[Scpg] "HOW TO BREW COMPOST TEA" WED APR 16

Mon Mar 31 16:45:21 PST 2003

SANTA BARBARA ORGANIC GARDEN CLUB NEWSLETTER
April 2003 
Editor: Linda Buzzell-Saltzman -- lbuzzell at aol.com

Contents:
1) This month's free talk: Wed, April 16, 7pm: HOW TO BREW GREAT COMPOST TEA!
With Oscar Carmona and Kali Cowgill. 
2)  Next month: HOW TO ATTRACT "WORKING BIRDS" TO YOUR GARDEN, with Mardena
Waller and Claudia Armann. Wed, May 21, 7pm.
3)  June: SEED SAVING, SCATTERING, NATURALIZING. Wed, June 18, 7pm.
4)  HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE BIRD FEEDER
5)  EXERCISES FOR THE GARDENER
6)  OWEN DELL TO DO WORKSHOP AT BOTANIC GARDEN SAT. MAY 3.
7)  GET ON OUR LIST OF ORGANIC LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS

(*If you'd like to be removed from our e-newsletter list, just e-mail us back
with your request.)

1) Our April presentation: HOW TO BREW GREAT COMPOST TEA! with Oscar Carmona
and Kali Cowgill.  Larry Saltzman, co-founder of the Santa Barbara Organic
Garden Club, will moderate.

Compost tea is a magic brew that will enliven all your plants.  Experts Oscar
Carmona and Kali Cowgill will share their secret formulas!

Date/Time: Wed, April 16, 7pm
Location: Community Environmental Council Gildea Center, 930 Miramonte Drive,
Santa Barbara
Directions: from downtown Santa Barbara take Carrillo up the hill towards the
Mesa, At the top of the hill turn left onto Miramonte Dr. Continue for approx.
1/2 mile and watch for the sign for the Gildea Center on the left. Park on
Miramonte and walk down the short driveway to the Center.
Fee: FREE
Call for info: (805) 563-2089
Reservations: not necessary

2) Our May presentation: HOW TO ATTRACT "WORKING BIRDS" TO YOUR GARDEN with
Mardena Waller and Claudia Armann. 

Birds are the organic gardener's best friends.  Hummingbirds, for example,
love
to munch on those pesky white flies. Our speakers will be bird enthusiast
Mardena Waller and wildlife rescue group volunteer Claudia Armann.  Waller
will
discuss how to attract these "working birds" to our organic gardens.  She will
teach us how to provide backyard bird habitat, including protection, food,
water and nesting.  Bird foods and feeders will be displayed, plus a barn owl
nesting box and a screech/owl nesting box.  Claudia Armann will also discuss
the impacts of free-roaming cats on the wild birds of Santa Barbara.  She will
teach us about local laws and strategies to protect our "working birds" from
outdoor cats that prey on wildlife. 

Date/Time: Wed, May 21, 7pm
Location: Community Environmental Council Gildea Center, 930 Miramonte Drive,
Santa Barbara
Directions: from downtown Santa Barbara take Carrillo up the hill towards the
Mesa, At the top of the hill turn left onto Miramonte Dr. Continue for approx.
1/2 mile and watch for the sign for the Gildea Center on the left. Park on
Miramonte and walk down the short driveway to the Center.
Fee: FREE
Call for info: (805) 563-2089
Reservations: not necessary

Here are more details on this exciting workshop:

Speakers/Topics on May 21, 7pm, How to Attract "Working Birds" to your 
Organic Garden:

Mardena Waller (bird enthusiast) - How to provide a backyard bird habitat 
of food, water, shelter and nesting materials to attract working birds.  
What bugs do they eat that will help you with organic gardening.  
Hummingbirds, for example, love to munch on those pesky white flies.

Claudia Armann  (wildlife rescue group volunteer) - Impacts of 
free-roaming cats on the wild birds of Santa Barbara.  Learn about 
local laws and strategies to protect our "working birds" from outdoor 
cats that prey on wildlife.

Larry Saltzman (co-founder SB Organic Garden Club) - What makes an 
organic garden "organic" for wild birds; designing the ecosystem of a 
garden for bird life and how to reserve the top 10% of the fruit trees' 
canopy for birds. 

