Eco Community Seeds, Fall 2009 Issue

Durham

. Chico . Paradise . Beyond

Community Seeds Eco-Magazine

Thinking Globally, Living Locally

Back to Nature

You May Be Inspired to Go Greener

Sun Power

Part 3 of our “Going Solar” Series What is the Bottom Line?

Reasons to Go Green: Beyond Climate Change

Greening Our Schools

The Importance of Environmental Education

Live a Healthier, More Sustainable Lifestyle Skin Care Tips, Recipes and Exercise Fun For All Ages

What is Actually Recyclable?

Solve Some Recycling Mysteries

FREE

www.communityseeds.com

Fall 2009

Welcome

Vol. 2, No. 2 Fall 2009 Issue 6

Community Seeds Eco Magazine is published quarterly, exclusively on-line; at no cost to readers.

Copyright

Community Seeds Eco Publishing,

Š2008-2009.

All Rights Reserved.

May be printed for personal use only.

Please send comments, articles, artwork, testimonials, questions and photos to: info@communityseeds.com.

For advertising and general information, e-mail us at info@communityseeds.com Or sales@communityseeds.com.

Also, visit: www.communityseeds.com.

Send all mail to: Community Seeds Eco Magazine 1785 Garden Road Durham, CA 95938 Call and/or leave a message: (530) 570-5581

Community Seeds

ECO Magazine

www.communityseeds.com Editor-In-Chief DeAnna Holman Associate Editor Amy Behlke Environmental Advisor/Contributing Editor Greg Holman Staff Writers Amy Behlke DeAnna Holman Greg Holman Conor Rowell Staff Photographers Tracy Lynn Cahn of Tracy Lynn Photography* DeAnna Holman Greg Holman Proof Editor CarrollAnn Davis Advertising/Marketing Deborah Watt Cyndi Pereira Art/Layout Design DeAnna Holman Amy Behlke Intern Jessica Bahamondes

Owner/Editor-in-Chief, DeAnna Holman (right) Amy Behlke, Associate Editor (left)

4

Community Seeds . Fall 2009

*Fall Issue Cover By Our Own Tracy Lynn Cahn All articles, photos, advertising, words, design and images are the property of Community Seeds Publishing and may not be reproduced without permission. Community Seeds Publishing reserves the right to edit all content submitted. Although property of Community Seeds, no division of the company may be held liable for its specific content.

From the Editor

A Note From the Editor

Being Greener and Healthier

Going into fall, Community Seeds Eco Magazine looks back at the summer with many activities attended and community connections made. We were able to go out and share ideas about being greener with community members from all over. I have certainly enjoyed meeting people from different backgrounds with varying perspectives on sustainability. From these experiences, I have learned more about what I expect from myself when trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

I have focused a great deal on community and environmentalism, but I have focused very little on taking care of myself as much as the aforementioned. One community member brought to my attention that, although she loves the magazine and our message, she feels that it needs a focus on caring for oneself. This includes trying to live a healthier lifestyle. I invited her to submit a healthy recipe and she accepted. Since this encounter, it has occurred to me that it is time to expand my journey toward sustainable living by working on taking care of my health and well being. I will be making some changes starting today; small ones at first, with the goals of bigger changes as time goes on.

You will notice in this issue that we have included healthy recipes, a fun option for exercise and other articles meant to share ideas about living a healthier lifestyle. I encourage the community to send in ideas and articles about any aspect of health and continue to send articles on community, social responsibility and being green. We provide a forum for sharing ideas and we hope to learn something or at least spark some intrigue or introspection.

Also in this issue, we have focused on nature and the importance of taking the time to notice the nature that surrounds us. By taking time to appreciate and learn from nature, we may be inspired to make changes to be more environmentally friendly. There is so much that can be taken for granted and so much in nature that would be sorely missed if we do not take time to preserve it.

As we move into fall, we will continue to attend public events and we hope you will stop by to see us. We appreciate the readers and all of the support from sponsors and advertisers. It is this support that allows us to continue to spread the word about making small changes and living a more sustainable lifestyle.

Here’s to a healthier, greener fall!

DeAnna Holman

Editor-in-Chief

w w w.communityseeds.com

5

Contents

18 4 Welcome!

5 Note From the Editor 8 Issue Contributors 10 Community Photos 76 Recipes 75 Calendar Links 38 Fall Fun Photos 86 Advertiser’s Index 87 Be in the Winter

Issue!

14

Features 14

Community Seeds . Fall 2009

32

Confused About Recycling?

What can really be recycled?

18 Greening Our Schools

The Importance of Environmental Education

22

Want to Go Solar?

55

Getting Back to Nature

64

Part 3 of Our Solar Home Series A Family Nature Scavenger Hunt

Out and About

Turtle Bay Exploration Park

72

Making a Difference

32

Featured Artists

True Life

6

FALL 2009

One family is full of heroes, Harvest Heroes Two Renown Photographers Share Their Vision

70

Departments Easy Being Greener

Healthy Living

12 Beyond Climate Change: 42 Skin Care Facts: Reasons to Go Green

13 17

Green Links

40 Square Dancing:

A Poetic Look at the CFL Bulb

76 The Gorgeously Green

24 Christmas Tree Farms: Greener Than You Might Think

26 A Multiple Rain Barrel

System You Can Make

Community

38

Having Fun in the Fall Pictorial

72

Family Food Drive: Teaching Social Responsibility

70

Boys and Girls Club: Eco Stewards

Arts/Entertainment

77 Gorgeously Green

Diet Recipes We Like

Family

45 48

Summer Memories

58 68

Re-Use Paper Crafts

Poo Is the New Green: Modern Cloth Diapers

48

Backyard Camping With Kids

Crafts

46 Fun Fall Green Crafts Food

Photography by Vicki and Alain Tomatis

80

Kids’ Space: Kids’ Art And Writing

Cook’s Corner: Easy Fall Foods

83

Native American Three Sisters Stew

84

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Restored Clothing

55

Diet: Book Review

Sommelier’s Guide to Wine: Book Review

Sustainable Business

30

Exercise Plus Fun

78

32 Eyes Wide Open: 46

What’s in There?

64

w w w.communityseeds.com

7

Contributors

Contributors- FALL 2009 DeAnna Holman Editor-in-Chief, Owner, Publisher, Web Designer, Mother of Three & Wife.

DeAnna holds a BS Degree in Gerontology from USC, a California Teaching Credential and Science Supplement From CSU, Chico, and an AA Degree in Liberal Studies/Photo Journalism from Grossmont College in San Diego.

Amy Behlke Associate Editor, Writer, Links Coordinator, Mother of Two, and Wife.

Amy holds a BA Degree in Liberal Studies from CSU, Chico, a California Teaching Credential From CSU, Chico, works full time teaching 6th grade and writes grants.

Greg Holman Writer, Environmental Advisor, Father of Three, Husband. Greg is a Science Teacher, Writer for EnergySeeds.com, Grant Writer, Workshop Facilitator for the National Energy Education Development Project, who holds a BA and CA Teaching Credential from CSU, Chico.

Jan Holman Author, Jan Holman, has been a resident of Durham since the mid-1960s. A California State University, Chico graduate, she is a devotee of local history, mother, grandmother and Community Volunteer (4-H, Far West Heritage Association, Durham Women’s Club, Durham Schools, just to name a few).

Conor N. Rowell Journalist, Marketer, Publicist and Full-time Student at Butte College.

Conor works with a number of publications in Chico and has been published on many occasions. Conor has joined the staff of Community Seeds Eco Magazine as a writer and sales associate.

Holly Nevarez Mother of 3, Wife, and Active Community Member. Holly currently works as a Professor at Chico State in the Department of Health and Community Services. She helps run the Harvest Food Drive for the Jesus Center and serves on the Board of Directors.

Kris Noel Writer, Mother, Founder of Kicked Out Of Moms Club, and Overall “Domestic Goddess.” After five years of working as stay-at-home mom and moonlighting as a belly dancer, Kris has found a way to share her hilarious stories with other moms or even just women in general.

Jean Auld Personal Coach, Writer, Grandmother. Jean enjoys writing about people, places, and journeys. She holds a BA in Liberal Studies and a MA in Transpersonal Psychology from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California.

Cassi Nicolaus Cassi is a Chico native, back for the summer and works with Restored Clothing Co. Cassi is attending Seattle Pacific University as a sophomore in the Fall. She enjoys drinking coffee with close friends and will not leave the TV when it is Shark Week on Discovery Channel.

Community Seeds e-Magazine

8

Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Contributors Tracy Cahn Tracy is a professional photographer who enjoys photographing families, wedding, pets, and events. She has joined the staff of Community Seeds Eco Magazine as a photographer. A Paradise, CA resident, Tracy is a mom, a wife and the owner of Tracy Lynn Photography.

Donn Thomson Donn has been calling square dancing for youth, singles, couples and seniors since 1966. He finds the most pleasure in introducing the magic of this pastime to those who are unfamiliar with square dancing. Donn calls weekly for the CalVet Ridge Runners in Paradise, CA with his indispensable partner, Gerri.

Allison Randall Allison Randall’s career stints include: Artist, Cook, Baker, Barista, Belly Dancer, Bookseller, and Mom. She has lived in Boulder, Colorado and Auckland, New Zealand. Currently, she and her family call the San Francisco Bay Area home.

Sean S. Miller Sean S. Miller is the Director of Education at Earth Day Network. He oversees their education programs and policies for students and educators worldwide interested in environmental issues.

Contributors -Not Pictured CarrollAnn Davis- CarrollAnn works with Community Seeds Magazine as a Proof Editor and Writer. She is the Editor’s mom, a math tutor, Stampin” Up! Demonstrator, Vice President of her local PTA, mother of six and grandmother of ten.

Danae Dominichi- Writer and Chef Extraordinare, Danae works for Paradise Unified School District at Evergreen 6. She has a son and is involved in 4-H in Paradise, CA. Howard F Holman, III (“Pete”)-Retired Butte College Dean, Almond Farmer, Builder, Father, Grandfather.

Lori Nelson- Lori is one of the owners of Pure Skin, a unique retail boutique of skincare, cosmetics, and spa services in Chico, CA. Lori has been researching skincare for over eight years to ensure she offers safe and effective products to her customers.

Courtney Danehy- Courtney is the Development Director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the North Valley. She graduated from CSU, Chico in 2003 with her master’s in English Literature. She resides in Chico with her partner Brenton.

Richard Portis- Richard is a retired special education teacher and principal for 6th grade environmental camp.

Mary Portis- Mary is a professor and department chairperson in the Health and Community Services Department at California State University, Chico.

Jennifer Arbuckle- Jennifer is the Recycling and Public Outreach Coordinator for Northern Recycling and Waste Services.

Anne Benoit- Retired after 32 years of teaching at Ridgeview High School in Magalia, California, Anne and her husband established a Christmas tree farm in 1981. Anne stays busy with tree farming and tending the pet donkeys, goats, turkeys, dogs and cats. Anne chairs the northern section of the California Christmas Tree Association, is a Sierra Oro Farm Trails participant, and volunteers for North Valley Animal Disaster Group.

All contributors are named on their corresponding article

If you would like to send an article for the next issue of Community Seeds, please include a short bio, along with your photo and photos to go with your article. Send articles (doc) and photos (jpg) to info@communityseeds.com.

For additional guidelines, please go to www.communityseeds.com or send us an email. w w w.communityseeds.com

9

Commun

nity Faces

It’s Easy Being Greener

Going green is about more than climate change...

It’s not Easy Being Green er

By DeAnna Holman

W

hen considering going green, many feel that it means taking on political stances and supporting the global warming theory. This may drive people away from going green because they do not know enough about the theory or they do not believe in it. Many people are concerned with the theory of global warming, and I understand that concern. However, this concern may be keeping people from seeing the vast reasons to make changes to help the environment. Many people are fixated with semantics, politics and taking sides and they may miss the big picture.

As the old saying goes, “We are not seeing the forest through the trees.”

Whether or not global warming exists, there are still many reasons to go green that are not based upon that theory. With the increased population since the industrial revolution, many problems have come forth that wreak havoc

12 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

on our planet. Smog, water pollution, chemical hazards, deforestation, and carbon emissions are just a few of the problems affecting our health and the health of our planet.

To maintain or improve health conditions, we need to think about clean power, or “green” power. Clean power, such as power from wind, solar, and other sources help reduce the demand for energy from sources that cause pollution. One pound of carbon dioxide per hour is saved from entering the atmosphere for every kilowatt-hour of renewable energy produced.

Currently, over half of America’s energy comes from coal-burning power plants, which are said to be the country’s largest source of air pollution, next to automobiles. Air pollution can have long term health affects on everyone.

Chronic respiratory diseases, lung cancer, heart disease, and damage to major organs, including the brain, can come as a result of air pollution.

Photo Courtesy of NASA

It’s Easy Being Greener

ECO LINKS These eco-friendly minded links are worth checking out.

Click on one now to go directly to the site!

