Occupy Your Life

Hi folks fresh from being evicted by the Los Angeles Police Department, v.2.0.

Some of your are needing bail and some of you are missing stuff and some of you have your pride a little dented, but you were good. All eyes have been on you for several months and (after a long silence the media finally figured out you were there and worth reporting). You made a big statement about the 99% and the 1%. Now that your encampment is gone, I wonder what's next for you?

Already I've heard reports that some of you are showing up in a park near downtown LA with tents and camping gear to carry on delivery of the message. Some will carry on – and maybe a few new folks will join them – but the demonstration, despite your words to the contrary, cannot go on until things change. 'Things' take very long to change. You have lives you must continue and a camping expedition won't contain that for very long.

I have 'occupied' for a very long time. It's different for me. I believe you when you decry the mon ey in politics and the lame economic system that has developed to make the rich richer and keep the poor downtrodden and full of sugar and TV. Yet, my occupation has been doing something that allows me to live my life on a daily basis, participate as little as possible in the oppression you decry and to fight for economic change in a way that is ongoing and sustainable.

I garden.

I save my own seed.

And I don’t shop where I believe my money is going to further oppress people from anywhere in the world. I may not be right all the time, but I make a concerted effort to be informed and try to be right.

It doesn't get me on TV and reporters don't come around and poke mics in my face and ask insipid questions. I am not a media event and what I do doesn't feel all that revolutionary because I just go about living my life. Yet the damage I do to the system is real and sustainable day in and day out. And I'm not alone.

So, dear occupiers, I invite you to join me in an occupy that requires you to change as much as the system you want to change, for, in fact, didn't Gandhi say, “Be the change you desire?” The changes that have to be made have to go beyond using a credit union instead of big national bank (thank you for that one, by the way). It means changing your food market – the way you consume and the way you recycle and your entertainment source.

It means going local. All the way.

Local banking. Local food sourcing. Local music – the band down the street. Live music from your neighbors. Local art. Local energy. Local travel. Nothing is more local than your own garden. Local is everything 'they' don't want. Local is real. Local is powerful. Local is hope. Local is community. Local is support when times suck. Local is celebration when life is abundant. Local is an economy. Local is a farmers' market. Local is a seed bank. Local is a party, not affiliated with politics or national agendas. Local is someone you can talk face to face with. Local is kissing. Local is a hug. Local is smelling the flowers. Local is asking why there are no bike lanes. Local is eating bread fresh from the oven. Local is looking into someone's eyes and touching their core – or letting them touch yours. Local is personal. Local is a solution that solves many problems. Local chews up liars and spits them out. Local celebrates the local garden. Local tastes fresh. Local looks you the face and asks for a buck. Local pats you on the back and says thanks. Local smells like a rose. Local means you need to stand up for peace and safety. Local means you can't hide behind being one of the great unwashed mass. Local means you either really care or you're just full of shit. Local means you give to your favorite local charity. Local means you can say hi to someone you know (fine, thanks, how 'bout you?). Local means more Mom and Pop shops and less K-mart and Walmart. Local means the profits stay local. Local means no McDonalds. Local means organic. Local means less is more. Local means economics as though people matter. Local means here.  Local means now.

Not everything can be local – just try to get me to give up my coffee. But I can get coffee that shows some respect to the folks that grew it. The bottom line is, we have to live a conscious life. No longer can the boob tube show us an ad and we run out to buy the latest piece of crap. Today, we honor ourselves and our earth by turning away from the consumptive creatures of need we have been, into producers and creators of the life we wish to live and wish to export to the world around us.

So, are you willing to truly 'occupy' the spaces of your own life? Are you?

There is much to be done today. Lets get busy!

david

I'm Already Thinking of Tomatoes....!

Aren't you?  The day is not far off when seed starters will be starting seeds of tomatoes (my first seeding out is in January!) and, because I order my tomato seeds online, yes, it is the beginning of tomato season for sure.

I don't count on getting tomatoes like these at The Learning Garden...

Seed Savers Exchange posted a link on Facebook which lead me to another link where I found Tomato Fest online, listing the Top Ten Tomatoes for 2011, based on their sales last year.  Before you go there, let me warn you, if you are gardening along the coast (Sunset Zones 22 and 24) you can drool over the beefsteak tomatoes all you want, but be advised, they can be dicey in our ocean influenced climate.  Even though I have proven this wrong once, I have proven it right more than once and I still hold to the thought that large tomatoes do not set fruit well in our climate because they need 85° over a 24 hour period to set fruit.  That is hard to count on when the ocean flow in the evening often chills us down into the 60's.  Having said that, you can now go and lust over these varieties.  Hey, buy the seeds and give them to a friend in Pasadena for Christmas.  How thoughtful!   Then show up in harvest season...  Heh heh...

