mushrooms in my room - day 15

it's day 15 on my oyster mushroom experiment in my room, can't wait for them to bloom!

another day at work

please step into my office...ha ha.

one of tomas' neighbors has this grass couch outside of their house and we love it! learn how to sprout your own through readymade's tutorial.

green garden tours

the garden tour season is upon us here in sunny socal. this weekend there are two tours that i will be attending and both are focused on sustainable design in the garden.

the third annual santa monica green garden tours will be held saturday, april 28 from 10am - 4pm. advanced tix are $30, $40 at the door.

then learn how to save water in your garden at the theodore payne foundation native plant garden tour will be held saturday and sunday, april 28-9 from 10am-4pm each day. this tour is a 2-day self-guided journey through 30 local gardens. the criteria is that each garden contains at least 50% california native plants. admission is $20.

how mushrooms can help save the world

Last Friday was a typical evening in the downtown Los Angeles warehouse district housing the Farmlab crew. As I looked around, the orange hues of the setting sun reflected off the barren cement landscape in a strangely beautiful way and the sounds of cars in the distance were muffled by a train barreling by and helicopters whizzing overhead. Gathered under a bridge amongst these typical urban stimuli, a group of anxious Angelinos awaited a lecture curiously titled "How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World."

keep reading this article that i wrote about paul stamets for worldchanging here

and here's a picture of week 1 of my homegrown oyster mushroom experiment...thanks paul and dusty!! i can't wait until they start to fruit!

aglago sprouts

spring is sprouting here at aglago (my home co-op) and the garden seedlings are starting to come up. the peppers are growing and the strawberries are ripe and yummy. i am blessed to have a little permaculture escape here in the concrete jungle.



we bought our seeds this year from j.l. hudson, a family-run seedbank out of la honda, ca. their catalog of ethnobotanical seeds is beautiful and informative. check them out for your planting needs.

spring

again the violet bows to the lily.
again, the rose is tearing off her gown!

the green ones have come from the other world.
tipsy like the breeze up to some new foolishness.

again near the top of the mountain
the anemone's sweet features appear.

the hyacinth speaks formally to the jasmine,
peace be with you, and peace to you lad!
come walk with me in this meadow.
again there are sufis everywhere

the bud is shy, but the wind removes
her veil suddenly, my friend!

the friend is here like water in the stream,
like a lotus in the water

the narcissus winks at the wisteria,
whenever you say.

and the clove to the willow, you are the one i hope for.
the willow replies, consider these chambers of mine yours. welcome!

the apple, orange why the frown?
so that those who mean harm do not see my beauty.

the ringdove comes asking, where, where is the friend?

with one note the nightingale indicates the rose.

again the season of spring has come and a spring-source
rises under everything, a moon sliding from the shadows.

many things must be left unsaid, because it's late, but whatever
conversation we haven't had tonight, we'll have tomorrow.

~ rumi

image by kateluck

jill bliss at my house saturday!

okay, so jill bliss will not be at my house on saturday, but she'll be right around the corner at reform school for a solo show titled "forest coral, new work by jill bliss" based on her recent visit to the great barrier reef.

miss bliss is one of my very favorite artistas. she grew up on a family farm in norcal where everything was hand built or cultivated. you can view her portfolio website here. we share the love of botanicals and she also often emphasizes native plants in her art.

"Not only is she a huge inspiration to other indie artists & crafters out there, for managing to make a living doing what she loves, but we especially admire her for her dedication to reusing, recycling & using sustainable materials in ALL of her work."

see you there!
saturday, april 14th 7-10pm

ReForm School
4014 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029

road trip santa barbara

i just returned from a few days up north. tomas and i had a quite interesting socal camping experience in los padres national forest outside of ojai (who knew that easter weekend is the prime time for families to invade national forests with boom boxes and bbq's?!). anyways, our time was full of campfires, cooking, playing under big beautiful oaks, and sleeping under the stars (and families with boom boxes and bbq's-yikes!) even with the unexpected city influence, it was still a welcome escape from the concrete jungle that we call home.

sunday morning we drove into santa barbara which is approximately 80 miles north of el lay...think gorgeous beaches, lush vegetation, spanish mission architecture all tucked within a valley of majestic mountains wishing for you to climb them. we headed to the santa barbara botanical gardens which is dedicated to research, education and conservation, and display of california native plants. gorgeous meadows of native wildflowers greeted us every where that we went. i enjoyed exploring their exhibit of native basketry vegetation and techniques. on our way out i picked up a book by carol borstein titled "california native plants for the garden" and some sedum hispanicum 'purpureum' from their nursery for my succulent garden.

we made it back to el lay today in time for tomas to get to work and for me to run errands and take a long walk around silverlake while talking to lovely friends and family. now i'm heading offline to enjoy the rest of my birthday!!

ugp wants you! well, your garden actually...

phew...i am still recovering from the boom that was ca boom design show. thanks to everyone i met and your efforts in the green design realm. i am in the process of writing a very detailed blog about it for worldchanging, so stay tuned.

now the big news...urban greening project is moving into our next phase of greening. we're taking the ugp outside of the blog-o-sphere and into the garden and we need your help. if you or someone you know has a house in the la area and are interested in a gorgeous green garden makeover, please contact me for details at urbangreeningproject (at) gmail (dot) com.