Courtesy of paranormalknowledge.com

Continual exposure to air pollution affects the lungs of children and may result in asthma or other chronic health conditions. Air pollution can complicate many medical conditions, especially in the elderly. Medical conditions arising from air pollution can be very extensive and as a result, health care costs can be very high.

Other important reasons to go green include protecting rain forests, preserving clean water, and reducing the amount of waste (including toxic chemicals) filling up the landfills. Buying less stuff, with less packaging or buying used and second-hand items can help the goal of protecting resources that ensure our future on this planet.

Reducing the amount of stuff we consume is the first step of the “reduce-reuse-recycle” principal. Finding creative ways to use, or reuse, “waste” materials is the second. Recycling is the third step. Recycling materials saves energy compared to using virgin materials to create new products.

A good example of recycling is recycling empty plastic water bottles. However, by using a reusable container, you can eliminate your need for disposable plastic bottles. It is good for the environment and your wallet! Through the balance of the three Rs, we can watch the amount of waste heading to the landfill reduce rather quickly.

There are so many reasons it is important to have a clean environment. By going green, you can improve your health, decrease spending, and most importantly, improve your overall quality of life. You can’t go wrong by going green!

Visit our Green Page at www.thechicoconnection.comClick on “Green Living” for local & global links on sustainable living.

w w w.communityseeds.com

13

It’s Easy Being Greener

What

is Actually Recyclable?

By Jennifer Arbuckle

Simple enough question; however the knowledge associated with various answers drips with misunderstanding. Clarification is desperately needed on those pesky plastic items with their recycling triangle and corresponding 1-7 numbering; this does not mean that something is recyclable; the numbers symbolize what type of plastic resin the item is made from. For example, Styrofoam is labeled with a #6, which stands for Polystyrene (Styrofoam is actually just the Dow Chemical Company name brand for their product and not the name of the material itself) is not recyclable. This means no manufacturer takes old “Styrofoam,” melts it down and makes new “Styrofoam.” It can be reused and made into new products, demonstrated by the company Timbron in Fresno who take old polystyrene and make crown molding out of it. Best thing when being forced to deal with recycling is to take it for reuse at your local UPS or postal store. There is also a local collection program in partnership with Timbron located in Oroville; more information on drop off locations will be coming to our community shortly.

Plastic bags are a bit more confusing: they come in a variety of numbers and they are recyclable, but not in your curbside recycling bin. Throwing them into your home receptacle assures that they will spend eternity in a landfill; they clog up the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) and do not bale well. Grocery stores are now mandated to take back plastic bags and recycle or reuse them, so there is a way to recycle them but it tests the individual’s true dedications. The sad probability here is that those that are dedicated to sustainable efforts wouldn’t use a plastic bag in the first place so 14 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

those left....

Plastic recycling is growing (with the exception of “Styrofoam” of course) thanks to overseas manufacturers. This makes the end result difficult to know with any certainty. Most plastic shipped over seas is made into all the cheap plastic junk we buy everyday; some of it falls into the ocean; and some is burned for energy (important note here is that plastic burns at a higher heat thus producing more btu’s then the same amount of coal). Burning plastic and coal both produce a vast amount of atmospheric pollution. Of course we do not want to support that; however you can argue for it if you think of all the extra pollution created by extracting coal; or you can argue about the pollution created by manufacturing plastic…etc.

Why do we continue to support this viscous cycle of pollution by buying plastic products and/or replacing products that are still good just to get the new trendy one? Of all the pollution our neighbors across the sea produce it behooves us to remember that our society is providing them with the material and buying back the end result. To place blame on one another is an exercise in futility. We made this bed together as a species, not as individual countries. But I digress.

Glass recycling is a bit tricky as well. Cups, plates, mason jars etc. are not recyclable, they are made from a thicker type of glass and melt at a higher heat, thus the energy required far exceeds any profit margin. All glass beverage containers are recyclable including wine and milk (which are classified as “liquid food”).

Now it is best for glass to be kept in tact, which can be difficult in a curbside program. Glass actually doesn’t break as much in the cart or

It’s Easy Being Greener

“Remember that many of our curbside collectors started out in the trash business. Recycling is still relatively new, and the money is still in trash.”

w w w.communityseeds.com

15

Courtesy of bayterracecafe.com

What is Recyclable?, Continued

the collection truck, as in the bailing process.

Depending on what company services your home, they either take your material to a transfer station and pick out the glass before bailing it, thus keeping most of it intact, or they bail all single stream together, breaking most of it. This is a great reason to find out who you are doing business with when is comes to your home recycling program.

Many people’s invalid logic leads them to the idea that soiled paper is recyclable because it is paper (It is definitely compostable which solves this problem for those communities fortunate to have commercial composting available). When people throw soiled paper products into the recycling, the paper gets mixed with the unsoiled paper, bailed, and sold to a manufacturer. Once, at the manufacturer’s, the bail gets put into a vat and reduced back down to pulp. If there are lots of containments in the pulp due to ketchup, cheese, grease, etc, the end product comes out with little bubbles and/ 16 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Courtesy of Morainevalley.edu or specks. This causes the product to be weak in structure and look cheap, thus unmarketable and useless, causing the whole batch to get thrown away. This holds true for plastic as well and why it is important to wash out your items.

It is also important to understand that different waste haulers take different materials and/or have different resources available to them. Remember that many of our curbside collectors started out in the trash business.

Recycling is still relatively new, and the money is still in “trash.” Thus, recycling collection offered can be limited to high value items only and not all items that are recyclable. Take the time to research what your company will take; otherwise, you are continuing to add to the landfill.

In the end, when it comes to recycling, it holds true that the best way to do your part is to take the time to understand what knowledge you have been given, heard, or just think sounds good. When we take the time to understand, our entire society and environment will benefit.

Ode to The CFL Environmental Poetry

By Conor Rowell

O

h my compact fluorescent lamp, how you ruin my mood lighting in the boudoir above my elegantly furnished bed.

But how you tempt me with your sultry promises of saving the world, deeming me a hero or a savior. My CFL whispers covenants of glory and a world without the constant worry of an inconsistent climate. Though your veins run with that silvery silk only known as Mercury, my CFL is a bright light in such dark times. While your body is not as curvy as your sister’s, you carry yourself with a simple elegance that coalesces with your modern physique. Your dress maybe less than elegant, in your tube top and short bottoms, my CFL, but you hold yourself with a grand confidence that transcends all of that. Oh my compact fluorescent

lamp, your destiny is lucid yet your emergence into our world is turgid in nature. When I first saw you on the shelf, people passed by without even noticing your illustrious beauty. Not I; at such a small price for such promises of grandeur, no mortal could possibly allow you to pass tranquilly. Your older sister, Incandescent, is a nostalgic wallflower, taking Aurelius’ advice and living each day as if it’s her last. That femme fatale of a sister burns out fast because she knows you, my CFL, are going live much longer than she; a midlife crisis perhaps, though she has always acted this way lest we need you now. Her copper veins are nothing compared to your intricate design while gas flows seamlessly throughout your system. Incandescent may have a cute navel but you, my

It’s Easy Being Greener

Photo Courtesy of Lifecoachusa.com

CFL, have a perfectly trim physique that represents a purely monastic lifestyle. Now, my Compact Fluorescent Lamp, you’re perched on a golden staff surrounded by a lacy blindfold that’s perfectly printed with lovely blue hydrangeas. A perfect throne for the queen you truly are, in my eyes and the eyes of the world.

The Facts about the CFL bulb: • Lasts fifteen times longer than old incandescent bulbs (15,000 hrs. vs. 1,000 hrs.)

• Stays cooler longer than the old incandescent • Uses a very small amount of electricity • A small step to curb our energy consumption and begin to roll back some of the climate damage done For more information, go to energystar.gov. w w w.communityseeds.com

17

It’s Easy Being Greener

18 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

It’s Easy Being Greener

Where Do the Children Play?

The Importance of Environmental Education

By Sean S. Miller

W

hen you were 15 years old, how much did you know about the environment?

Likely a few basic observations such as: the grass is green, or the sky is blue, and maybe a few things you learned in school, like the water cycle or photosynthesis. Today’s students fare even worse. Despite major strides in scientific understanding, information about the world in which we live is not being effectively transmitted to our students and therefore the general population. According to a recent study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States ranks 34th out of 57 countries in terms of basic environmental literacy for 15 year olds. Countries like Croatia, Estonia, and the Czech Republic outperform the U.S., which is indicative of a larger problem within this country. In fact, 30 percent of Americans still believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth.

This is quite a disheartening statistic; Copernicus revolutionized the historical development of science by proving the opposite almost 500 years ago. Today, the question still remains – what does it mean to be environmentally literate? Environmental education is the process of developing this capacity of environmental understanding throughout society. From basic classroom comprehension to community-based action, environmental education represents an important facet of a 21st century society in need of environmental solutions.

S

ince the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, schools are spending less and less time on anything beyond the purview of Math, Reading, and Science. As a result, other subjects are deemphasized and school-based opportunities to engage nature or play outside – what

we all affectionately remember as recess or Physical Education (PE) – have dwindled, or worse, become non-existent. Such emphasis equates to precious time lost exercising, exploring and developing a relationship with one’s environment. Children, along with their adult counterparts, now spend 90% of their time indoors. We have begun to perceive the physical ramifications of such policies in the rise of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes in children, but what are the psychological, emotional, or educational consequences? Richard Louv, author of the bestselling Last Child in the Woods, refers to this phenomenon as “naturedeficit disorder.” He argues that the continued disconnection of individuals from nature has profound implications for our global civilization and environment at large. While schools aren’t entirely to blame for “nature-deficit disorder,” over one-fifth of our population spends half of their waking hours in classrooms routinely isolated from nature. The significance of this separation underscores the insight of famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough: “Nobody is going to protect the natural world unless they understand it.”

A

ccording to the Campaign for Environmental Literacy, environmental education is the study of the natural world, and the relationship between humans and the natural ecosystem. Environmental Education also seeks to develop environmental literacy among citizens by raising awareness of the environment and environmental challenges, connecting people to the surrounding natural world, and promoting a more sustainable society.

Furthermore, environmental education has been found to increase students’ interest in science, improve their study of (and achievement in) other core subjects and better prepare them w w w.communityseeds.com

19

Where Do the Children Play? Continued

for future endeavors. In addition to the promotion of better stewardship, inclusion of environmental education as a core course in schools has additional incentives like 21st century career development. Yet, the actualization of such careers will remain distant unless we implement formal environmental education policies into schools nationwide.

A

pproximately three years ago, several environmental organizations sought to address many of these concerns through the creation of a national campaign called No Child Left Inside (NCLI). NCLI, now an official piece of legislation sitting in Congress, would essentially mandate environmental education as a national standard of learning, and weave it into school’s curricula across every discipline and grade level. Specifically, the act would require states to develop environmental literacy plans and also provide funding to teachers and organizations utilizing the environment as a teaching tool. NCLI is now more pertinent than ever, given the Obama Administration’s emphasis on creating a “Green Economy.” The roadmap to a green economy’s creation lies in the training and education of current and future citizens. Thus, environmental education’s broad emphasis on engaging five critical sectors of society through eco-literacy promotion – PreK12 schools, higher education, career pathways, professional (re)training, and general public awareness – represents a significant method for societalwide attainment of environmental understanding. NCLI is one step, albeit a significant one, to fundamentally transition our educational process, and thereby our economy, to a sustainable one.

20 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

It’s Easy Being Greener

W

hile the state of Maryland has already created an environmental literacy plan using the concept of NCLI, there are multiple methods for implementing such solutions in local schools and communities across the nation. One way is to utilize the opportunities already present in your community to help make your school “green.” Depending on the school’s needs, greening projects can range from simple light bulb efficiency swap outs and school vegetable garden construction, to complete overhauls involving renewable energy installations. Recent studies have shown that a certified green school can save up to $100,000 a year – approximately two teachers’ salaries – in addition to 585,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually! In fact, greening your school is an accessible and practical way to actualize environmental education’s many benefits. With approximately 55 million students spending the majority of their day at school, green schools offer an extraordinary opportunity

to increase knowledge and action on behalf of the environment and also benefit our nation’s floundering schools and economy in the process.

W

hile advocacy continues for NCLI’s passage in Congress, you can take action right now in your local community by greening your school. For more information on the No Child Left Inside Act or ideas on how to start greening your school, visit www.earthday.net/education or contact Earth Day Network’s Director of Education, Sean S. Miller at miller@earthday.net

w w w.communityseeds.com

21

Going Solar

It’s Easy Being Greener

Part 3: Research, Estimates, Rebates and More

By Greg Holman

A

s I sat down to write part 3 of our solar installation journey, I had 9 different estimates sitting in front of me. Thinking that I was more of an “Intermediate” than a beginner in understanding how solar works, I began to realize a big problem with solar is the complicated formula of cost analysis (I am laughing thinking about those math students who ask, “When will I ever use this?”).

things you need to consider when looking to “go local” with your power generation:

• What size system do you need?

• Do you have a sunny location?

• Have you done cheaper, easier upgrades in energy efficiency?

• Get several estimates from several reputable companies.

• Get references, and follow through with them.

Check their work.

