NELA Transition | October 2012 Newsletter

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Northeast Los Angeles Transition October 2012 Newsletter Conscientious Projector Showing: “Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?” Thursday, October 11, 2012 7:00pm Armory Center for the Arts 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena A groundbreaking documentary about the roots of the American economic crisis, and the continuing assault on working and middle class people in the United States. Heist boldly reveals the crumbling structure of the U.S. economy – the result of four decades of deregulation, massive job outsourcing, and tax policies favoring mega-corporations and wealthy elites. More info: http://heist-themovie.com/ Conscientious Projector is committed to bringing films on social justice and sustainability to the public. Free. Second Thursday of every month. Secrets of Seed Saving WorkshopSaturday, October 13, 2012 10:00am–12:00pm Strub Avenue Farm 8826 Strub Avenue, Whittier $40 cost (includes lunch) RSVP here. or use time dollars 2 TD + $15 materials cost (+1 TD for lunch) RSVP here, password: TIMEBANK Urban seed saving is removed from commercial agriculture, meaning that you can maintain control over your food supply. Horticulturalist David King teaches you the secrets of growing heirloom plants and saving your own seeds for next year. Seed saving helps you support your community and gain control over your food supply. It also results in tastier, hardier plants in your garden. Secrets of Seed Saving is a part of the Build-Your-Skills workshop series curated by the Whittier Time Bank. This event is planned in collaboration with Whittier Backyard Farms. Composting Workshop The Bokashi Method Saturday, October 13, 2012 10:00am–12:00pm Kleverdog Academie 418 Bamboo Lane, Los Angeles $20.00, includes materials Want to compost but live in an apartment? Don't want to have fruit flies when composting? Join fermentation advocates Mobokashi for a fun, informative and hands-on discussion of the Bokashi Method, the use of anaerobic or fermentation style composting, which is faster than traditional pile composting. For more details and to RSVP see their Meetup page. Presented by Creative Juice Bar and Kleverdog Academie. Garden Workshops and Oktoberfest Saturday, October 13, 2012 10:00am–7:00pm Descanso Gardens 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge Alan Pollack leads a slide show and discussion on creating a bird-friendly garden at 10am, free with admission. A workshop on using native and drought-tolerant bulbs during all seasons starts at 11:30am. Cost is $15, $10 for members. Descanso’s Oktoberfest starts at 2:30pm with a class on growing your own grains for your vegetable garden or for beer brewing, led by Rachel Young. The Harvest Beer Garden features German music and dancing, German beer, brats and pretzels and more, from 3 to 7pm, free with Descanso admission. From Descanso Gardens Grow LA Victory Garden Workshop 4 consecutive Sundays from October 21–November 11, 2012 12:00pm–3:00pm Pasadena Community Garden 721 So. Pasadena Avenue, Pasadena $20 for each class, or $75 for the four-class series Pasadena Community Gardens, in cooperation with the University of California Cooperative Extension, invites you to participate in the Grow LA Victory Garden program. The program consists of a series of basic gardening skills classes, presented by the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program. Go here for registration info and further details. Presented by Pasadena Community Gardens. Seeds of Hope & Freedom with Dr. Vandana Shiva Tuesday, October 30, 2012 7:00pm–9:30pm Loyola Marymount University Burns Recreation Center 1 Loyola Marymount U. Drive Los Angeles Dr. Vandana Shiva, world-renowned food activist, environmental activist, and social justice activist, will talk about the threats to food security caused by GMO seeds and seed patenting by private corporations. “Seed is the source of life and the first link in the food chain. Control over seed means control over our lives, our food and our freedom.” Free, but donations encouraged, pre-registration required, parking $5–7 per car. Book signing to follow Presented by Friends of Navdanya, and Lions Gate Garden Club Do the Math – 350.org Featuring Bill McKibben (350.org) and Josh Fox (Gasland) Sunday, November 11, 2012 6:00pm Ackerman Ballroom, UCLA 308 Westwood Plaza Los Angeles It’s simple math: we can burn 565 more gigatons of carbon and stay below 2°C of warming — anything more than that risks catastrophe for life on earth. The only problem? Fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves, five times the safe amount. And they’re planning to burn it all — unless we rise up to stop them. This November, Bill McKibben and 350.org are hitting the road to build the movement