Do-It-Yourself Wednesdays! Reduce, Reuse, Remodel! with Gregory Smith, Small Building Company
Creative & Low-Cost options for Designing, Building and Remodeling with salvaged materials & components.
Instructor: Gregory Smith, Small Building Company
Cost $30, $25 for Guild Members.
For more info and other DIY Wednesday Workshops visit www.SouthSoundGreenTour.org

Do-It-Yourself Wednesdays! Workshop - Sustainable Home Technologies: Build-your-own systems to save money and energy: Solar Air & Water Heater, Harvesting Rainwater, Reusing Greywater built on Permaculture Principles
Instructor: Marisha Auerbach, Herb’n Wisdom
Cost $30, $25 for Guild Members - supports the Guild's "Eco-House"
For details or to Register Click Here

I went to Fertile Ground last night and ate pizza with the Cuba Caravanistas. The pizza was good, and so was the discussion. Brendan Funtek spoke about Cuba and his travel and other involvement with the caravan. Then Manolo de los Santos, who is the Pastors for Peace representative (he's from New York via the Dominican Republic), also spoke. Finally, Rick Fellows spoke. Rick has been running caravans since 1984 when he became involved in a dispute between Peabody Coal and members of indigenous tribes near the 4 corners area of the Southwest US. Peabody Coal runs one of the world's largest coal strip mines in the area, and since its beginning there has been constant opposition. All three were great speakers and served to illuminate upon the relationship between the US and Cuba, as well as the situation in Cuba, and the lives of the Cuban people. After the speeches we had a great question and answer discussion.

I wish the Caravanistas the best in their journey toward the Mexican border, and beyond toward their destinations in Cuba, as well as a safe return.

The following is a description some of what I know about Cuba, including some, though certainly not all, of what I have learned in the last three days. It is also in part a description of the border crossing from Vancouver B.C. into Washington State this past Sunday, including a photographic essay. - Berd

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Peace Arch Park Vancouver B.C. Canada—Blaine Washington United States

The Olympia Seed Exchange from Jessica Gee on Vimeo.

The Olympia Seed Exchange is currently closed. It will re-open for the fall season toward the end of August.

more information: Olympia Seed Exchange

Students in The Evergreen State College program “Life of Things” will be hosting a “Material Life Festival” on May 22 at the Loft on Cherry, 12-6pm, FREE. We will have a free screenprinting station, free cloth bags handmade on site, workshops for kids to make things from fabric and salvaged materials, a junk instrument workshop, frankenplushie workshop, other guest workshops, a craft bazaar, and a barter faire.  Books to Prisoners, Camp Quixote, the Youth And Young Adult Farm Worker Ministry, and others will be there seeking support.  Please, Check it Out!  

blogs.evergreen.edu/materiallifefestival/

When: 7pm, Wednesday, May 26
Where: Lecture Hall 3, Evergreen campus, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia, WA 98505
Directions to campus are available here: http://www.evergreen.edu/tour/gethere.htm

Price: Free, $2 parking.

The Master of Environmental Studies (MES) program at The Evergreen State College will be showing Beyond the Motor City, a new PBS documentary directed by acclaimed filmmaker Aaron Woolf (King Corn) and produced as part of BLUEPRINT AMERICA, the precedent-setting, multi-platform initiative—produced by Thirteen/WNET and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation—that shines a spotlight on one of our country’s most critical issues: America’s decaying and neglected infrastructure. Beyond the Motor City examines how Detroit, a grim symbol of America’s diminishing status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in this country. The film explores Detroit’s historic investments in infrastructure—from early 19th-century canals to the urban freeways that gave The Motor City its name and made America’s transportation system the envy of the world. But it also reveals that over the last 30 years, much of the world has left Detroit—and America—behind, choosing faster, cleaner, more modern transportation.

In a journey that takes us into the neighborhoods of Detroit and then beyond to Spain, California, and our nation’s capital, Beyond the Motor City urges us to ask how a symbol of America’s urban decay might transform itself into a model of urban revitalization. Can we finally push America’s transit system into the 21st century? Film will show 7pm-8:30pm followed by a 30-45 minute film discussion facilitated by MES faculty member, Rob Knapp! Check out the film’s website at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/on-the-road/home/1010/

The Material Life Festival is seeking artists, crafters, and activists who work with secondhand or salvaged materials to exhibit work, set up an informational table, lead workshops, or take part in the craft bazaar. Please post a reply if interested.

If you love food and are interested taking action to help create a sustainable and just local food system, please join us for this event at the Evergreen State College Longhouse.

Whether you are interested in sharing your experiences with growing, eating or selling food, are curious about local farms and restaurants, or are looking for resources for affordable, healthy food-- everyone is welcome to take part in this groundbreaking forum on the way Olympia eats. Delegates representing a diversity of local groups will lead us in a public dialogue about working together to create the food system we want for our community.

The evening will begin with a panel of community members that have been locally active in working towards sustainable and just food in Olympia, including TJ Johnson from Sustainable South Sound, Ann Vanderman from Left Foot Organics, Lisa Owen from the Mark and others. This will be followed by a tabling break-out using the World Cafe conversation model, in which attendees will get a chance to rotate between groups representing different parts of the food system to ask questions and establish connections between groups. The forum will culminate in a large group discussion to form connections and plan for future action. Talk with your mouth full, leave with an ear full, don't miss the chance to share your voice and get involved.

The event is free, with on-site childcare provided for all participants. The event will take place at the Evergreen Longhouse, to the left of the library coming from the main parking lots.

Don't forget -- Peter Bohmer tonight, talking about Creating A Sustainable Society, 7 PM at Traditions! Be there!

Growing Mushrooms in the Home Landscape with Marisha Auerbach and Jordan Weiss

Saturday, April 3
10 am - 4 pm
Wild Thyme Farm Oakville, WA (45 mins SW of Olympia)
$75 - $65 sliding scale
Potluck lunch; pre-registration requested

Mushrooms are an integral part of the environment in the Pacific Northwest. They are rarely used in landscaping. Permaculture draws on examples from nature to create abundant landscapes based in ecological systems. We would like to invite our fungal allies to return to the garden and assist us in creating abundance through their relationships. During this workshop, we will discover the functions of mushrooms in an ecosystem and the different techniques for incorporating them in the home garden. Hands-on projects will include: log culture, establishment of outdoor mushroom beds, mycorrhizal inoculants, and other fun projects. Each participant will go home with an inoculated log.Please join us as we consciously welcome mushrooms into our landscapes and gardens.

For more information, or to register, contact:
Marisha Auerbach (360) 273-7117 or queenbee@herbnwisdom.com