We have done research, received estimates, • Will you Lease, get a PPA (Power Purchase calculated power generation, and have calculated Agreement) or buy outright? possible returns. We are now hoping to be signing • How will you be working out financing? If this a contract any day. Let’s review some of the is refinanced into a home loan, is the interest now tax deductible? Right now, unless you have owned your home for some time, most people do not have the equity built up.

• How much is the California rebate? (It diminishes every so often.) Do you do the paperwork or does the installer?

• Will you get a federal tax credit?

• Have you factored in historical increases in electricity?

Again, in researching solar systems for our home for several years, I felt that I have been reasonably informed about how it all worked. Unfortunately, I have been so worried and nervous about making a 22 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Going Solar

wrong decision, that waiting has cost me.

1 and 2 of this solar series is in the spring and summer 2009 issues respectively), we use more The rebate, while I was pondering the details, was than the baseline amount of power. We have 5 $1.55 a watt. It has now dropped to $1.10 a watt. acres, a well, and a pool. Even with many energy The rebates drop when installation milestones are efficiency upgrades, we are often in the higher reached – not by a certain date on the calendar. tiers. This last bill, we were paying $0.44 a kWh, The funny thing is that when my wife and I crunch which is almost four times the baseline. It will be the numbers, even with the lost rebate amount, easy to see a return on investment at those prices! solar is still a good choice.

The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago. The Even without considering all of the positive second best time is now. -- Confucius benefits to the environment, with our system, we should break even (save as much money in That quote has many parallels to going solar! electricity as our payment on the system) or even Go ahead and take the plunge now - and look make money during our highest use months. for our installation details in the winter issue of You may remember from previous issues (part Community Seeds Eco Magazine!

Green Clean Residue Free

Environmentally Safe Carpet Cleaning & Tile and Grout Cleaning

Chris Floren

(530) 570-5400 w w w.communityseeds.com

23

It’s Easy Being Greener

It is a tradition for many families to put up the Christmas tree right after the Thanksgiving holiday. While Christmas is still a little ways off, it’s never too early to start thinking about ways to reduce your eco-impact during the holiday season.

Anne Benoit from Mountain Trees in Paradise has some eco-friendly reasons for choosing a real tree this Christmas.

It’s Not Easy Being Green….

Unless You Are a Real Christmas Tree

By Anne Benoit 24 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Christmas Trees e know that real trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, they help stabilize soil, and they are biodegradable and recyclable. But, you may not know, the Christmas tree also improves fishing and leads to healthier ecosystems in fresh water bodies.

W T

rees are sunk into lakes after the holidays by attaching cinder blocks, ensuring that the trees sink to the bottom of the lake. As the woody plant tissue decomposes in water, the nutrients spur a release of phytoplankton, along with filamentous algae (moss). This vegetation is fed on by zooplankton, which in turn, is fed upon by aquatic insects, snails, crayfish and different species of shad and minnow. Small predators, such as sunfish and crappie, then feed on the smaller fish. Moving up the food chain, bigger predators such as the large mouth bass feed upon the smaller fish and Homo sapiens feed upon the bass.

W

oody mass decomposes fairly quickly, so dropping farm-grown Christmas trees into lakes and ponds help restart or rejuvenate the food chain, leading to healthier ecosystems in fresh water bodies (Dungey, Rick.[July, 2009]How Does a Christmas Tree Improve Fishing?, American Christmas Tree Journal. p.29). Last year, at the Lake Oroville Spillway Cove, 15 California Conservations Corps members, in partnership with the Department of Water Resources, turned 1,500 Christmas trees into a habitat for small fish and animals. The trees were collected by the Boy Scouts.

I

f you are a fisherman or concerned about the ecosystems in fresh water lakes, you might want to get acquainted with your local Christmas tree farmer.

Mountain View Christmas Tree Farm in Paradise, CA, is one of the many tree farms that encourages recycling of Christmas trees. Mulching last season’s crop is their method of providing environmental benefits. Real Christmas Trees are biodegradable, recyclable and they are not a burden to the environment. Consider a real tree this holiday season.

For more information on the environmentally friendly Christmas tree farm, visit: http://www.christmastree.org.

For more information on the Mountain View Christmas Tree Farm in Paradise, visit: http://mtnviewtrees.com. w w w.communityseeds.com

25

It’s Easy Being Greener

Construct Your Own Multi Barrel Rain Barrel System

By Pete Holman

Last fall, in the issue of Community Seeds Eco

Magazine, we talked about the advantages of being able to harvest the water from the roof of a building in order to use it in place of the domestic water supply for some specific uses. We can often use this water for irrigation, animals, or cleanup. In some cases, I have known people who treasure the rainwater from their barrel to wash their hair or clothes.

Because it usually does not pass through the soil and pick up the minerals, it is very soft water and allows the soap to work very efficiently.

Be very cautious about using rainwater from a barrel on your hair or clothes until you know if it is collecting anything from the roofing material that could be toxic!

We also talked about the fact that, in many communities, officials are trying to reduce the amount of rain water that has to be processed in the waste treatment plants and is allowed to drain into city sewer systems. In Portland, Oregon, they have been connecting downspouts to the sewer system for years; however, they are now requiring homeowners to disconnect the downspouts from the systems.

We talked about several ways to hook up a barrel to your downspouts and how much water you might expect to get. With the system on the one building we built at Evergreen 6 School in Paradise, California, we calculated that in an average year one might expect as much as 9000 gallons of water from the roof of a building that is about 48’ X 12’.

Let’s review the calculations: Let’s start with the calculations to estimate the amount of water. At Evergreen 6, the building that they are collecting from is about 48’ by 12’ with one down spout at each end. It has a nearly flat roof that slopes

26 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

slightly to the backside. If we multiply the 48 X 12 we get 576 feet squared. We then divide that by the 2 down spouts to get 288 square feet for each downspout.

The amount of rain is usually measured in inches, but we want to know the amount of water in gallons. If we take a rainfall of one inch over the 288 square foot roof the calculations to gallons would go something like this: In order to get volume we must take the square footage (length times width) and multiply it by the height; in this case, 1 inch.

Since we want our answer to be in cubic feet, all of the measurements must be in feet. One inch can be stated as the fraction: 1/12 of a foot. Since a fraction is an indication of a division, our problem becomes 288 feet squared divided by 12. This gives us 24 cubic feet for every inch of rain.

In order to the get the number of gallons, we need to multiply the number of cubic feet by 7.48 as that is approximately how many gallons there are in each cubic foot.

In this case: 24 x 7.48 =179.52 or about 180 gallons.

This means that if we had a rainstorm that rained 1 inch, we should collect about 180 gallons at each rain barrel. Likewise, if it were ½ inch, we would

Rain Barrels

get about 90 gallons etc. You might note that the average annual rainfall in Paradise is about 52 inches. This would translate to over 9000 gallons per year that could be harvested from each downspout on that building.

Since we started with one 30 gallon barrel at each downspout, it becomes obvious that it would be filled to overflowing with a storm of less than ¼”. Since our goal was more along the lines of harvesting water to use in the worm bins and garden and not so much to control out-flow, we decided to connect a few additional barrels to increase our storage capacity. Using 30 gallon barrels you can see very quickly that you would need 300 barrels to “control” the water in an average year.

We were able to obtain additional barrels, and in spring at “Solar Day” with the help of several students, we installed several additional barrels to the system.

The first problem we ran into was that all of the new barrels had tops that couldn’t be removed.

We solved this dilemma by cutting a square hole in the top of each barrel (Figures A & B ). We will later cover these holes with some window screen held in place with epoxy cement. This should keep out any debris that will clog the system.

We used pipe to poly tank adapters like we did when we did the first tanks. This time, ¾” for the hose bibs at the bottom of each tank and 1-1/4” for the tube to connect tank to tank. We chose to make our tank-to-tank connections near the top of the tanks so that each tank could be drained independently and the whole system wouldn’t be drained if one valve failed.

The holes were drilled for the adapters (Figures C & D) and the adapters were installed (Figures E, F, G, & H). Next, the 1-1/4” Pipe to tubing adapters were installed at the top and the hose bibs were installed at the bottom of each barrel (Figures I, J, K, L, M, N, & O). You can see from Figures P & Q (on the next page) that these barrels were set up with 1-1/4” inlets and outlets near the top of the barrel and on opposite sides of the barrel. The end barrels have only one. The hose bib was near the bottom and at right angles to the line between the inlet and

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N w w w.communityseeds.com

27

Rain Barrels, Continued

outlet. The last step was to place each barrel on a stand (bricks) and to connect them with 11/4” reinforced poly hose and stainless screw clamps (Figures R, S, & T).

O

Q

S

Using this system, one can now connect as many barrels as practical and enjoy using the harvested water for almost anything you want.

Other solutions to using the water from a collection system include the development of a “Rain Garden” which often includes a pond-like structure with rocks and gravel that will allow the infiltration of the water and the use of special plants that will tolerate the wet and dry conditions. You can also consider the use of larger and/or buried containers with solar powered pumps to move the water to where you want to use it.

There is a lot of information out there to help you and give you some great ideas. Two great places to start are the “DIY Network” site at: http://www.diynetwork.com and the “Ask This Old House” site at http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/ tv/ask-toh. Just go to the sites and search for “rain barrel”.

Good luck and have fun!

P

R

T

DON’T WAIT UNTIL IT’S TOO LATE!!!

Call Today!

Advanced Inspection Services Serving Butte and Tehama Counties

Thomas McDonald

530-519-3929

tommymac72@yahoo.com

www.AISCHICO.com

Thomas

Hardware

Corner of Clark & Pearson • 877-4442

28 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

N:\babytalk\ads\thomasacehardware jerry 7-23-09 cmc

It’s Easy Being Greener

• New

Construction

• Remodels • Additions • Kitchens • Baths • Decks 35 Years

License # 930420

Why build green?...

Of Experience Counts!

...We do it for

their future Build it GREEN (BIG) Member

...No job too big or small...

FOCUS on Local Business

FASHIONED IN HOPE Many experiences led to the creation of our brand of clothing. Many of the experiences of Mica Moreno, owner of Restored Clothing Company, came from the theme of renewal and restoration.

As he traveled to orphanages in Haiti, built homes with students in Mexico, and visited the mountains of Honduras to encourage and support local co-op farmers, Mica saw how important it was to be a voice of encouragement and advocacy through the many stories of pain, regret, discouragement and confusion. Mica was also fortunate to mentor and care for junior high students as a youth pastor. All of these experiences and Mica’s strong creative background led to the formation of Restored Clothing Company.

Continually, people ask where the name came from and/or the meaning behind it. In short, the theme of restoration is what encompasses all that Restored is about. Each person has a story of renewal that stems from personal triumph or care for a particular issue. Restored Clothing’s 30 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

By Cassi Nicolaus

main hope is to represent the better side of those personal experiences through its designs, campaigns, and groups that it supports.

Specifically, the brand was designed to be about advocating for those who need the support and contributions the most. As a result, customers who shop online at www.restoredclothing.com are given a chance to learn about the four charities that Restored donates to with EVERY purchase. It was imperative to Mica that the company set an example and let the customers of the brand dictate where 10% of every purchase was to go; however, one of the biggest challenges that the brand has faced has been demonstrating the value of 10% of a sale to be a big statement, as it is compared to the many companies that give 1% or 3% of profits.

The nonprofits that the company selected came straight from the experiences of Mica’s own life. The organizations include two local charities: Young Lives, which supports and mentors teen parents

Restored Clothing Company

and Youth for Change, which cares for foster care families and offers many healthy family living services. The international organizations came from the work Mica and his wife, Lori, accomplished with the United States Foundation for the Children of Haiti (UFCH), which provides an orphanage, school, nursery, to orphans with special needs in the capital city, Port-au-Prince.

The final organization customers can learn and choose to give to is AGROS. This organization focuses on forming co-op villages and funding land grants while training and educating the villagers in sustainable agriculture practices.

The hope of AGROS is to create a sustainable infrastructure that the organization can step away from and then replicate the process over and over again in new parts of Latin America. In addition to its charitable contributions, Restored Clothing sponsors musicians, artists, and a local BMX team. The aim with all these groups is for them to carry the ideals and consciences that Restored embodies.

A major consideration that Restored takes into account is the process of creating art that speaks to the wide spectrum of their theme

of restoration. The designers that contribute to the brand are given a few parameters to design within and the result is a fresh idea of how Restoration can look on the wearer. One of the most surprising aspects that came from setting out to design from the perspective of Restoration is the wealth of ideas and perspectives one can take. This is an assuring quality as the brand continues to evolve and grow as fashion evolves and transitions with the times; however, the theme will always be relevant and this supports the hope that Restored Clothing Company will not be a fad.

It is an exciting challenge to work with young adults, support their passion, and watch them advocate for our mission as a company. Over and over again, fans inform us that Restored is doing great work and going Restored Clothing can be about it in a most purchased online at fashionable way. It www.restoredclothing. is a great task to let com; at Cabo Sun Tanning customers know that, Studio, Gearhead Tattoo like our designs, we and Studio 13 Tattoo in Chico, CA; and at T&H Bike are all fashioned in and Board in Gridley, CA. Hope. w w w.communityseeds.com

31

Featured Artist

share their passion for photography, artistic Local photographers, Alain and Vicki Tomatis

expression and each other.

