I love the idea of a cooking club. A women’s group at my church has been meeting for several years (before pandemic restrictions) in the church kitchen to make large batches of soup which are then stored in a communal freezer and taken to those who are sick, shut-in or grieving or just need a culinary “hug”. Given that there are a lot of singles In the congregation, and it is challenging to cook for one, there could be an opportunity to gather and cook meals to be shared.
A couple of years ago, I made my own grocery produce bags. I took the project a step further by sourcing my material from thrift stores - I used drapery sheers that had been donated but were unsaleable. Didn’t matter that there were holes or paint spatters as I wasn’t going to hang them on a window.
Day 21 post has prompted me to get involved with like minded people. I am tired of that look of people that tells me they think I am fit for the loony bin when I say, "No, I won't shop at Cdn. Super store, as I took a No Plastic Initiative in July, and I don't want to buy produce encased in shrink wrap". So I thought I would get involved in the community garden. I have only seen people in it once, but it is next store to the local RCMP office, so I will give them a call tomorrow morning as I am sure they will know who to contact. The times, "they are a changin", as my daughters' Middle School has had a huge overgrown lot in front of their school apparently for years. Well, next year the school is building a garden to get student's involved in growing their own food, and education evolving thereof. The other aspect, is the lot has a huge border along the main street, so gardening activities, and ?produce, will pretty up the block which has car selling companies and also currently looks a bit "strip mall-esh"!
I started a community group in Palo Alto to do climate action. We are using meetup (now 25/mo). I must say, I have found very few people who actually want to attend events through meetup. Sometimes I set up a booth at the Cal Ave farmers market to get the word out, and while I don't talk to very many people that way, the people I meet are the ones that come to our events and get involved. If you want to check us out, the meetup group is https://www.meetup.com/palo-alto-climate-action/ and my website is https://www.engageon.org/ THANK YOU for the work you do, it is so needed.
The best part of meetup for me is the SEO, if you google "palo alto climate action" (without quotes) our meetup group is the 4th hit. I would not be able to be so find-able without meetup. :)
Inspired by NY Times bestseller "Nature's Best Hope" I decided to fight back against the "insect apocalypse" by sending free native seeds that feed caterpillars and bees to neighbors using the Nextdoor app. Seeds include local Narrow Leaf Milkweed (monarchs), California Wildflowers (over a dozen butterfly/moth caterpillars), Red-Flowered and California Buckwheat (Blue butterflies and tons of native bees and other insects), and Clarkia (for sphinx moths). I've been blown away by the response! In under four months I've sent 835 packets, each covering 25 sq. ft, and recruited 133 people to the new Nextdoor group "Bring Back Bay Area Bees and Butterflies" Bonus - if you're growing butterflies and bees then you definitely are not using pesticides or herbicides! Our group has fun, dynamic conversations and some members are even offering to start plants to share with others. Most, like me, are 'newbies' - didn't realize we had to grow native plants to feed these caterpillars and leave our leaves on the ground to give them places to pupate. Here's a link to the Nature's Best Hope lecture by entomologist Doug Tallamy that kicked it all off: https://bit.ly/TallamyCNPS2020
Anyone can join in the fun! Doug Tallamy is rallying us to convert our gardens to 70% native to feed the caterpillars that feed 96% of our baby birds - his site is here:
I love the idea of a cooking club. A women’s group at my church has been meeting for several years (before pandemic restrictions) in the church kitchen to make large batches of soup which are then stored in a communal freezer and taken to those who are sick, shut-in or grieving or just need a culinary “hug”. Given that there are a lot of singles In the congregation, and it is challenging to cook for one, there could be an opportunity to gather and cook meals to be shared.
A couple of years ago, I made my own grocery produce bags. I took the project a step further by sourcing my material from thrift stores - I used drapery sheers that had been donated but were unsaleable. Didn’t matter that there were holes or paint spatters as I wasn’t going to hang them on a window.
Day 21 post has prompted me to get involved with like minded people. I am tired of that look of people that tells me they think I am fit for the loony bin when I say, "No, I won't shop at Cdn. Super store, as I took a No Plastic Initiative in July, and I don't want to buy produce encased in shrink wrap". So I thought I would get involved in the community garden. I have only seen people in it once, but it is next store to the local RCMP office, so I will give them a call tomorrow morning as I am sure they will know who to contact. The times, "they are a changin", as my daughters' Middle School has had a huge overgrown lot in front of their school apparently for years. Well, next year the school is building a garden to get student's involved in growing their own food, and education evolving thereof. The other aspect, is the lot has a huge border along the main street, so gardening activities, and ?produce, will pretty up the block which has car selling companies and also currently looks a bit "strip mall-esh"!
I started a community group in Palo Alto to do climate action. We are using meetup (now 25/mo). I must say, I have found very few people who actually want to attend events through meetup. Sometimes I set up a booth at the Cal Ave farmers market to get the word out, and while I don't talk to very many people that way, the people I meet are the ones that come to our events and get involved. If you want to check us out, the meetup group is https://www.meetup.com/palo-alto-climate-action/ and my website is https://www.engageon.org/ THANK YOU for the work you do, it is so needed.
The best part of meetup for me is the SEO, if you google "palo alto climate action" (without quotes) our meetup group is the 4th hit. I would not be able to be so find-able without meetup. :)
Inspired by NY Times bestseller "Nature's Best Hope" I decided to fight back against the "insect apocalypse" by sending free native seeds that feed caterpillars and bees to neighbors using the Nextdoor app. Seeds include local Narrow Leaf Milkweed (monarchs), California Wildflowers (over a dozen butterfly/moth caterpillars), Red-Flowered and California Buckwheat (Blue butterflies and tons of native bees and other insects), and Clarkia (for sphinx moths). I've been blown away by the response! In under four months I've sent 835 packets, each covering 25 sq. ft, and recruited 133 people to the new Nextdoor group "Bring Back Bay Area Bees and Butterflies" Bonus - if you're growing butterflies and bees then you definitely are not using pesticides or herbicides! Our group has fun, dynamic conversations and some members are even offering to start plants to share with others. Most, like me, are 'newbies' - didn't realize we had to grow native plants to feed these caterpillars and leave our leaves on the ground to give them places to pupate. Here's a link to the Nature's Best Hope lecture by entomologist Doug Tallamy that kicked it all off: https://bit.ly/TallamyCNPS2020
Also, if you're in California, you can see which butterflies live in your zip code and what they eat at this site, run by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS): https://calscape.org/loc-/cat-Lep/ord-popular?srchcr=sc61eb09bfb1b6f
Other states can use this site: https://bit.ly/Native-Plants-NWF-USA
Or this one: https://bit.ly/Native-Plants-Audubon-USA
Anyone can join in the fun! Doug Tallamy is rallying us to convert our gardens to 70% native to feed the caterpillars that feed 96% of our baby birds - his site is here:
https://bit.ly/HomeGrownNationalPark
Finally - here's the handout I send with seeds - colorful pics and fun resources: https://bit.ly/Hills-of-CA