Eco Community Seeds, Spring 2009 Issue by Eco Community Seeds Magazine

Durham

Chico

Paradise

Beyond

Community Seeds

eco-Magazine

www.communityseeds.com

Spring 2009

FREE

Thinking Globally, Living Locally

Green Your Party Great Green Ideas For Kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Parties Feeling Green Guilt? It May Be a Good Thing!

Eco-Friendly Spring Ideas For Your Home, Health, and Happiness

SPRING GREEN CLEANING Spring Clean, Toxin Free

Want Solar Power? The Best Way to Power Up The 100 People Project A New Perspective on the World w w w.communityseeds.com

Community Seeds . Spring 2009

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Welcome

Community Seeds e-Magazine

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

Environmental Advisor/Contributing Editor Greg Holman

Issue 4 Spring 2009

Contributing Editor Pete Parada Proof Editor CarrollAnn Davis Advertising Mary McCourt Conor Rowell

Community Seeds Was There! Did You See Us? The Grand Opening (of the Third Installment) of the Chico Circus Exhibit at the Chico Museum

on s a w s Seed s! y t i w e n u N m n o Com Acti 4 2 l e n an The Ch

Please send comments, articles, photos, artwork, interview ideas, and photos of your Chico Bag to:

Community Seeds . Spring 2009

info@communityseeds.com For advertising and general information, visit: www.communityseeds.com

A Note From the Editor

From the Editor

Sustainably Yours

While out and about promoting Community Seeds Magazine, many inquire about our content and purpose. I usually begin to tell people how we want to encourage people to make small changes that they are able to make; changes that would not have been made without a little information and encouragement. We want people to become more socially, environmentally and community conscious. We also want to provide people a way to collaborate with others for a common cause. Some have asked why a magazine about sustainable living would have content that deals with health, communities and philanthropy. That is a good question. The fact is, being green has a broad range of definitions, as does sustainable living. To Community Seeds, sustainable living not only means taking care to preserve the earth’s resources and care for the environment, but also taking care of ones health, caring for the local community, and caring for communities around the world. Most people are not scientists, but they agree that we should not use all of our resources faster than they can be replenished. In order to do this, we must be what has been termed as, “green.” Living more sustainable may sound intimidating. However, any small change made will contribute to this lifestyle goal. Community Seeds offers direction and tips on small changes that can be made. After all, small changes can make a world of difference. In this issue we present ways to be greener in the spring. We have included articles on green spring cleaning, eliminating clutter and simplifying our homes. We have articles on party planning with the planet in mind, interesting green businesses, gardening and buying organic produce. We have included a movie review, book suggestions, recipes for spring and much more. We hope you will look at our pictorials and perhaps find someone you know. Spring is a wonderful time and there is something in this issue for everyone that will help you on your green journey. As I always say, I want to encourage people to send in their stories, informational articles, artwork, photos, music, advice and knowledge to share with Community Seeds Magazine. We hope you find this issue helpful, as you discover ways you would like to do your part to be greener and live a more sustainable lifestyle. Community Seeds Magazine has universal content about living sustainable, as well as a focus on our local community. If you are looking for calendars of important events going on in our local areas, you may also want to check out the interactive calendars on our different websites (see page 44). Don’t forget, you can add your own event to any of these calendars and it is another free resource! I am so grateful to my husband, Greg Holman (Environmental Advisor/Contributing Editor), my good friend Amy Behlke (Associate Editor), our advertisers, and the community for the overwhelming support. Community Seeds Magazine is happy to continue this project with the mission of promoting social, environmental and community awareness. Thank you for joining us!

DeAnna Holman

Editor-in-Chief

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Contents

SPRING 2009

Features 4 Welcome! 5 Note From the Editor 8 Issue Contributors 22 Enter Our Contest 33 CFL Information 44 Calendar Links 64 Spring Fun Photos 90 Advertiser’s Index 91 Be in the Summer

Issue!