A Shared Passion Written by Jean Auld Photography by Vicki and Alain Tomatis

32 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Featured Artist

“The dynamic

mix of these two charming and skilled professionals is fun to see.”

A V

lain and Vicki Tomatis met on the dance floor. Since then, mixing the texture, focus, and the composition of their lives has been a colorful adventure. When they decided to get married, their artistic expression waltzed to a new level. The dynamic mix of these two charming and skilled professionals is fun to see in action and in print.

icki’s delight in the magic and mystery of photography began at the age of twelve. Seeing an image appear almost immediately with her black and white Polaroid filled her with a curious joy. In a dark room, she discovered the satisfaction of playing on the creative edge of technology. Two master photographers had a w w w.communityseeds.com

33

Featured Artist, Continued

34 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Featured Artist

special place in her heart. Ansel Adam’s precise techniques in the darkroom led her toward the mastery necessary for fine art photography.

Jerry Uelsmann’s surrealistic images provided inspiration and imagination along her yellow brick road. Vicki has been to see the wizard and she now travels in her own digital dancing shoes.

A

lain’s pleasure in photographing people and events gained confidence and skill in Paris at the Vaugirard School of Photography.

Working for magazines as a freelance photographer, Alain moved from the world of Formula One race cars in Europe to the music-making industry in Los Angeles. He thoroughly enjoyed working with a constellation of stars including Billy Joel, Alice Cooper, Leon Russell, and the Beach Boys. In the fast paced action of LA, he learned to create his own magic with lights, focus, and timing. Carrying his bright lights with him, he moved his family to Paradise, California where he opened his own studio on the Skyway. In Paradise, he raised his family. The joy and satisfaction of sharing in the life of the beautiful Paradise community, has grown deeper with each new season. w w w.communityseeds.com

35

Featured Artist, Continued

V

icki and Alain are in step with the times. Their eyes are open. They see what’s new with appreciation and joy.

They emphasize the moment.

Whether they are taking a seminar in the latest lighting techniques, or touring the avant-garde art exhibits in France, they practice the art of seeing.

“Vicki and Alain are in

step

with the times.”

T

he studio on the Skyway has made a smooth transition from film and chemicals to the freedom and light of the digital universe. Vicki and Alain will soon be offering classes in digital photography and Photoshop, on-line and in small groups. Sharing their passion for photography is a natural flow, coming from their years of experience.

Y

ou can see Alain and Vicki continuing their dance on the Internet. Vicki is having fun integrating Facebook and other social networking links into their lives and work. Together they travel the path of creative possibility.

For more information about Alain and Vicki Tomatis or their work, please visit their website at: http://atomatisphotography.com 36 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Featured Artist

w w w.communityseeds.com

37

Having FUN i

in the FALL

Courtesy of 3osb.com

Courtesy of ontariocountryfair.com

Healthy Lifestyle

Serious Hometown Recreation

By Donn Thomson

It’s fall! The crops are harvested, the leaves are falling and the nights are longer and cooler. The field work is done and it’s time to gather and socialize. This is traditionally the season for the traditional American dance, square dancing. Just the mention of the words evokes images of school days, gym classes, scenes from old western movies and the Pacific Bell corporate teaming event.

What? A (what was then called) Pacific Bell Teaming Event? Yes! And wedding rehearsal dinners, Girl Scout Father-Daughter Dances, family reunions, church congregation chili cook-offs, and the list goes on. It’s a fact, an amazingly wide range of people use square dancing to entertain at a wide range of events. Why not?

These days we are constantly reminded that we should reduce stress, exercise, eat with a focus on proper nutrition and bond with fellow community 40 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

members. A most excellent way to accomplish all of these is to attend social events that include music, dancing, healthy food and a relaxing atmosphere. Are you ready for a shocker? Square dancing, as a holistic social activity, provides it all in spades.

Think about it. There are other dance forms providing benefits to couples and individuals.

Most public social events provide food; often those diet entrées that border on fast food, sold by charities in booths or tents. Concerts, community celebrations and fund raisers often include music loud music - too loud music. Everyone involved in the production of large community events wants you to be excited. Excitement sells food, drink, souvenirs and CD’s.

What if I just want to relax, enjoy interacting with friends, eat good food and be happy? How about

Courtesy of Square Dance Magazine

Courtesy of greatperformersofillinois.com

Serious Hometown Recreation

“Square dancing as a mixer, energizer and entertainer, provides it all. ” some really rhythmic music that I can dance to and talk over, some food I can eat without guilt, and the ultimate social rewards like hugs, smiles and the touch of another’s hand? An event that includes square dancing as a mixer, energizer and entertainer provides it all. Additionally, this thing called square dancing is very green. It’s close at hand which means a short travel distances. It’s gentle exercise - a stress reducer for all ages. It’s an energy saver - no high powered, high tech, fancy equipment needed. It’s even eco friendly-it leaves nothing behind besides real footprints (bonus: you take the warm memories with you).

Is square dancing all we need? Is it a panacea?

Of course not. Life is a tapestry of stimuli, contemplations, decisions and personal interactions. Interesting people have interesting lives by experiencing an array of interesting things.

Anyone that attempts to violate that wisdom heads straight to Burn-out-Ville. Moderation is the secret. A concert here, a street fair there and a softball game in another place. Why not throw in the healthy stew of square dancing to provide a social multi-vitamin?

Full Disclosure: I am a square dance caller. I, like most other callers, am passionate about this activity because of the benefits it delivers (high pay not being one of them). For over forty years I have seen the therapy this pastime delivers to young and old alike. I could tell you stories, but space is limited here. The bottom line: I sincerely believe there should be regularly scheduled square dance opportunities in every community.

For more information, you can visit Donn Thomson’s website at www.datcaller.com. w w w.communityseeds.com

41

Healthy Lifestyle

You Should Know What is in Your

Skincare

By Lori Nelson

The days of cold cream are long gone.

What happened?

Technology

Good thing, because that cold cream wasn’t doing a whole lot for our skin. It was greasy, heavy and basically just sat on top of our skin.

Today’s skincare

offers so much more than skin care of the past. It’s really quite amazing. Today, more stuff is going into your skin, not just on it. Yes, up to 60% or more of what you put on your skin, is going into your blood stream. Why? Smaller molecules. Have you heard of “the patch?” It’s a type of product used for everything from quitting smoking to birth control. Ever wondered how it works? It works with nanotechnology: technology that uses molecules so small, they absorb right through your skin and into your body! It is exciting, but a little scary at the same time.

In skincare, these technologies are used to make products more efficacious. That’s a good thing right? It is, in theory. What you want 42 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

to understand is that technology is driving everything deeper into your skin. It’s what cosmetic chemists call “carrier ingredients.” They are the smallest ones in the mix and help take the other ones along into your skin.

The FDA regulates the skincare industry, and quite frankly, skincare is not at the top of its list. The FDA has bigger fish to fry (and lawsuits to win), just within the food and drug

industry. What does that mean to you? The hair care, skincare, and cosmetics you buy may have a claim being tested by the FDA, but in reality, it appears to go heavily Lori Nelson is a skincare researcher and co-owner of Pure Skin cosmetics, skincare and spa services in Chico, California.

“

Know What is in Your Skin Care Products

...technology is driving everything deeper into your skin...

“

unregulated. For example, did you know that is illegal to claim an SPF higher than 30+? It’s against the FDA regulations.

So is calling a sunscreen “waterproof.” So why do we continue to see these labels on our products? It seems that the effort to actually go after these issues is costly and takes more effort than the FDA can deal with. (However, the SPF issue has gained enough consumer awareness that you will see an overhaul in the SPF labeling in the next few years.)

Now we know skincare ingredients are going deeper into our skin than ever before, and the industry regulators may not put skincare at the top of their list.

I put these two things together and it made me realize, we should know what’s in our skincare products.

I have learned so much since I started my search for answers eight years ago.

That just happens to be when I turned 40. Yes, my search coincided with my need to find the best skincare for my “aging” skin! Ha! I didn’t know what aging was and I’m sure I’ll say that again 8 or 10 years from now, but that search has led me to become a skincare advocate for everyone who will listen. Keep listening; there’s so much to learn. w w w.communityseeds.com

43

demiSpa/skincare/cosmetics

You should know what’s in your skincare. for last minute * Estheticians waxing or full on facials skincare to look * Exceptional your best at every age cosmetics to highlight * Mineral your own natural beauty body products to * Luscious keep your skin hydrated

334 Broadway

(between 5th St. Clothing & House of Rice)

Mon-Sat 10-6 / 342-7873

Call for your FREE makeover today!

Summer Memories

Family

A FALL DAY STROLL

Almond Farm er Scarecrow

by Andrew a t Age 5

Send your kid stuff to: info@communityseeds.com Or mail to: 1785 Garden Road, Durham, CA 95938

46 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

As I stroll down the simple dirt road on this early fall day all of my senses are overcome with sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, and smells. The elegant fire red, sunset orange, and sunflower yellow leaves surround me. Above me the blue, blue sky looks as if it is a pool of water with only the slightest breeze disturbing the surface.

Squirrels, with their thick gray coats scurry from one tall, broad tree to another, like the citizens of a bustling city. A school bus full of eager children waiting for their first day of school passes me by. An apple cart full to the brim with freshly picked apples stands on the side of the road, the salesman hawking his wares.

On this spectacular fall morning many sounds reach my ears as well. For example, the crunching of yesterdays fallen leaves under-foot.

Or the gay shouts of the girls and boys already on the playground. The squawks of geese flying overhead also happen upon my ears. The sound of bare branches of trees rustling together in the gentle gusts of wind is also present. Off in the trees squirrels chatter away, like a posse of girls gossiping secretly in a corner. However, in reality they are simply busying themselves with the rush for food.

But best of all are the feelings I feel on this beautiful morning: the cool air caresses my rosy red cheeks, feeling like a clammy hand that has come to rest upon my face. My hand reaches up to brush a few withered leaves off the top of my head. The inside of my fuzzy jacket rubs back and forth on my goose-bumpy skin as I take each step. On a fall day stroll all of these treasures await you.

BY: Molly Steindorf, Grade 6

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Kids’ Space

Self Portrait

by Emily H. at Ag

e6

y Fall Turke t Age 5 Casey a

by Kaleb Pen and Ink Drawing

by Gannon A.

E C A P ’ S S D I K

A Strawberry

is Sweet Card

by James B. A ge 4

w w w.communityseeds.com

47

Family

Poo is the New Green Written By: Allison Randall

I wish I had read about this before I had my kids. It is so helpful in breaking down all of the costs, how to save money, and a real-mom’s guide to cloth diapers.

Thank you to Allison R. for a fabulously funny, informative and helpful guide to taking poo to the “green” side! ~Kristin Noel

I

n these days of environmental consciousness, we’ve all heard the statistics about disposable diapers in landfills- there’s something like 50 million chucked in every day. Enough with the guilt; let’s talk about something closer to home than the rainforest or the dump. What if cloth diapers were easier on your bank account, and not just the environment?

So instead of the guilt, let me help you navigate the world (it’s a lot bigger and more diverse than you might think) of cloth diapers and how it is you use the darn things.

I first became intimate with the details (not the messy ones just yet) when I was pregnant. Our family eats lots of organics, we limit the use of toxic chemicals in our household products and 48 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

personal care stuff, and my husband has worked for several organic food companies. I wanted to use cloth instead of disposables, primarily because of the environmental impact, but also because of the desire to have something more natural on my baby. Disposable diapers are made of plastic and chemical gels and are frequently bleached with chlorine. I didn’t want that in almost constant contact to my baby’s skin, especially her genitals.

When my husband started doing research on-line, he found that the cost of disposable diapers would come to roughly $2,500 during her first two years and he was all for cloth, even if it meant changing a few (okay, way more than a few) himself. $2,500!! I knew raising a child was expensive, but disposable diapers are thrown out! That’s money

Cloth Diapers

Poo is the New Green, Continued

covered in poo and thrown away!

After a bit of research, considering ease of use and availability, we settled on using the gDiaper system, and then ended up modifying it and making it even cheaper in the long run. Here is a short, and by no means definitive, list of cloth diaper possibilities:

1.Gdiapers. This is a system

that combines cloth and disposable. They call it “the new hybrid”-chuckle, chuckle. This system consists of a cloth pant with a snap-in plastic liner, and a flushable or compostable insert that resembles the inside of a disposable diaper. These inserts are available at Whole Foods and at gdiapers.com and cost $14.49 for 32-40, depending on the size. Because we were living overseas, and shipping would have been astronomical, we went a step further in cutting the cost and lined the cloth pants with old-fashioned cloth and cloth pre-folds. This of course, means washing them instead of flushing or composting, but we’ll get to those details later. Here’s why I love them: the cloth pants are doggone adorable, making that cute little bottom even wigglier and squeezable (okay, maybe I’m nuts, but just look at the pictures on the website, and you’ll see I speak truth) but mostly because they’re easy. No pins (that’s so last generation) and the Velcro closures make them go on just

50 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

1.

like a familiar disposable.