Also note, along with this post at Tomato Fest, there is also a sale on tomato seeds.  How convenient!  Yes, give tomato seeds for Christmas to everyone (well, at least the locals) and enjoy the excess from several friends and neighbors - take note of what was grown and attend the Seed Library Of Los Angeles meetings (next one December 17th at The Learning Garden) and let them show you how to save the seeds for yourself and the library!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and all are looking forward to a warm and loving December holiday season.  For all who want to enjoy a stress free moment in December, The Learning Garden hosts a Winter Solstice celebration, starting 6:30 PM on the 22nd until the fire goes out.  Bring something warm to drink (we'll have tea and coffee for those who bring their own cup) and maybe a sweet treat, we'll have a fireplace and a ceremony to enjoy.  No gifts, no cards, nothing special to wear (but something warm is a must!), and no stress.  Just come out and observe this important end/beginning on the calendar with peace and reflection.  

What a concept!

david

A New Seed Saving Seminar With David King!

It's about time.  Last January we had a seed saving seminar with SLOLA Chair and Founder, David King that was thoroughly enjoyed by every one.  We have finally pinned the dates down and are very pleased to announce our next offering: 

Essentials of Seed Saving

Generations before us understood the importance of saving seeds. It was an essential part of the lives of all our ancestors. This vital connection was lost as we began to purchase our seeds from seed sellers. In recent times, the specter of GMOs and monster corporations controlling the seeds they created and the very real prospect of seed corporations having control over our food supply.

October 20, 27 and November 3, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM, at

The Learning Garden,

SE corner of Walgrove Avenue and Venice Blvd.

310.722.3656 or greenteach@gmail.com

Saving our own vegetable biodiversity today provides us

• those old open pollinated varieties that taste good.
• a wider range of vegetable varieties and more control over what we can have.
• a closer participation in the cycle of life. In our gardens.
  
• a hedge against personal financial misfortune.
• a safeguard against food shortages.
  
• our own way to mitigate against climate change and it's impact on agriculture.
• the means to fight our shrinking biodiversity.
  

Upon completing this short course, participants will know why we urgently need to learn how to save seeds, the basics of saving most vegetable seeds, optimum conditions for seed preservation, how to preserve the genetic lines of different types of seed and short-cuts and tips from someone steeped in the seed saving ethic.  

David King began his time in the garden at his Grandfather's knee back in northeast Kansas.  He has been an avid gardener for most of his life and has taught gardening and horticulture at UCLA Extension and UC Cooperative Extension.  He has been with The Learning Garden at Venice High School for over ten years and is the Chair of the Seed Library of Los Angeles. He has written the LA Garden Blog for over three years as well as several columns for periodical publication.  A course of information, delivered with passion and humor is guaranteed.

We have limited seating, reserve your space now!

SLOLA members get a $10 discount - email David for enrollment procedures. 

Date Enrolled

Before10/13/2011 $40.00 After 10/13/2011 $45.00 At The Door $50.00

Why Urban Farms Will Save the Economy and Lives

No longer are we preaching to the choir!  The word is out and people are piling on the bandwagon:  urban agriculture is in and will empower us to move forward into a new paradigm where food is grown within a few miles and not a few thousand miles of where it is consumed. 

We are on the tipping point and our world is changing.  This article sums up nicely what we've been saying for years now! We are grateful to see this kind of encouraging news in print!  

david

Lies I've Told My Students

Do You Know What Variety These Big Yellow Tomatoes Are?

You cannot grow large, beefsteak-style tomatoes close to the ocean - the cool off-shore flow and lack of heat will not allow the fruit to set.  So, if you try to grow beefsteak tomatoes near the ocean (Sunset Zone 24) you are wasting your time! This is what I read, this is what my experience has proven over and over again. And this is what I have taught my students for about 7 years.

BUT... 

