Are you thinking of taking your yard from lawn to drought-tolerant landscaping? The City of Pasadena has an event on its calendar to might help you get started, the Drought Tolerant Landscape Workshop on April 4. Participants will learn about turf removal, irrigation, plant species and maintenance, and about City incentives.
Instructor for the half-day workshop is Tim Wheeler, who, according to the City's website, "has more than 25 years in the green industry" and has taught classes on topics ranging from Park Facilities Maintenance to Turf Grass Production.
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What: Drought Tolerant Landscape Workshop
When: Saturday, April 4, 9 a.m. - noon
Where: Lake Avenue Church, 393 N Lake Ave, Pasadena
RSVP required here
Showing posts with label drought. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drought. Show all posts
Pasadena Water & Power holds $5,000 essay contest for high school seniors
Pasadena Water & Power (PWP) is holding an essay contest that will award $5,000 educational scholarships to two college-bound high school seniors in Pasadena. The essays must be 300-500 words long and speak to one of two proposed topics:
The guidelines for the contest state that PWP is "looking for a thoughtful and well written essay that demonstrates creativity and research on the topic of choice." The deadline for submissions is April 10, 2015. Awardees will be notified via email by April 30, 2015.
For details visit http://cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/Scholarship/
A: California is currently experiencing a historic drought. What could Pasadena Water and Power do to teach students, residents and businesses how to use water more efficiently and sustainably?
B: Energy efficiency plays a large role in Pasadena Water & Power’s current and future energy plans. Please describe what Pasadena residents and businesses can do to use energy more efficiently and what PWP can do to encourage sustainable energy usage.
For details visit http://cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/Scholarship/
Mulling mulch: Community discussion on Wednesday
Earlier this year, Sylvia Holmes was shlepping ground-cover for the Free-Food Garden in front of the Arroyo Food Co-op when her back went out. A certified permaculture designer and an activist for the transition movement, the Pasadena resident immediately began mulling all things mulch.
Her musings went something like this:
"Something was wrong with the picture," Holmes said recently, "and it just hit me that I needed to do something about it."
The mastermind and driving force behind the Free-Food Garden as well as a mother of three, Holmes did not really need another job. But together with Transition Pasadena she created a new project, Mulch for the People.
On Wednesday evening the initiative will kick off with a community discussion titled State of the Mulch. The event will bring all those together who hold a stake in the matter. Gabriel Silva of Pasadena Public Works, Wendy DeLeon of Pasadena Water and Power and Marco Barrantes of La Loma Development will speak, and Blair Miller as the moderator will invite the public to contribute ideas and concerns. The goal of the forum? To create a program that will make mulch more freely available.
Her musings went something like this:
- The need for mulch, which serves as a water-saving heat barrier in people's gardens, is greater than ever because of the drought.
- Tree trimming companies produce mulch by the truckload and pay steep fees to dump it.
- The City lets residents have its tree trimmings for free but doesn't deliver.
- Many residents are still buying mulch from companies and writing checks to have it delivered — or they hurt themselves doing their own hauling.
"Something was wrong with the picture," Holmes said recently, "and it just hit me that I needed to do something about it."
The mastermind and driving force behind the Free-Food Garden as well as a mother of three, Holmes did not really need another job. But together with Transition Pasadena she created a new project, Mulch for the People.
On Wednesday evening the initiative will kick off with a community discussion titled State of the Mulch. The event will bring all those together who hold a stake in the matter. Gabriel Silva of Pasadena Public Works, Wendy DeLeon of Pasadena Water and Power and Marco Barrantes of La Loma Development will speak, and Blair Miller as the moderator will invite the public to contribute ideas and concerns. The goal of the forum? To create a program that will make mulch more freely available.
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What: State of the Mulch, a community discussion
When: Wednesday, October 8, 7-8:30 p.m.
Where: Wright Auditorium, Pasadena Central Library, 285 East Walnut Street
What: State of the Mulch, a community discussion
When: Wednesday, October 8, 7-8:30 p.m.
Where: Wright Auditorium, Pasadena Central Library, 285 East Walnut Street
Pasadena weekend: October 3-5
Participate in a fundraiser, attend a forum, catch up on some recurring events or slow down with this week's suggestion for a random read.
Tweet treats ... and all that jazz! is the title of a fundraiser on Saturday. Pasadena Community Gardens and the Pasadena and Foothills Chapter of the American Institute of Architects are holding the event to benefit homeless birds, fund architectural studies and grow the community garden. Highlights include a bird-house building competition.
Water worries. Also on Saturday, the Neighborhood Church Green Council is hosting a water forum that will address topics such as community support for local solutions to the effects of the drought as well as the Water Bond on the November Ballot. The speakers are Claire Robinson (Emerald Necklace Group - Amigos De Los Rios,) Conner Everts (Southern California Watershed Alliance) and Alex Nagy (Food & Water Watch - California.)
Exhibition 1. 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.
Bicycling. On Sunday morning, Pasadena Cyclery will hold two rides: Gwen's Group Ride and the Sunday Morning Neighborhood Stroll. For details see the calendar page of Pasastainable, CA.
Ongoing petition. The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition has initiated a petition for the City to adopt an ordinance to protect vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and persons with disabilities.
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.