2. bumGenius. These cloth

diapers are an all-in-one variety, meaning the cloth and the waterproof outer layer are already put together for you, and you won’t need waterproof plastic pants like you would with traditional cloth diapers. They can be found at bumgenius.com, and are also conveniently available at Target for $35.99 a pair.

3. Bumkins. This company

offers a wide variety of products

2.

on its website, bumkins.com, as well as a few at Target. They carry the all-in-ones, as well as cotton diapers with Velcro closures that also require a plastic cover. There are plenty of colors, styles and accessories to choose from on the website.

4. Snazzipants. This website

(Snazzipants.co.nz.) that my sister-in-law turned me on to is a fantastic, honest resource for what’s out there. They candidly review and carry products from Canada, Europe and the US, as

Family

4.

Gdiapers sells these as “gpants,” and has them in a constantly updated and dizzying array of colors.

• 10-12 plastic liners. These snap into the cloth pants. 2 come with each pair of cloth gpants, and are also sold in pairs on the gdiapers website for $4.99.

• A 5-gallon bucket of water with 1 cup of white vinegar, baking soda and eco-friendly laundry detergent for cleaning.

Assembly: If you use cotton prefolds in a gdiaper like we do, then start by snapping the plastic liner into the cloth pant. Take the pre-fold and fold it in thirds lengthwise, with the thickest part in the middle, then fold a third up in front and fit into the plastic liner. You may need to adjust a little to make it snugger.

3.

well as their own brand. I used the site frequently in writing this article. It is really only useful for ordering if you live in New Zealand (and I did a lot of it when I lived there) but more importantly, it is a resource.

Now that you’ve gone shopping, you are ready to make it happen, with your baby’s help, of course.

Where else did you expect to get the poo?

This is our recipe for cloth diapering:

Ingredients: • 15-20 cloth prefolds or flats (thinner, bigger, and not folded). These can be found online at underthenile.com (4/$34 for organic prefolds), cottonbabies.com ($1-$2 each for flats) or Target at $10.99 for a dozen flats.

• 6-8 cotton boosters. These are dog-bone shaped inserts that can increase absorbency, and are great for a heavier wetting period, especially through the night.

• 5-8 pairs of cloth pants.

Cleaning: If you’ve just got a wet one, rinse the cloth insert in the sink, then dump into your bucket. You can rinse and dump the plastic liner, too, but if it’s not too damp, it could go another round. If the cloth pants got wet, dump them, too, but leaks are usually pretty infrequent.

If you’ve got a poopy diaper, it’s going to take a little more work (about three minutes) and some down and dirty cleaning. Start by washing the plastic liner and let the cloth pants air out, unless they’re dirty, too, in which case, they get washed with the rest. Just like our mothers w w w.communityseeds.com

51

Poo is the New Green, Continued

and grandmothers before us, I dump what I can from the cloth prefold into the toilet and flush it down (just like the adults doo, I mean do). Sometimes, I have to jostle it around in the toilet to shake loose stubborn stuff, and once all the chunks are gone, it too, goes into the sink. Using a little bit of liquid soap (we’ve used Softsoap, Dial, and Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint, which has the added benefit of smelling nice), rub the dirty sides together (so you don’t have to touch anything), rinse, and toss into your bucket. Some stains may remain, but either the washing machine or a little added bleach (for cloth only, not the pants or plastic liners) will help. The bottom (pardon the pun) line, however, is that a little shadow is no big deal. It’s a diaper and it won’t be seen in public. Don’t be turned off by these downand-dirty details. It’s not that bad, really. If you’re going to have to wipe up a dirty bum, cleaning out the diaper isn’t any worse. At least the diaper doesn’t wiggle while you’re trying to clean it. Seriously, once you’ve done it half a dozen times, you don’t even think about it. You just “doo” it.

(Okay, I’ll stop with the poopuns.)

wash in hot or warm water. The best way to dry cloth diapers is the old-fashioned way, out in the sunshine. Sunlight and fresh air are two of the best disinfectants, and they’re easy and free. I did this in New Zealand, where the air is always moving and almost everyone had a clothesline in their backyard; but here, our yard is small, so I use the dryer.

Drying racks are great, because they’re less obvious and mobile, which is especially nice when it rains.

washing them myself, we’ve so far (she’s not out of them yet) spent less than $400 on diapers.

We can use them on consecutive children, too, which of course, you can’t do with disposables.

Eeew. This doesn’t include the water used (we rent) in washing them, which incidentally is no more than the average adult uses to flush the toilet 5-6 times a day, but it is unlikely that even in drought season, the water bill would tip the scales as compared to going the disposable route.

If all this diaper cleaning seems revolting, and you don’t mind the cost, a diaper service is a wonderful thing, too. Most diaper services are not much more than buying disposables and you don’t have to go anywhere. They pick up and deliver right to you. They run about $15/week for 40 cloth diapers w/Velcro fasteners.

By going the Green Poo way, we’ve saved over $2,000! A small chunk of her college education, but at least it’s not sitting, and not really rotting, in a landfill.

I haven’t kept an exact count over the last (almost two) years, but a quick glance at all these numbers have me calculating that by using cloth diapers and

So, go Green, and save some green! Everybody’s “doing” it (last one, I swear) and it’s so fashionable these days. Just think of all those cool hybrids running around full of groceries in reusable bags. Yes, that’s right; poo can be fashionable, too.

www. BabiesinChico.com

Of course, after all this, WASH YOUR HANDS! Every two or three days, dump the bucket into the washing machine, with plenty of detergent and a little baking soda(maybe a tablespoon), and 52 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Look for us at Eco in Chico, a Baby’s Boutique on 5th and Mangrove!

Family

Check Out

Kid's Page!

www.TheChicoConnection.com

Your Source For kid Related Web Links!

www.sunshinekidsclub.org

w w w.communityseeds.com

53

Fall Green Crafts

Crafts

GREEN

Easy Eco-Friendly Crafts

Crafting is a hobby many people enjoy. One simple way to lead a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is by taking all that creative energy and spending some time on a few great “green” crafts.

By Amy Behlke and Jan Holman

l o o h c S o t k Bac

Giving Thanks

Reusable You

Help keep plastic bags out of the landfill forever by sewing up a batch of reusable snack bags!

These bags are essential for any waste-free lunch box and are very inexpensive to make.

Get creative and make a Thanksgiving banner to hang in your family room. It’s a great way to use up scraps of craft paper and remind your family to be thankful every day.

Scrap Turkey

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Ask your family, friends, and anyone who visits your home to jot a few words on this adorable scrap turkey to create a holiday keepsake.

54 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Nature Filled Window Decor

While out on a nature hike, collect a few leaves for this simple, faux stained glass activity. Kids will appreciate nature as art while you decorate for fall.

Eco Crafts

“STAINED GLASS” LEAF ART

By Jan Holman

Fall brings with it wondrous changes! The trees are painted with brilliant colors of reds, crimsons and yellow, the crops of summer ripen for harvest and morning breezes bring miraculous relief from the intense dry heat of June, July and August. The dramatic color palette Mother Nature calls “Fall,” bombards the senses causing children to notice the beauty of the season. Kids, drawn to the shapes, texture and color of leaves, are constantly seeking creative ways to incorporate leaves in their art or play. This wonderfully unique interaction of children and their surroundings can be fleeting and soon forgotten when colors fade and the leaves dry out, crumble and blow away. The following easily made, kid friendly, “Stained Glass” Leaf Panels extend the season as they adorn windows preserving the color, lessons, and the wonder of Fall.

STEPS TO A BEAUTIFUL “STAINED GLASS” LEAF PANEL Appropriate for all ages. Young children can do everything but use the iron.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED: inquisitive children, fun loving parents, leaves, waxed paper, iron and ironing board.

STEPS TO MAKING LEAF PANEL: 1. Gather leaves. This is the fun part! Pack a lunch, load the kids in the car and head for the park, the foothills or to a tree lined country lane to enjoy the beauty of the season and gather a variety of the kids’ favorite leaves.

2. Carefully lay the leaves flat in a shallow box to prevent them from being damaged on the trip home.

3. Place a generous piece of waxed paper on top of an ironing board.

4. Have the kids arrange the leaves as they find pleasing on the waxed paper, leaving a margin of at least one to two inches between leaves and around the perimeter of the waxed paper.

5. Carefully lay a piece of waxed paper (the same size as the bottom piece) over the leaf covered waxed paper prepared in step four.

6. Using an iron preheated on the “synthetic” setting (you might have to experiment with the

heat setting), gently move the iron over the waxed panel applying more pressure on the areas where there is waxed paper on waxed paper. The gentle heat will melt the surface on each piece of waxed paper making them adhere to each other sealing each leaf in its’ own airtight pocket. Make sure to seal the edges. This will keep the air out and preserve the color of the leaves for weeks.

7. Allow the panel to cool completely (one or two minutes) before gently lifting it to a flat surface.

8. Tape the leaf panel to a sunlit window.

9. Enjoy!

Note: Nature provides a “hands-on” laboratory of learning.

Suggested Science Topics: 1. Photosynthesis is the energy converting activity of green plants. When green plants (trees, bushes, grasses …)combine energy from light with carbon dioxide and water, they make food and produce oxygen.

2. Chlorophyll - The many hours of sunlight of summer days causes the leaves to make chlorophyll. It is the chlorophyll that causes the leaves to turn green. The reduced hours of sunlight in the fall decreases the amount of chlorophyll. The green fades and other colors present, but masked by the green, appear.

3. Check with your children’s teachers and find out other grade appropriate lessons you can incorporate in your leaf collecting outing. Kids love to take their leaf panels to school to share! w w w.communityseeds.com

55

GREEN Crafts

Start the school year off with this great waste-free lunch box idea.

Reusable Snack Bags With the kids going back to school, it’s time to start thinking about packing lunches. Use this tutorial to help you start the year off right by whipping up a few reusable snack baggies: an easy way to reduce lunch bag waste forever!

Tutorial created by Jill Tacy, modified by Amy Behlke

Materials You Will Need: Two contrasting fabrics, one for outside and one for inside, plus

vinyl (all 11” X 7-1/2” pieces), sew-in Velcro cut into 7 inch strips, 6 inches of ribbon, pins, sewing machine, and an iron for pressing (Pattern uses ¼ inch seam allowances).

1

Cut one 11 x 7½ inch rectangle out of the outside fabric, one from the lining fabric and one from the craft vinyl. Choose which fabric will be the lining. Next separate your 7 inch Velcro strips so you have one hook side and one loop side. Place the lining rectangle with the right side of the fabric facing up and add the vinyl on top of the lining.

Measure ¾ inch from the top of the lining fabric on the 7 ½ inch side of the fabric. Pin loop side of the Velcro across the lining fabric a ¾ inch down. Next turn the fabric and pin the hook side of the Velcro ¾ inch down from the top of the 7 ½ inch side of the fabric lining. You should now have Velcro pinned onto the right side of the lining fabric at both the top and the bottom. Sew the Velcro into place.

2

Next fold the lining in half by connecting the two pieces of Velcro together. The wrong side of the lining fabric should be showing.

The Velcro should line up evenly. If not readjust the position of your Velcro. Sew down the two sides leaving the top open. Now fold the outside fabric in half with right sides together so the two 7 ½ inch sides touch.Next sew the two side seams together leaving the top open.

Outside Fabric

3

Lining

Turn the outside fabric so the right side is showing.

The lining pouch should remain unturned with the wrong side of fabric showing. Place the outside fabric pouch inside the lining pouch. The right sides of both fabrics should be touching. Cut the ribbon into 3 inch strips and fold them in half, right sides out. Place between outside fabric and lining in the center of the baggies. Pin the fabrics and ribbon in place.

56 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Reusable Snack Bags

4

Sew the lining and outsides together leaving a 2 to 3 inch opening for turning.

6

5

Turn the pouch right side out. The Velcro may stick during turning so you will need to pull it apart as you turn it right side out. Flatten the lining and the outside of the pouch with your hands, do not press or you might melt the Velcro or vinyl.

Push the lining fabric into the outside fabric forming the pouch. Now top stitch around the opening of the pouch to close the gap.

Your reusable pouch is complete. Make a bunch, experiment with different sizes and enjoy using and reusing them for your favorite snacks!

DEER CREEK BROADCASTING

m

a

g

a

z

i

n

e

w w w.communityseeds.com

57

Reuse Paper Crafts

Fall GREEN Crafts

Continued

Thankful “Re-Use” Paper Crafts Re-use craft paper scraps to create a banner reminding all to be thankful. To create the banner, cut 10 squares of various papers in fall colors for the backgrounds. Trace the letters on remaining scraps of paper and glue to the background squares. Punch holes in the tops corners of each square and tie together using a variety of ribbon scraps.