These tomatoes were picked yesterday from The Learning Garden in a year that was not one of our warmest!  Beautiful and delicious tomatoes.  These were grown by the Venice High School students in their gardens without tags.  If I had known those vines were supposed to produce this size of tomatoes, I would have yanked the vines back in June.  But I didn't know and look at this.  Now, if I only knew what variety they were, I'd be saving seeds from them.

david

Join David For Growing Food Class This Saturday

This Saturday, 06 August 2011, The Learning Garden presents: Growing Food In Southern California with David King. This 9 to 12 workshop centers on what to do in the coming months as Southern California heads into our 'other Spring' and one of our best, and least understood, growing seasons! You'll learn what to plant and how to plant it, what varieties go best here and why and all about getting the best garlic you will ever have! Dress to get into the garden and get dirty, The Learning Garden can be cool even in August, so dress in layers. Coffee and garden-made mint tea will be served please bring your own cup! Email greenteach@gmail.com or call 310.722.3656 for more information. No need to RSVP – class goes on no matter what!  $25 at the gate...

david 

Bees: An Essential Part of Our Food System

Ms Bee, Lacking a Horse, Pollinates a Borage Plant

A recent LA Times article detailed the death of a horse and the owner being severely stung by bees has drawn enough attention to warrant a reply.

The reason such a story becomes news is that it is uncommon. For some reason, unclear in the story, the bees attacked this man and his horse. It was doubtful that the attack was unprovoked and, because the man has a reason to not disclose anything he might have done to provoke the attack, we may never know the truth. But, from my personal experience of working with hives of bees and the many years of experience with bees by the people I associate with and our collective memory, we, to a person, allow that this is not consistent with the way we know bees to behave without some serious provocation. Because most Americans simply regard bees as something to be feared and really know very little about them, even preposterous stories about their behavior invoke no intelligent scrutiny.

But, OK. So the bees got pissed off – we don't know why – and they stung the horse to death and sent the owner off to the emergency room. This is only 'news' because it is rare. A horse killed on the freeway would be rare too, but a man sent to the ER because of injuries sustained on the freeway wouldn't be such a big deal – it wouldn't eve make a back page entry in the LA Times on a slow news day.

Bees are wild critters and they will attack anyone deemed to be threatening their hive. That's what they do. Our reaction to bees is, sadly, overwhelmingly based in fear born of ignorance. A healthy respect for all forms of life is imperative when dealing with the various forms of life we encounter – the more a person knows about bees, bears, wolves, or any form of wildlife, the better a person can deal with it and usually the more appreciation they will have for whatever species we have in mind.

My interactions with bees have been almost always positive. I have had two run-ins where I screwed up (both times) and got stung. I do not blame the bees. Each bee that stung me lost her life (all honey bees with stingers are female and the action of stinging disembowels her) and she lost her life protecting her hive with determination and skill. My work with bees has taught me so much about myself and has shown me some of my faults. I have come to admire these wonderful, essential creatures. The bees and the hive are like two living entities – as much as the cells in my body and two different entities – and the cell cannot live without the rest of the body, but the body needs a minimum number of cells to survive. So it is with the hive.

Most, if not all, hype that pumps up the fear about bees and other wild creatures is conscious fear mongering by those who profit from our fears. I have heard interviews with pest control companies where the president of one company vehemently admonished the radio personality to “very afraid of Africanized honey bees.” The purpose of which was nothing more than to drive listeners to the telephone to call his company every time any bee showed up at their property. After all, who can tell if it's an African bee or a European bee – I mean, I haven't been able to check passports on them. The intention was to frighten people to get ALL bees sprayed.

Never mind that the honey bee is in crises and lack of honey bees will severely impact our food supply. Honey bees have been dying at an alarming rate that has already impacted some crops and threatens shortages of many more. One of every third bite we eat comes to us through the pollinating efforts of honey bees. Mind you, there are other pollinators, and it is increasingly evident we will have to employ them in greater numbers while the honey bee populations plummet, but the honey bee has been the revered pollinator of choice for over a century because we have learned how to work with them and they have proven to be reliable partners even when we have abused them.

It appears to me that the survival of the honey bee is dependent on finding refuge in our cities. Our government has no backbone to contest the chemical and GMO farming lobby, so the honey bee is almost certainly doomed in our farmlands. In the city, where GMOs are not raised and pesticide application is confined mostly to lawns (is that sick or what?), honey bees stand a chance to become viable again. Actions taken by brazen law-breakers like Backwards Beekeepers are probably the greatest hope to keep viable populations of honey bees alive.

Got bees? Do not kill them! Contact a person who will keep them and insure those bees survive to breed more bees. Our way of life is dependent on the honey bee and her pollination of crops from apples to zucchini. Let's not take almonds, peaches, apricots, plums and many other fruits and vegetables away from the children of the future by compromising the honey bee's numbers to not be of service to mankind. Let's legalize beekeeping in all our cities and let's learn about the bees and be of service to them as well.