mushrooms in my room - day 18

i'm having babies!! wow!

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.

urban permaculture in la

Sure, with miles upon miles of sprawling single family homes, congested freeways, paved rivers and architecture meant to be viewed from the seat of a moving vehicle, I can attest that Los Angeles does a good job of living up to its reputation of a city filled with un-inspired design. However, if you take a deeper look into this complex urban fabric, you will discover some green gems that are making big impacts here and opening the eyes of city dwellers around the globe.

Pasadena-based Path to Freedom (PTF) was featured in the LA times twice this week (here and here) for what founder Jules Dervaes calls his "homegrown revolution," created by using "hands as weapons of mass creation."

PTF is an example of urban permaculture, a design philosophy rooted in careful observations of natural patterns and a harmonious integration of ourselves and our communities into the landscape. Using the principles of permaculture, Dervaes and his family have transformed their 1/5 acre city lot into an urban homestead to decrease their energy dependency and to exemplify self-reliant urban living.

Home to over 350 different edible and useful plants and a variety of insects and animals, PTF produces an impressive 3 tons of organic fruits and vegetables annually on their small lot. This produce is supplied to local restaurants and caterers through PTF's home business Dervaes Gardens.

In a permaculture model, all waste, if left an unused resource, becomes pollution. So all food waste at PTF is recycled to its next highest use, through composting to build healthy soil. The use of energy-efficient and human-powered appliances, solar and cob ovens, and solar panels has reduced their electricity dependence by two-thirds. The Dervaes also home-brew their own biodiesel, and are working on water harvesting and re-use projects. They do all of this while maintaining their highly informational website and blog...

continue on at worldchanging los angeles

[Photo by Al Seib for the Los Angeles Times]

[edited by greenlagirl, siel)

guerrilla bbq's and other city repair projects

saturday night, the los angeles permaculture guild and saje hosted a slide show by mark lakeman, founder of portland's city repair project. my partner in crime for the evening was geofrey collins (architect and founder of sco studio in venice). we had both seen mark's slideshow before, but we heard that there'd be booze and other local permies there...so we were of course sold.

city repair is a multi-disciplinary, non-profit organization which works with communities to recreate the infrastructure of the public commons where people live. some of the projects that mark highlights are the conversions of street intersections into public squares, or organizing other forms of permanent or ephemeral place interventions. city repair is effectively engaging citizens in the reinvention of the public landscape using natural building and permaculture techniques.

city repair also hosts the village building convergence, a 10-day event held every may in portland where citizens, natural builders and activists come together to help neighborhoods design and build their own community amenities.

after the lecture, everyone hung out on the sidewalk outside (realize that this is right downtown in the most industrial section of el lay...not a spec of green to be seen). ray brought his amazing rocket stove/oven (pictured to the right) which proved to be the hit of the afterparty as he whipped up pizza and other yummie bites and cooked it over the heat of pallets that he found in the street. now that was a real guerilla bbq if i ever saw one. people talked about city repairs and green dreams for el lay. all in all, it was quite an inspiring night.

hump day news

"if everyone around the world lived as those in america, we would need five planets to support us" wwf warns that at this rate, earth's resources gone by 2050. (via bbc)

el lay beach water tested dirtiest in the state...still

el lay eco-warriors, pasadena-based path to freedom have a lot to teach the homesteaders of the world. check them out on treehugger tv as they describe their path to urban sustainability...a "homegrown revolution ... using their hands as weapons of mass creation."

the 8th international permaculture conference set for san paolo, brazil may 2007. any one else want to go and check out curitiba along the way?

events calendar

here are some events of the coming week that i hope to attend (and see you at!)

***current classes***

permaculture design certificate

today i had lunch with larry santoyo of earthflow design works. i took his permaculture design certificate course last year and it changed my life... he has a new el lay class starting up this coming weekend in santa monica and i fully recomend it (i'll be there on saturday). you can register for the full course, or drop in at a daily rate to check it out. for more information and to register click here!

***saturday, october 14***

treepeople's million trees initiative

Join TreePeople on Oct. 14 at the L.A. harbor and help fulfill Mayor Villaraigosa's vision to plant one million trees in L.A. We're helping plant 300,000 trees on city park lands over the next few years. Volunteer or learn more here.

el lay decom

el lay decomWELCOME HOME! The thrill of the playa rises again, this time on the streets of Los Angeles.
This is an annual event to bring the spirit of Burning Man alive in our community.

With the 2007 Burning Man theme being “the Green Man”, We are leaning toward a more conscious event. Expect incredible art work, beautiful art cars, and delightful music - with as much diversity as burners can provide. We’d like to remind you to please CONSERVE and CONSUME LESS for this event! It’s not necessary to use or waste resources such as inefficient lighting just to have fun with us ☺

Workshops will be from 3pm-9pm.
These are the topics we will be exploring:
Organic Architecture and Green Technologies (Geofry Collins)
A Panel Discussion on Sustainable living techniques in an Urban Environment (Sustainable LA, Santa Monica Sustainable Works, Green Drinks, Geoff)
Conscious Consumerism (Cater Green)
Permaculture (Joan)
Solar energy (EE solar)
Bio-diesel and veggie oil (Clean Fuel Caravan and Kalib)
Cob and permaculture within Burning Man (Ray Cirino)
Greening Burning Man/ Recycle Camp (Blue)
Eco Villages

from noon till midnight by blue bongo in downtown la, 1st st. under the 1st st. bridge. and don't forget about the after parties!!!