that will change the terrifying math of the climate crisis. Ticketing info to be announced. Sign up to receive updates. From 350.org The Story of Stuff Project would like 5 minutes of your time to help plan their next steps. They will be making a new movie and piloting a series of programs, including an online boot camp for up-and-coming changemakers. Would you take the time to fill out their survey? As incentive, they'll be picking four respondents at random to receive a framed print from one of the Story of Stuff movies. From The Story of Stuff Project LA Bread Bakers NELA Transition would like to extend a special shout-out and congratulations to the Los Angeles Bread Bakers for spearheading the California Homemade Food Act, just signed into law! LABB co-founder Mark Stambler with the Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) and Assemblyman Mike Gatto successfully championed the bill. California joins a growing number of states that have passed "cottage food laws" enabling home-based food sellers to legally operate within certain guidelines. The law goes into effect in January. You can learn more about the LABB and join their group on their Meetup page. From the Garden Autumn has arrived in the garden. Production of summer crops diminishes. Plants die back after reaching the end of their life cycles. The heat bakes plants and gardeners alike. Sunday, September 23rd marked the beginning of our cool weather garden, as folks from Throop Church each planted seeds in small pots filled with soil. Broccoli, kale, beets, nasturtium, chard, peas, beans, and arugula seeds have already sprouted, and continue to thrive under a heavy layer of moist straw. We will plant the seedlings in the raised beds in a few weeks, as the heat wave changes into cooler weather. More changes are on the horizon. We are preparing for our formal Dedication on November 11th. There are many tasks and changes to accomplish in the weeks ahead: Bermuda grass removal, autumn planting of the raised beds, median transformation on Los Robles, making benches for sitting and signs to identify plants. Last month, Therese and I touched up the Learning Garden sign. Originally painted by Michel and Eric, it now is as vibrant as when first painted. That recycled banner continues to be an emblem of our perseverance and resilience. More recently, we had some help from Oasis, a church group that meets at Throop. They cleaned up the morning glories and weeds around the back patio area, making us one step closer to having a spruced up area for the dedication reception. Every week we work on Bermuda grass abatement. Michael cleared out the Del Mar sidewalk area; Mari revisited some patches on the Los Robles side. Both areas look so much better without the grass. Great thanks to Therese, Michael, David, Mari, and Jean for midweek watering that allows the garden plants to weather over this continued hot spell. And a hearty thanks to all those brave souls who show up during the Sunday work parties to continue the work begun over a year ago. The garden has seen people come and go, over many decades. There is a conceptual balance to the cycles of the garden, from the people who first planted the Bermuda grass to our current gardeners who seek to eradicate it. We have planted something far greater than anything we had imagined: a community that flourishes and sustains. – January Nordman, October 1, 2012 Throop Learning Garden Work Parties Most Sundays 8:00am–11:00am Join us Sunday mornings as we practice permaculture gardening, water-wise landscaping, native plant use, urban food growing, and more! Wear sunscreen, hat and gloves if you have them. Sign up on the NELA Transition Garden Group email list for more updates. Photo credit: January Nordman Art and Inner Transition A society that exists in balance with nature could be described as post-industrial. It will require more than just reducing our use of fossil fuels. All kinds of changes around how we organize our food, water and shelter will be necessary just for starters. How is that even possible with a growth mindset? I assert that it is not possible. Notice that the vast majority of people are unaware of any need to transition. Transition is mostly about our mindset. Yes, there is a physical, external transition that is necessary, but nothing external is likely to happen until there is an inner shift, a change in mindset. Speaking for myself, how I came to Transition was only after many years of study and thought. I had to shift internally first before I ever got into action. That inner shift is what the Transition Movement calls inner transition. Inner transition is described differently by different people, but I would say that it's a spiritual shift inside one person. Each person's internal shift will be unique to that person, but given that we've all grown up immersed in