Another fun and interactive way to use up scraps of craft paper is to create this festive turkey. I cut feathers for my turkey out of scraps of paper I had laying around from some of my previous fall crafts and glued them behind a cut-out of a turkey. The center title says, “We are thankful...” and I left each of the feathers secured loosely so they could be removed. When we had friends and family over throughout the fall season, I encouraged our guests to record their thoughts on what they were thankful for on a feather. Now I have the page in a scrapbook where I can look at it as a wonderful reminder of all the things for which I am thankful.

*CHARLI'Z* *CHARLI'Z*

www.babysboutiquechico.com

Mention this ad for 15% off of merchandise!

M-F 10am-4pm

.

1465 Mangrove Ave. Chico, CA

530.898.8687

A BABY'S BOUTIQUE

Reduce, Reuse, ReLOVE! 58 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

*CHAR

TOTALLY UNIQUE AND SUPER CHIC HANDCRAFTED BABY PRODUCTS MADE FROM THE HEART

Sat. 11am-4pm

www.charlizplace.com www.charliz.etsy.com

w w w.communityseeds.com

59

Family

Nature Hunting

By Mary Portis

A

With the Family

nature scavenger hunt is a tradition at our family reunions. Every year we head out to a trail with a list of animals, plants, reptiles, rocks, and insects that we hope to see. As we hike, everyone searches for the items on the list, as well as anything else of interest. Points are awarded for finding an item first and for making sure that everyone sees the discovery.

Points aren’t the important part and there is no prize for the most points, but they seem to motivate our hikers into walking longer and looking more closely at nature. In addition to the items on our list, everyone is encouraged to identify other items of interest. When the number of potential discoveries is unlimited, the hikers maintain their enthusiasm throughout the hike and even reminisce about discoveries from past years‌ until you have teenagers.

This year on our annual family hike, three of our teenagers brought cell phones. Instead of participating in our nature scavenger hunt and enjoying the natural surroundings, these three stopped every 5 steps to check for bars on their phones and then moaned about the lack of service. “How, in America, could there be a place without

60 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Nature Hunting

cell phone coverage?� they cried.

My first thought was to ask why they had brought their cell phones on a hike, but I held my tongue. My second thought was to lecture about the beauty of nature and appreciating the people right here on the hike, but I held my tongue. The days when teenagers no longer enjoy family outings is bound to come I told myself. At least they are here and making

forward progress. Unfortunately, having three of the group preoccupied with their cell phones siphoned enthusiasm from our scavenger hunt and left the younger children, as well as the adults, plodding along on a hike we all wished would end. Then the great idea hit.

The cell phones had cameras. Our traditional scavenger hunt is a visual quest. Now instead of just pointing at the items, we divided into three teams lead by the teenagers with cell phones and set out to photograph the items on our list. Several pictures could be taken of a single item and then the team would delete all but the best picture. The points would happen at home when we downloaded the pictures and analyzed which pictures were the best.

Our teenagers seemed relieved to be able to use their phones and participated with the enthusiasm of past years. Since it was a team effort, there was more cooperation and communication between the team members

than there had been in our previous game and a lot more careful observation of nature. Now you didn’t just have to see it, you had to capture it in a clear, identifiable way.

Once we were back at home, we had a second immersion into nature as we reviewed and commented on our pictures. A whole new dialogue started about the beauty of the items we had photographed and what makes a good picture. The teenagers then suggested we take another hike the next day, this time focusing on creating the most beautiful images of nature! During the reunion we took 4 more family hikes with cell phone cameras and digital cameras, each hike adding a different twist to appreciating the outdoors. It looks like we have a new tradition.

Continued on page 62 w w w.communityseeds.com

61

Nature Hunting, Continued

Suggestions for a Nature Scavenger Hunt

A list of beginning scavenger items:

spider webs, lady bugs, tadpoles, berries, nests, hives, flowers of a certain color, birds in flight, frogs, wood that is a home for insects, ferns, deer, squirrels, moss, butterflies, animal tracks, dragon flies, a plant growing in a difficult place, burrow, ducks, scat, the biggest leaf, the smallest leaf, interesting insects, holes an animal has made, the tallest tree, rocks with interesting shapes...

62 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

• Where you are hiking determines your scavenger list. Choose things your hikers can find if they use their powers of observation. The game will fail if your hikers can’t find anything or if they find everything without trying.

• Put 8 to 10 items on your scavenger list.

Too many items fatigue the hikers and too few are not a challenge. Our hikers do 8 to 10 items happily.

• Choose items that require observation of your total hiking environment. Include things that are on the ground, growing below waist level, in the trees, and in the air. Include living things as well as the places they live and the droppings they leave.

• Show your hikers how to observe nature from a bird’s eye view and an ant’s eye view. Then take photographs from these views.

• Encourage your hikers to look for interesting things outside of the items on the scavenger list. Praise their observations and add them to future scavenger hunts.

• Model how to move quietly through nature to increase the chances of seeing wildlife.

• Practice “Stop, Look and Listen” for periods of 5 minutes or more to see what you might have missed if you kept moving.

Photograph your discoveries.

• Take only photographs; Leave only footprints. Children usually want to take the whole forest home. Taking photographs relieves some of the burden of insisting that rocks, insects, nests, sticks, leaves, and reptiles stay in nature. Now you can say, “We have a picture of it.”

• Bring a bag to collect any trash that other hikers might have left behind.

• Have fun.

Community Seeds “I’m a Chico Seed” and “I’m a Paradise Seed” baby onesies, youth, and adult shirts are on sale now!

Visit The Paradise Community Website for local information, links to recreation, community calendar, lodging, shopping and more.

These soft, organic cotton shirts, are made in the U.S.A. and sell for $14 (shipping is $2).

The Paradise Connection:

To order any seed shirt, please e-mail your request to

Your window into Paradise!

info@communityseeds.com.

Please specify quantity and size.

The Seeds shirts may also be purchased at Baby’s Boutique and Apple Blossom Baby in Chico!

CARE

www.TheParadiseConnection.com It’s Easy Being Greener

FREE

POOLS Chico, California Since 1969

Ask about our eco-friendly salt systems which dramatically reduce chlorine use, while giving a silky feeling to the pool water.

www.carefreepools-chico.net 530-342-4639 Bill Bell, Owner

Join Perry as he gathers treasures, makes new friends and learns life lessons!

Learn From Perry the Pack Rat how to find a friend, how sharing lets your heart smile and how important it is to be yourself. These colorful, whimsical stories will delight the entire family! www.wordsofwhimsy.net www.perrythepackrat.com Visit the website for more information and the author signing schedule.

Out and About Turtle Bay Exploration Park

By DeAnna Holman

W

hen talking and listening to people in our community, I often hear people say that they like to get away on short trips with the family. Many talk about how they need to go to San Francisco, the Redwoods, or other places hours away from home to have a neat experience. I felt similar until my family and I started to visit places closer to home. My husband presents conferences around northern California about teaching solar energy in schools. Sometimes our family travels with him and we take the kids around town after the conference. We like to turn these trips into two day getaways for the kids. Recently, we went to

64 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Photos by Tracy Lynn Photography

Adventure Travel Fun Education

Out and About

Turtle bay

Redding and experienced Turtle Bay Exploration Park with our three kids ages 4, 6, and 8. We were pleasantly surprised to find that this place was filled with wonderful attractions to interest and engage the entire family.

W

e began our adventure with the Turtle Bay Museum. The museum houses a fish viewing area, a cave model, and other walk through exhibits that educate and entertain the whole family. There are permanent science and history exhibits that use multimedia and hands-on displays for exploration and learning. w w w.communityseeds.com

65

T

urtle Bay has two exhibition galleries inside the museum that have some permanent works as well as interesting traveling exhibitions. For example, they have had exhibits of Picasso works, nocturnal animals, the human body, and geckos. I would recommend checking their website for the dates of the exhibits so you can plan around what interests you and your family.

A

fter visiting the museum, we ventured out on a nature walk. We visited animal exhibits and learned about wildlife conservation. We went on to visit Paul Bunyan’s Forest Camp where the kids wandered through play equipment and headed into the cabin to learn about birds and reptiles. They were also able to make leaf rubbing art. The kids played and burned off some energy as they learned about nature.

F

rom Paul Bunyan’s Camp, we stopped for a snack and went on to the Sundial Bridge. The bridge is an incredible site. It links the north and south ends of the Turtle Bay Park. It also leads to the Sacramento River Trail System.

W

e decided to take a trail that led us through many wonderful botanical gardens. We hiked through the multitudes of plants (plants of different zones, plants native to the area, plants of different continents, medicinal plants, water plants and many more). We ended up at a wonderful sculpture made from branches called “The Lookout Tree.” The sculpture was created by internationally acclaimed environmental artist, Patrick Dougherty, and was constructed of willow branches harvested in the local area. It looks like two huts, coming out of the ground with a view to the heavens. We walked through the wonderful sculpture and we, including the kids, were inspired.

Photos by Jan Holman

Photo by Amy Behlke

W

e continued on to one of my favorite sites at the opening to the Children’s Garden, the Mosaic Oasis. The mosaic includes an ornamental fountain, a play structure, and a drinking fountain. It was all designed by local artist, Colleen Barry, using mixed media. It is a beautiful feature, leading to the Children’s Garden, where the kids were able to run around and explore.

W

e were all having fun taking in the natural setting, which included many interesting plants from around the world. Soon, we were getting tired and needed to head back through the botanical gardens and to the bridge. We were truly impressed by The Turtle Bay Exploration Park and were amazed that such a wondrous place was so close to home. It was a great family outing and we vowed to return next year.

Turtle Bay Exploration Park Information Website: www.turtlebay.org Address: 840 Sundial Bridge (Auditorium) Drive Redding, California 96003 Phone: 1-800-TURTLEBAY (1-800-887-8532) Hours: Winter Hours (October – March 14, 2010) (Closed Mondays and Tuesdays) Wednesday - Saturday, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Sunday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Tickets: General Park Admission (Includes admission to South campus fee area and Botanical Gardens ONLY) Adult (13+) $13 Child (4-12) $9 Seniors (65+) $9 Photos by Jan Holman

Family

Backyard Camping: Tent Camping With Young Children

By Richard Portis

While I was waiting in a grocery line, I overheard the following conversation between two mothers…

Mother #1: “My husband wants to take the family camping, but with all the packing, unpacking, set up, clean up, and driving, it just isn’t a vacation for me.”

Mother #2: “I agree. It just makes me tired to think about it, plus last year Uncle Joe told the kids bear stories and they were convinced they were going to get eaten alive the whole time we were at the lake. All the crying and drama was just too much.”

Mother #1: “Maybe when the kids are older, camping will be 68 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

easier. “ Parents of young children often express that the concept of camping is better than the reality. What they don’t realize is that camping does not require driving hundreds of miles, or packing for every type of contingency, or dealing with lots of other people wanting to use the same natural area.

Camping can happen in your own backyard.

Young children don’t have any expectations of camping.

Camping is whatever you tell them it is. Children don’t appreciate the effort it takes to get to a camping area and they do not value one place

over another. They do recognize when they are having fun and when they feel loved and safe. To give your children a memorable camping experience all you need is a tent, a fire ring, a flashlight for each child, and a willingness to have fun together.

Children love to sleep in a tent – any kind of tent. It can be a top of the line model or a blanket spread over the clothesline. It just has to be big enough for everyone and a few favorite stuffed animals. Unlike at the campground, if the weather turns bad or someone gets scared, the house is right there.

If the weather turns bad before your camping trip starts, don’t cancel; just put the tent up in

the living room. Big Five and Walmart have affordable family tents.

The smelly outhouses at campgrounds, and even the nicer flush facilities, can be a hurdle with young children. In your backyard, your toilet and sink are right inside. Less drama and fewer accidents make for a better experience, especially if you have a child in the potty training stage.

The perfect camping meal is hot dogs and s’mores. Both of these items should be cooked over a fire by the children. Using a barbecue is not camping. Make a fire ring by digging a shallow hole and surrounding it with rocks, or buy an inexpensive light gauge steel fire pit with a mesh cover (available at Lowes, Home Depot and Target for less than $100.00). Show your children

how to make a fire with kindling, then larger wood pieces. Hunt for sticks to sharpen and use for cooking. Each child should have his or her own stick. Show your children how to cook over the coals instead of thrusting the food into the flames, resulting in food burned on the outside and cold on the inside. You can supplement the meal with fruit, carrots, milk, etc., but the true camping memory is hot dogs and s’mores. This is not the time to worry about nutrition. Be sure to show your children how to correctly put out the fire when you are through.

Every camper needs a flashlight and they should be able to turn it on as much as they want. In fact, encourage your children to explore the yard, play flashlight tag, create light patterns in the sky, make scary faces, and read

under the covers. A flashlight is an important camping tool, but is also fun. This is not the time to worry about batteries. A small LED flashlight lasts a long time and can be purchased for less than $5.00.

Nothing is better than hot chocolate and pancakes after a night of camping. Slip into the kitchen while your campers are still asleep and wake them with a breakfast you have prepared in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Camping, or any activity, becomes a great memory when the family does it together.

When your children are young, enjoy their wonder and excitement in camping in the backyard. There is plenty of time to progress to camp grounds, national parks, and isolated wilderness areas as your children get older.

