pasadena Water and Power customers may water on one day a week only. It must be a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.

Exhibition, continuing. As part of the Pasadena Arts Council's AxS Festival, the Armory presents Karin Apollonia Müller's World’s Edge, a photographic exploration of the intersection between the natural landscape and complex urbanization. Ends next summer.

Random read. In the Clear Fork Valley in East Tennessee a root digger named Carol Judy aka "The Forest Granny" tries to reconnect people in her community with the mountains they inhabit. Knowing precisely which plant will cure which ailment (jewelweed for nettle stings!) she roams the woods for sassafras, yellowroot and black cohosh, and shares her findings and expertise freely with the locals. Holly Haworth's profile of Judy, Place to Root, was published last month in The Southern Magazine of Good Writing. A warning to readers in California: A scene toward the end of this beautifully written story could cause rain envy.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: What to do August 8-10

Events around gardening and native plants rule the weekend.

Native plants. On Saturday afternoon, Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden hosts California Native Plants: The Big Picture, a presentation by Lisa Novick of the Theodore Payne Foundation. Novick will share her knowledge on the topics of water conservation, habitat preservation and planting with native plants and edibles. On Sunday morning, the California Native Plant Society is holding a walk at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center. For Saturday and Sunday, the L.A. County Arboretum in Arcadia has scheduled a cactus show and sale.

Gardening with broken concrete. On Saturday morning, the Arboretum is hosting a presentation on how to create paved areas in your garden by using recycled materials such as broken concrete, local stones, old bricks and stepping stones.

Gardening with others. Work on Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden continues on Sunday. Work on the Arroyo Food Co-op's Free Food Garden, also a Transition Pasadena project, continues on Saturday morning.

Walking. On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center hosts a family nature walk. Bring your small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat.

Shopping. The Arroyo Food Co-op's pre-order program is up and running. If you order online by Sunday midnight you can pick up your items at the store on the following Tuesday or Saturday.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: What to do July 25-27

Lots to do: Share and swap your backyard bounty, learn about sustainable fruit and vegetable gardens, and about GMOs.

Share Faire in the Park, hosted by RIPE Altadena. On Sunday afternoon, bring your backyard bounty to Farnsworth Park. Share your fruits, vegetables, seeds, backyard eggs and homemade preserves with others and take home something new.

Gardening 1. Self-tour The Huntington's Ranch, an urban agriculture site, on Saturday morning to pick up some inspiration for growing your own fruits and vegetables sustainably.

Gardening 2. Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden meets on Sunday.

Walking 1. Arboretum walking tour. On Friday morning the Los Angeles County Arboretum is holding a docent-led adult walking tour. Be prepared to be on your feet for a while. Reservations are not required.

Walking 2. On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center hosts a family nature walk. Bring your small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat.

"Food For Thought." On Saturday morning, the Arroyo Food Co-op's speaker series, "Food for Thought," will feature a presentation on GMO labeling. The speaker, Jim Montgomery, is a Co-op member and an anti-GMO activist. Also, the Food Co-op's pre-order program is up and running. If you order online by Sunday midnight you can pick up your items at the store on the following Tuesday or Saturday.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: What to do July 18-20

Walk through a garden, work in a garden.

Free Food Garden. The garden in front of the Arroyo Food Co-op store with its flowering, drought-tolerant plants and a winding path of broken concrete is looking better every week. But there is still work to do. Join Transition Pasadena workers on Sunday to help with gardening tasks or to bond with neighbors.

More gardens and gardening. On Friday morning, the Los Angeles County Arboretum is hosting a docent-led adult walking tour. It includes a substantial amount of walking. Reservations are not necessary. For Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Conservation Group has scheduled a work day. Community volunteer projects range from native planting and trail repair to weed abatement. Advance sign up is required! Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden meets on Sunday.

The Arroyo Food Co-op's pre-order program is up and running. If you order online by Sunday midnight you can pick up your items at the store on the following Tuesday or Saturday.

Family Nature Walk. On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center hosts a family nature walk. Bring small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: What to do July 11-13

Got e-waste? Want to develop a green thumb?

The City of Pasadena invites all residents to schlepp their old TVs, computer monitors, cell phones, printer cartridges, microwave ovens and any other e-waste to its roundup event at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. You can also bring up to five boxes of paper documents that need shredding.

Gardens. On Saturday, the Arboretum is hosting a walking tour titled Perfumery. Frank McDonough, the Arboretum's botanical information specialist, will lead visitors through the herb garden. Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden meets on Sunday. 

The Arroyo Food Co-op's pre-order program is up and running. If you order online by Sunday midnight you can pick up your items at the store on the following Tuesday or Saturday.

Family Nature Walk. On Saturday morning, the Eaton Canyon Nature Center hosts a family nature walk. Bring small children, walking shoes, sunscreen, water and a hat.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Pasadena weekend: What to do May 2-4

Sustainably speaking, the Pasadena Earth and Arts Festival dominates this weekend, but the calendar shows a couple of other events, too.

Butterflies. On Saturday and Sunday Kidspace Children's Museum will release more than 1,000 butterflies into its gardens. The Grand Butterfly Release marks the highpoint of Kidspace's annual butterfly adoption program for children.

Walking tour. The Old Pasadena Walking Tour & Illustrated Talk on Saturday begins with the story of how Old Pasadena was saved from the wrecking ball and ends with a 30-minute, docent-led walk through the district.

Clean-up time. On Saturday and Sunday, the Arroyo Food Co-op will be cleaning up its store to get it ready for the City's health inspection. Volunteers are needed to help.

The Pasadena Earth and Arts Festival kicks off on Friday evening with the showing of the documentary Symphony of the Soil at the Armory (for details see this earlier Pasastainable post.) Events at Memorial Park and the Armory on Saturday include a sustainable beer garden, kid's art workshops, live music and an eco-marketplace with treats from local restaurants as well as presentations on efficient irrigation and electric vehicles. Repair Café Pasadena will be there to fix your broken electronics, appliances, bikes and clothing items. For the event, it promises to be off the grid and use solar energy to power its sewing machine and soldering irons.

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Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Pasadena. For specific times, addresses and other details please see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA or the event owner's webpage.

Correction: An earlier version of this post erroneously listed the days for the Pasadena Earth and Arts Festival as Friday thru Sunday.