the trappings of a fossil fueled, industrialized growth society, I believe we all share similarities among our inner transitions. One such similarity, could be a letting go of one particular benefit of our “modern comforts”. I don't believe that our society will make a successful physical transition without attending to an inner transition as well. How can we impact people's mindset in a positive way with regard to Transition? In organizing Transition events, I've come to believe that art is a powerful way to reach people at a spiritual, inner level. As such we've tried organizing “art” events in the past and we'll be trying another such “art” experience this Sunday. Around ten to fifteen artists will gather at a private residence and share their art with each other and some observers in a "hands on" fashion. We want to experiment with the idea of using art as a vehicle to reach people spiritually. Additionally, we also want to explore the idea that everyone can be creative and do art. There isn't a need to be an “artist”. Tapping into people's creativity is a spiritual act. The interesting question then is, how can we use art to help people's inner transition toward living in balance with nature grow? While the event this Sunday is by invitation only, we do plan to have additional “art” events where we will provide a similar space that will be promoted as a public event. Stay tuned for further details. Happy Transitioning. – David Cutter, October 4, 2012 Photo credit: Hey Paul Studios/Flickr Repair Café and Community Potluck Saturday, October 20, 2012 6:00pm–8:30pm Throop Hall 300 So. Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena The fourth monthly Repair Café will feature a jewelry repair person, a jewelry polisher, a small appliance repair station, and a woodworker, as well as a Really Really Free Market. Can you, too, be a repair person this month? If you would like to earn Time Dollars for doing some repairs, contact Therese Brummel [email protected]. You are invited to bring one item for repair and donate anything that you no longer need for the Free Market. You are welcome to take anything you want from the Really Really Free Market. The Repair Café is a movement that is bringing connection of neighbors, revealing resources in our community, creating a sense of abundance, and supporting zero waste and less consumption of goods. We use the alternate economy of the Time Bank to pay for repairs with time dollars, or donations of cash will be accepted. Community Potluck Since the weather is still summery, we are having a patio Potluck during Repair Café, open to everyone. So come by whether or not you have something to repair, bring a food item and share in celebrating community resilience. Incidentally, a potluck dish earns one time dollar; so bring a potluck dish and your repair is paid for! Voilà! More info on our Facebook page. Presented by Arroyo Time Bank and NELA Transition Photo credit: Qrys Cunningham NELA Transition Steering Committee Sunday, October 21, 2012 5:00pm–7:00pm Sunday, October 21st will be our next Steering Committee Meeting. These meetings are our best opportunites to get together, plan upcoming events, and promote sustainability projects. The location changes monthly. The gathering is potluck. Join us! Email [email protected] for more details. Graphic design: Qrys Cunningham/Wordle.net Throop Learning Garden Dedication Ceremony Sunday, November 11, 2012 - 9:00am Throop Memorial Church 300 South Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena Join us for the official dedication of the garden! Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard and Councilman Terry Tornek will speak. There will be a blessing of the garden by Pastor Tera Little, and a reception to follow. All are welcome. If you could help with baking, or would like to contribute to this festive event, contact Therese Brummel [email protected] Above: Councilman Terry Tornek and Rev. Tera Little meet with NELA Garden Group members; photo credit: Therese Brummel NELA Transition Retreat We apologize to everyone looking forward to the NELA Retreat, but we have had to postpone the event. We are in the process of choosing a new date and venue. We are excited about what we have planned, and will let everyone know as soon as we have new details. If you would like to help us in planning the Retreat, email David Cutter at [email protected]. Photo credit: waltarrrrr/Flickr NELA Transition is a community group working on positive changes in our community as we face global climate change, peak oil, and economic crisis. We share our skills working on projects which increase our local resilience and strengthen community connections. Our members are located in the Los Angeles neighborhoods bordering the Arroyo Seco, including Pasadena, Altadena, Highland Park and Eagle Rock. nelatransition.org