Random read. First published in 1903, Mary Austin's essay collection The Land of Little Rain takes readers into the region between Death Valley and the High Sierras. Those of us who have traveled through this part of the country by car know it as looking dry and forbidding, almost lifeless. But Austin, who walked the area and took the time to look closely, tells us otherwise. In an essay titled Water Border she describes ferns that "shiver under the drip of falls and in dribbling crevices" and "ice-worn, stony hollows where the bighorns cradle their young." And she shows us how the local fauna and flora have learned to thrive — even in the face of little rain.
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Pasadena weekend: September 12-14
Learn about landscaping in times of drought, petition the City, read about climate change.
Bicycling. Pasadena Cyclery is holding a "Sunday Morning Neighborhood Stroll." The six-mile ride, will be paced to the slowest participant. Learn how-to use gears, climb steep hills without stopping, what to do in case of a flat tire and more.
Gardening 1. On Saturday, the City of Pasadena and neighboring communities are hosting a free drought-tolerant landscaping workshop at Descanso Gardens in La Canada.
Gardening 2. Transition Pasadena's Throop Learning Garden meets on Sunday.
Ongoing petition. The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition has initiated a petition for the City to adopt an ordinance to protect vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders and persons with disabilities.
Ongoing exhibition. An exhibition at Descanso Gardens titled Signs of Life aims to look at water "in all its moods and states." The event is part of this year's AxS Festival, a celebration of the arts and sciences held in Pasadena every two years.
The Arroyo Food Co-op will be open on Saturday morning for pick-ups and browsing. Orders placed online by Sunday midnight will be available for pick-up next Tuesday and Saturday.
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.
Random read. The September issue of The Atlantic magazine features an article about climate change, that tries to cut through the emotions on the one side and the denial on the other. Titled How to Talk About Climate Change so People Will Listen, it looks at books on the topic and at their authors' suggestions for dealing with the problem. Plainly put, the proposed solutions range from collectively returning to a life of rural simplicity to implementing a (near) global carbon tax. Or we could geo-engineer our way out of the mess by injecting droplets of sulfuric acid into the stratosphere. The resulting haze would reflect sunlight back into space and thereby reduce the Earth's temperature. The downside? Eventually the sulfuric acid would rain back down on us.
Contrary to The Atlantic's promise, writer Charles C. Mann does not show us how we can move beyond the impasse in the debate. But he leaves no doubt that we must learn to communicate better. "Unless we find a way to talk about climate change," he says with an eye toward the handful of billionaires who could afford the geo-engineering, "planes full of sulfuric acid will soon be on the runway."
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A new phase for the Throop Learning Garden
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| Before: a strip of grass in front of Throop Church |
Then envision the after: a garden with low and tall growing plants, with native shrubs in various shades of silver and green, with hummingbirds and butterflies that settle on fruit trees, sunflowers and echinaceas.
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| After: sages, echinaceas... |
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| ...and a winding path invite visitors to linger and learn |
The Throop Learning Garden was the work of a group of about 200 volunteers around Transition Pasadena, the Arroyo S.E.C.O. Network of Time Banks and the church — and the eco-transformers aren't done yet. Thanks to a successful online fundraising project in July, the sustainable permaculture garden will soon see the installment of a rainwater harvesting system.
The idea is to collect rainwater from the church roof via a series of gutters and to feed it into a large tank. The water will help supply the fruit trees and food beds in the garden with moisture. During the monthlong crowdfunding drive on Faithify supporters pledged $5.035 to help finance the project.
Transition Pasadena, which initiated the garden at Throop Church as a learning experience for the larger community, also organizes workshops and presentations. This Saturday, Lisa Novick of the Theodore Payne Foundation will share her knowledge around the topics of water conservation, habitat preservation and planting with native plants and edibles.
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When: Saturday, August 9, 3 p.m.
Where: Throop U.U. Church, 300 S Los Robles Ave
What: California Native Plants: The Big Picture (a presentation by Lisa Novick of the Theodore Payne Foundation)
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The "before" image of Throop Church was used with permission from Transition Pasadena.
Water warnings: You lose or you lose!
What should we make of this?
Earlier this week, California residents learned that they would face fines up to $500 if they waste water by overwatering their lawns, hosing down their driveways and similar actions.
Today, local residents read about a water-wise couple in Glendora, that faces a $500 fine for letting its lawn go dormant. The woman, Laura Whitney-Korte, received a letter from the City of Glendora stating that the brown patch could be a "potential public nuisance problem" and that "limited watering is still required to keep landscaping looking healthy and green."
Whitney-Korte told the Pasadena Star News: "[The letter] is telling me I'd better get my lawn green and I have 60 days to do it."
Earlier this week, California residents learned that they would face fines up to $500 if they waste water by overwatering their lawns, hosing down their driveways and similar actions.
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| Pasadena Star News, page 1, July 16, 2014 |
Today, local residents read about a water-wise couple in Glendora, that faces a $500 fine for letting its lawn go dormant. The woman, Laura Whitney-Korte, received a letter from the City of Glendora stating that the brown patch could be a "potential public nuisance problem" and that "limited watering is still required to keep landscaping looking healthy and green."
Whitney-Korte told the Pasadena Star News: "[The letter] is telling me I'd better get my lawn green and I have 60 days to do it."
 |
| Pasadena Star News, page 1, July 17, 2014 |
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