Tom Vestal (owner of Wild Birds Unlimited at 3609 State St., next to 
Jeannine's Bakery) - What are the right foods for which birds?  Bird 
foods and feeders will be displayed, plus nesting boxes for barn owls, 
screech/owls (and kestrels), and blue birds will be available
to purchase
.
3) June: SEED SAVING, SCATTERING AND NATURALIZING.  Larry Saltzman, co-founder
of the Santa Barbara Organic Garden Club, will discuss alternatives to the
laborious practice of yearly row planting of vegetables and flowering
annuals. 
Hoping to free gardeners from the annual work and expense of buying new
vegetable and flower seeds, he will share ideas and tips about seed saving and
scattering, encouraging more and more useful plants that are appropriate for
Santa Barbara's climate to naturalize in your garden.  Plants will tell us
where they want to grow, Larry believes, and ultimately a comfortable
ecosystem
will establish itself, leading to carefree and delicious gardens.  Additional
speakers to be announced.

Date/Time: Wed, June 18, 7pm
Location: Community Environmental Council Gildea Center, 930 Miramonte Drive,
Santa Barbara
Directions: from downtown Santa Barbara take Carrillo up the hill towards the
Mesa, At the top of the hill turn left onto Miramonte Dr. Continue for approx.
1/2 mile and watch for the sign for the Gildea Center on the left. Park on
Miramonte and walk down the short driveway to the Center.
Fee: FREE
Call for info: (805) 563-2089
Reservations: not necessary

4) HOW TO MAKE AN APPLE BIRDFEEDER: A FUN WAY TO FEED THE "WORKING BIRDS" IN
YOUR ORGANIC GARDEN 

(Thanks to Mardena Waller for these directions)

Materials 
â‚¬ 1 apple
â‚¬ 3 feet of string
â‚¬ Birdseed or cereal

Directions 

Cut lengthwise grooves in the apple on all four sides. Cut the top off 
about 1/2 inch from the stem of the apple. Scoop out some of the insides 
of the apple with a spoon, being careful not to break the skin. Tie the 
string around the apple, criss-crossing the string underneath the apple 
and tying it above the top. Fill the center of the apple with birdseed 
or cereal.

Hang the apple birdfeeder outside where it will be protected from 
the rain.  Make sure it is safe from predators.  If you place it in 
a tree, make sure a cat can't reach it from above. 

Note: Also try using other fruits for your birdfeeder such as orange, 
pear, nectarine - or vegetables such as a turnip, green tomato, gourd 
or firm squash. 

5) EXERCISES FOR THE GARDENER. For many of us, gardening is an excellent
exercise.  But a few extra stretches can balance the positions we take so
often: kneeling, crouching, clipping, digging. For example, after a lot of
clipping, clasp your hands behind your back and try to try to make shoulder
blades touch each other. Raise hands behind your back as high as you can
without causing pain.  Another good one: after crouching or digging, place
your
fists in the small of your back on either side of your spine. Lean gently
backwards, looking at the sky. 

6) THE BOTANIC GARDEN OFFERS MANY GOOD SPRING CLASSES. WE RECOMMEND "HOW TO
DESIGN A GARDEN THAT WORKS" BY OWEN DELL, SAT MAY 3RD. For more info, call
682-4726 x 102 or log onto www.sbbg.org

7) ARE YOU AN ORGANIC LANDSCAPER?  We continue to get periodic requests for
referrals to folks who will design and build organic gardens.  Our list is
growing as new organic landscape architects, designers and gardeners ask to be
listed.  If you'd like to be on the list, please send us a brief paragraph
about what you do and how you'd like clients to contact you. And of course we
recommend certified "Green Gardeners" (www.greengardener.org) for ongoing
maintenance.

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network
(805) 962-2571
sbpcnet at silcom.com

www.sbpermaculture.org

"We are like trees, we must create new leaves, in new directions, in order to
grow." - Anonymous

>
> May no bomb fall on your head
> or on your child's head or on your enemy's head
> or on his child's head
> or on the snail
> in his garden.