Hello Community!
Here is a quick run-down on the great opportunities to get involved with permaculture and community efforts….
March 12 – SLO Preparedness Expo at Madonna Expo Center 10am – 4pm. http://sloexpo.com/ The SLO Permaculture Guild will have a booth and talk to people about soil restoration, water catchment systems and laundry to landscape greywater installations, village building, the Grange Hall, City Farm, etc. Come by and hang out with us. Members of our Permaculture Team will be there – Gary Foresman, Amanda Smith, Teresa Lees, Reo Cordes, maybe more!
March 13 – Cal Poly fraternity Sigma Pi is coming out to Our Global Family Garden at 11am to install a canopy overhead our Epicenter. You are invited to come out to see the project. We could use a videographer to video tape the install. We will install eight triangle canopies. This is made possible from a grant from Whole Foods as part of their Whole Kids Foundation.
We really need help pulling weeds too. The trick is getting there. Now that LOVR exit is complete, you will have to take Calle Joaquin Road (north) and park by Alfano Motors and walk in. There is a map on the website: http://cityfarmslo.org/
(By the way, volunteer work days at Our Global Family Garden are regularly scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 1pm – 4pm. Please come and be involved in the creation of the community farm project we have out at City Farm. This urban farm has great potential to become a place for people of all ages to come learn about the full range of farming practices and to reconnect with the land. If you can’t make those two time slots, then contact Teresa “Tree” Lees to arrange for another time slot.)
March 16 – FREE talk and presentation on Rainwater and Greywater Systems at Atascadero Mutual Water Company, 7pm at their offices on 5005 El Camino Real. Their website is: http://www.amwc.us/ Go to the calendar link to register for the workshop. Flyer is attached.
March 17 – Visioning Session for SLO Grange Hall at 2pm – 6pm with potluck to follow
This collaborative event will help us define the future vision of our SLO Grange so that we stay relevant to our Grangers and to the community, working together to achieve common goals.
We kindly ask you to prepare for this workshop by completing one or both of the two Pre-Workshop Assignments listed below. If you are unable to attend, you may still complete these assignments and submit them to the Grange prior to the workshop. We love to get everyone’s ideas! You may also email your Vision Paper and Collage, if it’s digital.
Please RSVP via phone or email—and please let us know if you are able to share a dish for our Post-Visioning Potluck. Thank you!
Pre-Workshop Assignments
Collage: Create a collage of clippings, magazine pictures, photos, drawings, sketches, words, etc. representing Your Vision of the SLO Grange. Specifically:
• Why is the Grange important to our community right now?
• Who are our members or who should they be?
• What do they want?
• What types of events do our members want?
• What is the Grange’s role within our SLO community?
• What should the future Grange look and feel like?
Vision Paper: If you could imagine the Grange to be anything, and if resources were unlimited, what could the Grange be?
RSVP (805) 543-0639
March 19 – Love SLO volunteer day – 9am – 12noon We have folks from Whole Foods and SLO Wellness coming to help pull weeds. You are welcome to come lend a helping hand too. No need to sign up on their website as it is already “closed” because of the two work crews coming from Whole Foods and SLO Wellness. Take LOVR and then go north on Calle Joaquin and park by Alfano Motors and walk onto the City Farm. Here is a list of all the projects. Some still need volunteers to sign up: http://loveourcitiesprojects.com/projects/san-luis-obispo
March 19 – Earth Day Prep & Potluck Community Work Day 9am – 3pm at Branch Mill Organic Farm
Hey friends! Branch Mill Organic Farm would love your presence on March 19th to help us work on the land in preparation for our Second Annual Earth Day Festival. Please come with family and friends, water, sun protection, attitude to get work done, have fun and bring a yummy dish for the potluck after we finish work. Looking forward to seeing you!
Branch Mill Organic Farm: http://branchmillorganics.com/
Facebook invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/238171496521140/
March 26 - Worm Tea Application 9am – 12noon at Our Global Family Village at City Farm
$5 - $10 per family to help cover the cost of the worm tea application
City Farm is at 1221 Calle Joaquin at the end of the cul-de-sac
This special work day includes bringing the SLO County Worm Farm folks with their Black Diamond Vermicompost Tea to be applied to the crops and soil. We will be planting Asian vegetables too. Come enjoy the process and learn from the best! Cristy Christie and her crew will be on hand to educate us about worm tea. What is worm tea you may ask?
What is “worm tea”? http://www.slocountyworms.com/tea/
Aerated Compost Tea is made from Vermicompost and water which goes through a thorough and highly active aerating process. Quality compost Tea will increase species diversity of leaf, stem, flower, seed-surface and soil microorganisms. These microorganisms will select, eat and destroy the disease-causing pests and organisms in the soil and on the plant. Benefits of using Tea for foliar or root applications:
March 29 – Bringing Food Home film and discussion at 6pm at SLO Grange Hall - Farmer’s Market Soup is being served!!! $10 donation goes towards educational projects out at City Farm. Flyer is attached.
BRINGING FOOD HOME is a film focusing on sustainable solutions for local food in Northern New Mexico. The documentary features several farms and gardens in the region practicing regenerative agriculture. Produced over the last two years, the documentary hopes to provoke constructive dialogue, inspiring Santa Fe and other cities to embrace urban agriculture as essential to a resilient community.
The flurry of reactions around the creation of Gaia Gardens, a one-acre farm within a residential zoning area in Santa Fe, provided the impetus for this documentary. The controversy has raised a larger question for the community: how will this high-desert city sustain itself in the future?
The film goes beyond the specifics of Gaia Gardens’ circumstances to explore the need for visionary policy change, as well as a radical shift in our relationship to food. Local farmers, land-use professionals, educators and policy makers present insights into fostering a sustainable future.
Panel discussion of our local food system here in San Luis Obispo to follow the film.
Movie trailer: https://vimeo.com/133098783
Facebook invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/686591681482527/