Young Writer’s Energy Smarts Are Recognized

30 Volkswagon Goes Green

Jetta Gets Green Car Accolades

Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Green Clean For Spring Give Your House A Non-Toxic Spring Cleaning

Off the Shelf

Out and About

Spring Reading For All Ages 6th Largest U.S. Waterfall in Our Backyard

True Life 16

Kill A Watt!

100 People Under the Sun Global Energy Project Shines Light On World Populations and Energy Potential

Departments Easy Being Greener

10 Where in the World is Chico Bag?

Arts/Entertainment

50 Movie Review-The 11th Hour

12 Good Green Guilt 13 Green Links 18 Tips For Going Solar 20 Green Product Picks 23 Products We Tested 25 Recycling is Not Enough

52 Local Artists, Make It

Focus On Green Business

42 Make Your Own Green

Teeccino: Beyond Fair Trade

38 Green Clean Carpet Cleaning

Crafts

46 Easy Green Crafts 47 Ideas For an Eco Friendly Easter

Food

Food For Spring Celebrations

Wheat, Strawberry Orange Muffins

Local Recipe Wins National Contest

Why Buy Organic Produce?

Budget Meals With Pampered Chef

So, With Their 2nd CD

54 Reading Garden

Blooms in Paradise

Home

41 Green Times

Mean Cleaning Options Cleaning Products

Get Organized With Photo Binders

Garden

72 Tomatoes, A Fruit For

Your Veggie Garden

Family

Throw a Fabulous Green Birthday Party

59 62

Diary of a Mom Kids Space: Kids’ Art And Writing

Community

82 84

Community Faces

AYUSA: Exchange Student Hosting

Durham Parade-A Tiny Town’s Big Tradition

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Contributors

Contributors This Issue- SPRING 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). Pete Parada Pete is a professional musician, drum instructor, parent and Chico resident. He attended Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, has recorded many albums and has toured with major recording artists around the world. He is an avid movie fan with vast knowledge of the movie industry. Caroline MacDougall Caroline is the founder, creator and CEO of Teeccino®. She has worked as a consultant to develop numerous award winning herbal beverages for The Republic of Tea, Yogi Tea Company, Uncle Lee‘s Tea, and Organic India. She has three children and lives with her husband in Santa Barbara. Chris Floren Chris, a Chico resident, owns and operates Green Clean Carpet Cleaning, an environmentally friendly and safe carpet cleaning company that serves all of Butte County. He also runs a painting company, Chris Floren Painting, that uses low VOC paint. Bob Kirkland Bob is a song writer and musician for the folk group Make It So. He has also taught English in the Paradise Unified School District since 1979. Music has been his passion for much longer. Make It So just released their second CD, “Headlights and Hubcaps” in January (2009). Ken Hodge Ken holds a B.S. degree and M.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture from CSU, Chico. In 1986, after owning a landscape business for ten years, Ken and his wife Shelly started Hodge’s Nursery in Durham. They have raised 4 children and 3 of them still work at the family nursery. Community Seeds e-Magazine

Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Contributors

Contributors -Not Pictured

Howard F. Holman, III (“Pete”)- Pete, a Durham resident, is a retired Butte College Dean, almond farmer, builder, father, and Grandfather. CarrollAnn Davis- CarrollAnn, who works with Community Seeds as a Proof Editor, is DeAnna’s mom, a pre school teacher, Stampin’ Up Demonstrator, Nevada State PTA Secretary, and grandmother. Kristin Finch- Kristin is the owner and creator of Charli’z baby blankets and products. She is a mom and runs an at-home preschool. Kristin won a national competition for her recipe for Orange Bran Flax Muffins that she had submitted to Community Seeds. As a winner, Finch’s recipe was prepared by Sophie Uliano, herself, in a video on the popular food website www.eatdrinkordie.com. See page 79 of this issue to find out more! 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. Tara Donnell -Tara lives in Magalia with her husband, 3 year-old son, and various pets. She works part-time outside the home. Jennifer Arbuckle- Recycling and Public Outreach Coordinator Northern Recycling and Waste Services. Marne Larsen- Local, Regional Director for AYUSA, a non profit Global Youth Exchange Organization (Chico Location). Karen Balestieri- Karen Balestieri is a teacher at Ponderosa Elementary School in Paradise, California. She played a role in the development of a reading garden at the school where she teaches. Brandie Ross- A Durham native, Brandie is a mother and is one of the top sellers of Pampered Chef products in the nation. Jennifer Smeltser- Jennifer is a wife and home schooling mother of three outdoor loving children. You can read more from her at Little Green Secrets [http://www.littlegreensecrets.com]. She has been instrumental in developing popular events such as the Green Aware Fair and the Chico Christmas Boutique. Mario Visinoni - Mario is currently a 9th grader in Paradise. As an 8th grade aide in a 6th grade classroom at Paradise Intermediate School, Mario Visinoni wrote the article (shown on page 14 of this issue of Community Seeds) and it was published at www.energyseeds.com. Two years later, directors for the “100 People Under the Sun Project” found Mario while searching for people to include in their educational video short about solar energy.