It’s Easy Being Greener

with the opportunity to develop a lifelong

Local Boys and Girls Clubs gain an appreciation for appreciation and curiosity for the outdoors and the outdoors and their environmental responsibility. to encourage personal responsibility to ensure

Growing Environmental Stewards: One Kid at a Time

By Courtney Danehy

D

o you remember when you were little and playing with worms was a fun thing to do for no other reason than they were slimy and you got to play in the mud? The members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the North Valley not only got their chance to play with worms, but at the Recycling And Rubbish Exhibit (R.A.R.E.) in Chico, they also learned how important they are in the process of composting. The kids had the chance to see these slimy creatures in action. They learned how the worms feed off of food waste and bedding, made of shredded paper and other biodegradable material. As they digest the waste and bedding, the worms excrete nutrient-rich castings. After a few months, the castings combined with the welldecomposed bedding, become “vermicompost.”

Vermicompost is one of the richest soil improvements around, providing nutrients for plants, flowers, fruit trees and garden vegetables.

At the end of the lesson, Boys and Girls Club members were provided with their very own worm bin to take back to the Club and continue to compost everyday.

As the year progressed, Club members became more excited about the possibilities of becoming stewards of the environment and how they can continue to teach and implement the message of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot” to their fellow Club members. Through the help of the Eco Team, Club members have utilized many local earth-friendly venues and projects. The Eco Team is a group of Boys and Girls Club staff, dedicated to providing the youth of our community 70 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

a healthy future.

In the spring, members of the Eco Team attended the CSU, Chico’s Annual Sustainability Conference. Attendees learned about incorporating sustainability into business, alternatives to plastic bags from the innovative Andy Kellar at Chico Bag, what the Slow Food Movement is, what it means to be a LEED certified building, and how to perform an energy audit. Paradise staff member, Jordan Cooper, was enthusiastic about what he had learned, “With this experience we were able to network, thus creating a better resource binder for our future environmental educators. Some of those resources provided us with plenty of opportunities to take our members on field trips.”

One of the most exciting partnerships has been with a local collaborative of farmers called GRUB (Growing Resourcefully, Uniting Bellies). Boys and Girls Club youth have learned through their hands-on experience at the GRUB farm about gardening, nutrition, biodiversity, and culture – all of which they have brought back to the Club as they till and toil their very own gardens. You could spend hours watching the delight on the children’s faces as they tend to the leafy plants that eventually produce broccoli or as they pull green beans off the stalks. Some of the members have never seen, let alone eaten, many of the vegetables we see everyday in the grocery store.

Not only are they learning to produce their own food, but they are learning to select healthy food choices and are excited about it.

While these activities are teaching and molding the young minds of our future, they are also creating experiences that many of our youth have never had before. Many times, when kids go outside with the Boys and Girls Club, it is for the first time. A new game that has been recently introduced to the Club to get kids outdoors is called “Geocaching.” As explained on the official Geo Global GPS Cache Hunt site, Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played

Community

throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. This new tool allows our youth to explore the outdoors in addition to learning about technology and orienteering.

One of the most important pieces of the ecofriendly activities is that each youth is reducing their carbon footprint on the planet. While that may be something they don’t completely understand at their young ages, it is something that will be a part of all the decisions they make in their futures. A core value of the Boys and Girls Clubs is instilling in each child a sense of personal responsibility. That is why, when you walk through any Boys and Girls Club site, you will find a common theme – respect. This respect is a theme that carries not only from person to person, but to how our staff, board, members and volunteers treat and view the environment. Maureen Pierce, Club CEO, states, “We hope to develop and cultivate in every child, a lifelong sense of joy and curiosity for the wonders of the natural world and a deep and enduring sense of personal stewardship of our planet’s resources. We plan to demonstrate through our own daily behavior that personal practices are the foundation for global change.”

The mission of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the North Valley is to inspire and enable all young people to reach their full potential as caring, productive, and responsible citizens. It is our goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for our children to learn, grow, and have fun. Often the children of our communities do without, don’t have a safe place to go after school, don’t have a strong support system, or just don’t get the chance to be a kid. This is where the Boys and Girls Clubs make its impact. The Club’s physical presence, as well as emotional and social support for the youth in the community, is so crucial.

susty.c

om

For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of the North Valley, go to www. bgcanorthvalley.org. For information about other Boys and Girls Club programs, visit www.bgca.org. w w w.communityseeds.com

71

Community

A Challenge:

Can Your Family Be

Harvest Heroes?

By Holly Nevarez

72 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Making a Difference

T

hree years ago, my husband and I were looking for an opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves. We found collecting cans for a food drive to be a great family activity. Most often one hears about food drives in the fall, but this is an activity that can be done anytime throughout the year. Soup kitchens and food banks feed people everyday of the year.

Due to the current economic crisis in our country, there are more people who need help. You can help by having your own food drive or by helping with a local food drive.

Our family started collecting food as part of the Jesus Center’s Harvest Food Drive (in Chico). This facility is not affiliated with a specific church and is open to the public. They offer two meals a day, six days a week, to anyone who is hungry. The Center serves approximately 150 people at each meal. We called the volunteer coordinator, Debra Howell, to find out how we could get started (530-345-2640).

The hungry are only one group being benefited by this activity. Your family and your children will also benefit. The activities that surrounded collecting cans and delivering the cans to the Jesus Center

has taught our children lessons of compassion and sharing that would have been otherwise difficult to share. Our children came to recognize a need to help those who are less fortunate. They also learned the importance of a community engagement and volunteerism.

There are several other lessons that can be taught during your family’s food drive. Nutrition is an easy one. For younger children, discuss how it feels to be hungry. This leads to lessons about eating healthy foods to give your body good energy that allows it to grow. You can talk about which foods are healthier by looking at food labels. Compare peaches in heavy syrup to peaches in light syrup or peaches in juice. Which is healthier? Children, as young as kindergarten age, can use a food label to identify which item has the most sugar with limited assistance. Older children can try to plan a meal with all ingredients from canned or packaged food. How healthy is it? Are all of the food groups represented?

You can also work on math skills during your family’s food drive. Compare a regular (16 oz) can of peaches to a large (100 oz/#10) can. Which w w w.communityseeds.com

73

Harvest Heroes, Continued

is bigger? How many people can be fed by each can? What is the cost of each?

Another math skill is adding up how much it costs to eat a meal. If you planned a meal with ingredients from canned and packaged food, how much would it cost?

This could lead to lessons on budgeting for your older kids.

If it sounds too easy to just collect cans, you can increase the challenge. Collect only one item, such as soup. You can also be more specific and collect only one type of soup, “chicken noodle.” Or collect all the ingredients for the meal you planned above. Another idea would be to collect your child’s favorite foods.

After we collected our cans and delivered them to the Jesus Center, we decided we were “Harvest Heroes.” The name came from the Jesus Center calling their fall food drive the Harvest Food Drive. Heroes are people who help others (with 4 and 7 year old boys, our household knows about super heroes). By having your own food drive, your family can become Harvest Heroes. Are you up to the challenge?

Your family’s food drive can be whatever you decide. Large or small, any size donation helps to make a difference.

The Jesus Center acts as a soup kitchen and also a food bank. Big cans are used to prepare the meals at the center while smaller cans are often sent home with people who come to the food bank.

Although our family’s food drive is in the fall, donations are needed all year long.

Our family loves the food drive. The children look forward to it all year long and we often discuss plans for the coming year’s food drive. Since we have become so interested in the food drive and helping others, our family has started to volunteer at the Jesus Center. This organization has many opportunities for the entire family to help out. Again, we are helping those who are hungry and homeless, but the food drive is helping us teach many invaluable lessons to our children.

74 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

. Community Events .

Community Seeds offers you three, FREE on-line calendars!

Click now on any link to visit one of the interactive calendars.

You may view, or add an event at any time! www.thechicoconnection.com www.thedurhamconnection.com www.theparadiseconnection.com

Enjoy Good Music, Brews & Food

7th ANNUAL

AL

NNU

8th A

Saturday October 3rd * 1pm-9pm Paradise Community Park Free Admittance

All Proceeds Go to Local Music Programs

Your community site for local web links. All links are free to add to this site. Bookmark this site; it will be right at your fingertips to look up local restaurants, green living, local events, and more!

www.TheChicoConnection.com

CLICK Hundreds of Ridge Links, Interactive Community Calendar and More!

www.theparadiseconnection.net

Durham’s Community Website

• Business Links • Durham Business Directory

Durham Community Calendar

• • • •

School Events Community Events Durham Recreation Events Interactive

WWW.TheDurhamConnection.com

w w w.communityseeds.com

75

Food

The

Gorgeously Green

By Sophie Uliano Reviewed by Amy Behlke

Diet

A

uthor, Sophie Uliano, has followed up her New York Times bestseller, Gorgeously Green, with another book. This book is packed with information, ideas, recipes, and a plan for taking steps to lead a more eco-friendly life while being healthier at the same time. The Gorgeously Green Diet expands on Uliano’s ideas on eating, fitness, and how food choices impact the environment.

Unlike many typical diet books, Uliano presents a plan that is very flexible and can be varied greatly while still maintaining the spirit of the healthy and wellbalanced diet. The Gorgeously Green Diet provides readers with a choice of three diet plans based on varying shades of “green.” The Light Green diet plan is for those who are just starting out on the path to a more eco-friendly lifestyle, but are not ready to go to extremes just yet. Readers who have already made the decision to be more conscious about their impact on the planet in the way they live and eat, but still live with partners/families who are not quite as green, can follow the Bright Green plan. The Deep Green plan is written for anyone who is living as sustainably as possible and is already a vegetarian or vegan.

Through these three diet plans, the book really does offer unintimidating advice and options to just about anyone.

The Gorgeously Green Diet teaches its readers to re-think the way they shop and bring food into their homes. After an informative chapter discussing the process food goes through before it lands on our plates, readers are guided through a “pantry purge” to remove as much processed foods as possible. This diet is all about whole, fresh, organic, homemade, and local foods. By local, I don’t just mean the local

76 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

farmer’s market- growing as much of your own food as possible is encouraged. The chapter on creating a garden and composting at home inspired me to plant a container garden on my deck, and now this summer I am enjoying my own veggies and herbs!

Ulinao’s plan for fitness while on this diet is very realistic and reasonable. No gym membership or complicated equipment is necessary. She encourages readers to set fitness goals and to do at least one vigorous exercise every single day. A chapter full of ideas for strength training, cardio and yoga illustrates and describes positions and moves that could be used daily in just about any setting.

The Gorgeously Green Diet is truly a complete resource. After reading it, I loaned the book to a friend for a few days and found myself lost without it! Full of websites, resources and ideas, it’s a book I have laying open on my kitchen counter nearly every day. Packed with over 101 “eco-licious” recipes, other resources and recommended reading, the last 100 pages of the book alone make it worth having!

In my quest to take as many small steps toward living a more eco-friendly lifestyle, I have found Sophie Uliano’s book, The Gorgeously Green Diet, informative, interesting and extremely helpful. I have given this book as a gift several times and use it nearly every day in my own home. I highly recommend it for anyone who is ready to be a little more green and lean in their everyday lives.

A Few of Our Favorite Recipes From:

The Gorgeously Green Diet

By Sophie Uliano

Reprinted with permission of Dutton

Nutty Granola

This granola is crunchy, toasty, and filling! I have found the ingredients are easy to keep on hand for a delicious breakfast anytime! ½ cup honey or agave syrup ¼ cup virgin coconut oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups rolled oats ½ cup raw almonds ½ cup walnuts ½ cup sunflower seeds ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut 1 cup raisins ½ cup unsweetened dried cranberries or apricots cut into small pieces

.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F .

Combine the honey/agave syrup and coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat and warm until liquefied. Add the vanilla.

Combine the oats, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and coconut in a large bowl and add the honey mixture. Mix well to evenly coat and spread over a baking sheet.

Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, then stir and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes or until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and add the dried fruit. Allow to cool before storing in a large glass or stainless steel container for up to one month.

White Bean Hummus

This is an incredible dip for crackers, toasted pita bread, or crunchy veggies.

Serves 4 as a dip or small appetizer 1 ½ cups white beans cooked, or 1 can drained and rinsed 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice 1 Tbsp tahini ½ cup organic extra-virgin olive oil Pinch of paprika Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, and tahini in the bowl of a food processor, then blend until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil through the hole in the lid until the mixture is emulsified. Season with the sea salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with the paprika.

Citrus Toning Mask

This is a gentle exfoliating and refreshing mask that is excellent to do at least once a week. It is rich in alpha hydroxyl acids, which help to gently remove the dead skin cells, leaving your skin looking shiny and new.

1 grapefruit 1 tsp lemon juice 1 cup plain yogurt ½ cup aloe vera juice Peel the grapefruit and divide the fruit into segments.

Remove the seeds and pith (white skin around each segment), place in a blender with the yogurt and lemon juice, and blend until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and leave in the fridge for one hour.

When you are ready, set your timer for ten minutes, apply your mask, and lie with a towel under your head. Wash off with warm water and pat your skin dry. Soak a cotton pad in the aloe vera juice and wipe gently over your entire face and neck. w w w.communityseeds.com

77

Community Seeds’ Suggested Readings

Off the Shelf Book Reviews

The Sommelier’s Guide to Wine: Everything You Need to Know for Selecting, Serving, and Savoring Wine Like the Experts

By Brian H. Smith Review Written By Kris Noel

I

have always enjoyed wine- it didn’t matter to me that it was “2 Buck Chuck” or Barefoot Merlot in a magnum size for $5.99 at Target…until I became a bartender at a sassy wine bar.

Then it was time to buckle down and learn some real facts about wine.

The first couple of nights at my new job, I pretty much faked my way through. A couple came in with a $160 bottle of highly allocated Pinot Noir and asked me to taste some with them.

“When in Rome….” Right? So, I poured myself a glass, swirled it around a little (I didn’t know why I was doing this, I just knew that I’d seen people do it when they taste wine, so I did it to pretend like I knew what I was doing), then I smelled it. “It smells like ripe fruit…grapes and plums,” I remarked.

I said, pretending to know something about wine.

“Yes! It is a very ripe wine,” the wine collector lady said, nodding in approval to my novice opinion. I tasted it, “I taste hints of cardamom…”

It was then that I decided that if I was going to sell expensive wine to people, that I should at least know a little more about it. Though, I really have

“Yes- it IS cardamom! I’ve been wondering what spice I’ve been tasting. You must really know your wines!” the wine collector lady beamed. I just smiled and continued to sip my first taste of an expensive bottle of wine.

“Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.”--- Benjamin Franklin Four Great Organic Wines to Try Although they are picking up in popularity, organic wines are not always easy to find. Stop by www.theorganicwinecompany.com and try one of our top pics for something different this fall.

Easy Cab! 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon La Marouette A simple yet very enjoyable Cabernet Sauvignon from producer in Languedoc, Jacques Frelin!

78 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Your daily Merlot!

2002 Merlot Domaine de Savignac Straightforward, aromatic dry wine with great regional character!

Tasty Chilean!

Oak Aged!

2008 Sauvignon Blanc Nuevo Mundo Delicate aromas of flowers and sweet fruits welcome your nose when you dive into this Sauvignon Blanc.

2005 Shiraz Domaine deClairac Bright fruit and great body for this creation from Domaine de Clairac, one of the pioneers of organic viticulture (1966)!

Guide to Wine determined that so much about wine is subjective, and what one person might smell as “earthy, woodsy, with slight materialities”, might smell to someone else like dirty socks forgotten in the corner of the room behind the door.

To help me on my quest to learn more about wine, I bought a book called, The Sommelier’s Guide to Wine: Everything You Need to Know for Selecting, Serving, and Savoring Wine Like the Experts by Brian H. Smith. It was basically a Wine 101 type of book, but it really

helped to crack the code of wine tasting for me. In the book, Smith goes over the different types of grape varietals and gives an informational guide to tasting wines. He also defines terms for tasting, such as ripe, woody, light and buttery. Brian goes on to discuss what regions certain wines are produced in all over the world, and what types of wines are most expensive vs least expensive. There is also a section on etiquette, if you are ordering wine at a restaurant.

If you are just starting to appreciate wine, or you’re like

me, and you have always just bought the largest amount of wine available for the cheapest price, then this book will be a great catalyst for you to become a more sophisticated wine consumer. Smith breaks all of the fancy words and regions down into layman’s terms, and tries to make the wine tasting and ordering process as simple as possible. My customers will be very happy to know that I at least have the vocabulary to help me fake my way through selling them expensive wines!

Deep Tissue . Swedish . 13 Years of Experience

Lisa Ann Barnes

Certified Massage Therapist Paradise and Chico, CA

lisa@cmtlisa.net

530-680-0222

By Appointment Only

1-HOUR Massage $30 or 4 1-HOUR Massages $120 Special Ends 12/31/09

Sodastream would like to offer Community Seeds readers a $25 discount on purchases of new machines at www.sodastreamusa.com.

Enter COMMUNITYSEEDS in the promotion code field at the end of the online buying process

Eco Friedly * Easy

* Quick * Economical * Delicious w w w.communityseeds.com

79

Food

Cook’s Corner Food For Fall by “Danny D”

80 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

W

here did the last three months go?

I have been staying so busy, that time has passed by quickly. My organic garden is doing well, but I still purchase vegetables and fruits from the farmers markets. I was surprised to see at my local farmer’s market (in Paradise, CA), that grass fed, no hormone meats such as chicken, lamb and beef are being sold. This is great: one stop shopping for healthy, natural and organic foods.

I feel that organic fruits, vegetables, dairy and natural feed fed meats are a food choice that we as consumers are fortunate to have.

Since these options are a personal choice, I would like to remind the readers that any of my shared recipes can be made with these healthier ingredients.

We were lucky to get a few healthy recipes from readers for this issue. We have a Native American inspired Three Sisters Garden Stew and a delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Muffin recipe. We want to encourage readers to keep sending their healthy recipes (and recipe photos) and we will continue to share them in future issues.

I thought I would share a couple of my recipes that you could make ahead of time this fall. One is wild rice stuffing. I also found a new delicious way to cook Brussels sprouts.

I also enjoy cooked carrots and thought I would share an easy recipe to make as an accompaniment to the wild rice stuffing for Thanksgiving or any fall meal. Take a look at last year’s fall issue (www.communityseeds. com) and try the cranberry sauce recipe.

Use ingredients you like and don’t be afraid to substitute when you want. My mom is always teasing me because I can’t follow recipe directions; I add and switch ingredients around to my liking. My mom usually has to confess, however, that she really likes the recipes with the changes and she would have done the same thing!

Food

Thanksgiving Carrots Wild Rice Stuffing Ingredients: 32oz chicken broth (or 4 cups water and 3-4 tsp chicken bullion) 2 cups brown rice 1/2 cup wild rice 16oz mushrooms, sliced 3-4 celery stalks, chopped 1 large onion, diced 1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 1 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped 1 tsp poultry seasoning 3/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

Directions 1. In a large saucepan, combine wild rice, brown rice and broth. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 50 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5-10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

2. Meanwhile, in a skillet with 1 Tbsp oil, sautĂŠ mushrooms, celery, and onion. When the celery is tender, add fresh herbs and cooked rice. At this point you can stuff into the turkey cavity or into greased baking dish (or refrigerate for up to 2 days, removing from refrigerator 30-45 minute before heating). If using a baking dish, bake for 20 minutes covered. Remove cover and bake 10 additional minutes in 350 degree oven. Garnish with toasted almonds, if desired.

Serve immediately.

Ingredients ½ cup water 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices 2 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened 1 to 2 tsp fresh tarragon or basil, chopped 2 Tbsp honey (optional) Salt and pepper to taste

Directions 1. In a 2 to 2-1/2 quart saucepan, bring the water to boiling. Add the carrots, cover the pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until carrots are just tender. Drain off water.

2. Add butter and chopped herbs to the saucepan. Stir until combined. If necessary, stir over low heat to melt butter completely, stir in honey if using. Add carrots back in and stir to coat with the butter mixture. Season the carrots, to taste, with the salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings w w w.communityseeds.com

81

82 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Food

Three Sisters Garden Stew This stew is inspired by a recipe from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison.

The Three Sisters is a reference to a traditional Native American method of planting three interconnected crops: corn supports the beans; the beans provide the nitrogen for the corn, and the squash shades the bean plant. I teach children’s gardening, and the children love Native American lore. They also love this delicious, satisfying stew made from the vegetables that they have grown in their school garden.

Debra Abbott School Garden Teacher

Cook the pre-soaked beans for about 1 ½ to 2 hours in water to cover by about 2 inches. When the beans are tender, add 1 teaspoon salt. Save the broth.

1 1/4 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight and drained, or 1 15 oz. can pinto beans 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 yellow onion, cut into 1/2” cubes 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 Tablespoons red chili powder, or more to taste 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons dried oregano 1 lb. fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 2 poblano chilies, roasted, skin and seeds removed, cut into ¼” cubes, or use 2 small cans diced green chilies 1 pound mixed summer squash (yellow and zucchini) cut into 2” cubes 4 ears corn, kernels removed or 2 cups frozen whole kernel corn 8 ounces fresh green beans cut into 1” lengths or 2 cups frozen cut green beans ½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste Black pepper to taste ¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped Toasted sunflower seeds, optional (they add a nice crunch) Whole cilantro leaves, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and sauté the onions over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Lower the heat, add the garlic, red chili powder, cumin, and oregano, and stir to combine. Cook until the onions have begun to soften, about 4 minutes, then add the tomatoes, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the pinto beans, chilies, summer squash, corn, and green beans. Add enough reserved bean broth or water to make a fairly wet stew. Cook slowly until the fresh vegetables are done, about 20-30 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and chopped cilantro.

Garnish with the toasted sunflower seeds, if using, and the whole leaves of cilantro.

Serves 6 -8

Brussels Sprouts

By Danny D.

Ingredients: 1 pound of fresh Brussels Sprouts, sliced 1 small onion, finely chopped 3 Tablespoons butter Optional: 1/4 cup chicken broth 1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel Salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese In a bowl, mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving. w w w.communityseeds.com

83

Food

Chocolate chip muffins complete with Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels and nutritious 100% pure pumpkin are great for breakfast or with brunch!

Amy Behlke

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Muffins Ingredients: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 large eggs, slightly beaten 2 cups granulated sugar 1 can (15 oz.) 100% pure pumpkin 1 cup vegetable oil 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions: Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease thirty-six 2 ½-inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups.

Combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Add pumpkin and oil; mix well.

Stir in flour mixture until moistened. Stir in morsels. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove from pans.

84 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

His daughter told him his farm was for the birds

ste a t t a e r g g n i w o r G ™ s n i o for ge nerat

O

ne day, when Wendell Lundberg was out driving Eldon, Wendell, Harlan, and Homer Lundberg his daughter Jessica around his rice fields, she told him something that changed his life forever. She pointed out that the land he was farming was originally for the birds, not for rice. That started him thinking. So much so, that he started farming with bird habitats in mind. Today, Jessica is the Chair of the Board. Pretty smart kid.

Wendell and his three brothers Eldon, Harlan and Homer have been growing rice sustainably in Richvale, California since they were kids. Their father, Albert Lundberg, taught them a simple lesson: leave the land better than when you first arrived.

Since 1937, the Lundberg family has been farming delicious rice while respecting and sustaining the earth. Today, the third generation carries on the family heritage. We continue to use eco-positive farming methods that produce wholesome, healthful rice products, while protecting and improving the environment for future generations.

For more of the story go to www.lundberg.com.

w w w.communityseeds.com

85

Community Seeds

Advertisers Index Ace Hardware Advanced Inspection Services, Mold Inspection Apple Blossom Baby Babies in Chico.com Blues and Brews Festival Care Free Pools Charli’z Chico Catering Chico Children’s Fair The Chico Connection.com The Chico Connection Kids Page The Chico Connection Green Page Chico / Paradise Seeds Shirts Coldwell Banker, Rhonda Maehl, Realtor The Durham Community Website Eco in Chico, A Baby’s Boutique Frog Mama Baby Carriers Green Clean In Motion Fitness Johnny Appleseed Days Lisa Ann Barnes, Certified Massage Therapist Lundberg Rice Mr. Kopy Mythic Low VOC Paint The Paradise Connection Community Site Pure Skin Soda Stream The Sunshine Kids Club Tracy Lynn Photography William Watt Construction Words of Whimsy

28 28 49 52 75 63 58 79 57 75 53 13 63 88 75 58 53 23 2-3 75 79 85 79 28 63 44 79 53 44 29 63

Special Thanks To: In Motion Fitness ------------------------------------------------------------ www.InMotionFitness.com Coldwell Banker, Rhonda Maehl, Realtor --------------------------- www.HelpMeRhondaM.com

Additional Thanks To: Be Green on a Budget ------------------------------------------------ www.BeGreenOnABudget.com Affordable Mineral Makeup -------------------------------- www.AffordableMineralMakeup.com Care Free Pools ---------------------------------------------------------- www.CareFreePools-Chico.net 86 Community Seeds . Fall 2009

Join Us In The Winter!

The Next Issue Of Community Seeds Will Be Released Dec. 1, 2009!

• Send us an article about being eco friendly • Send us photos of you and/or your family • Send photos of unique green products being used • Tell us your favorite winter memory or what you like to do in the winter • Send us a green craft idea • Write a book review • Send us your child’s story and/or artwork • Send us your informational article • Tell us about local winter community projects • Purchase advertising • Become a Sponsor

The deadline for the winter issue is Oct. 25, 2009.

E-mail items to info@communityseeds.com.

For more information go to www.communityseeds.com. w w w.communityseeds.com

87

Phone (530) 873-7649

You need a professional that understands the industry and is positioned to stay ahead of the game.

We never stop moving.

HelpMeRhondaM.com

e-mail: info@HelpMeRhondaM.com