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

Where In the World is

Chico Bag?

The average American uses 300 to 700 plastic bags per year! The popular Chico Bag makes being earth friendly a little easier. Send your photos of your Chico Bag in different locations to info@communityseeds.com! If your photo is published, we will send you a new Chico Bag! How many places can Chico Bag be photographed?

am D r e v o o H ide S a n o z i r A

Oroville Dam, CA

www.chicobag.com

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Fitzger

a Reserv ld Marine e, CA

Carme

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Las Vegas, NV

Europe

Carmel by the Sea, CA

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Guess the location of this Chico Bag! The first 3 correct answers get a FREE Chico Bag! E-mail: info@communityseeds.com

Amsterdam

Germa nyBerlin Wall

Paris, France San Francisco, CA

It’s Easy Being Greener

“Your kids will ask, ‘What did you do?’ Will you say ‘I helped’ or ‘I’m sorry?’” (L. Hunter Lovins, President of Natural Capitalism Solutions, 2008 Green Schools Summit on the urgency of the green movement)

It’s not Easy Being Green

DeAnna Holman

I have been surprised to find that there are mixed feelings about “going green” among people in the local area. I have talked to many locals about the green movement and read many commentaries and articles in other local magazines about going green. Some people are fearful that this movement will be such an inconvenience, that it will add more stress to their lives. Others are feeling a “green guilt” and that is stressful to them. I usually encourage these individuals to do what they can, and are willing to, do. The changes they make (using CFL bulbs, recycling, conserving water, buying carbon offsets, purchasing local when they can, buying organic, composting, etc…) add up to make a difference and they will send a message to our children about the importance of taking responsibility for the impact we have on the environment. The way I see it, being green is not a fad. It is the way of the future. It will be a necessity for any future to happen. Right now, it is a way to educate and make us all aware that, yes, every little change helps. If we all make a small change, it will make a difference. In the long run, the truth is, bigger changes will have to be made and the sooner, the better. Our children will depend on these changes for a healthier future. Green is not meant to be the new guilt, but perhaps a little guilt may push us into the next stage of change, giving us bigger voices and the desire to initiate major changes. Many times in history, guilt has spurred change, like in those who felt guilty about DDT, Agent Orange or second-hand smoke. We are a product of our system: an economydriven society where having more is a way of life, regardless of how hard we work to get it. What we have makes us feel better; it often 12 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

defines us. We certainly don’t want to give up the things we have worked so hard to get, but when we really stop and think, changing our thinking may make a bigger impact on quality of life. Maybe less really can be more and being prudent with our resources could mean not being wasteful, instead of denoting our social status. Or, maybe balance is the key. We can have the luxuries we want and work with the environment. The world can use clean power and still have a sound economy. It can actually help the economy in the long run. We have the technology, the economic resources and the know how to change the way we pollute our declining ecosystems. Currently, we are depleting the environment of its resources, solely for economic gain. The cost to of doing this to our environment, and our future, is huge. No one can deny the facts about the destruction of our environment. Global warming is one theory; one symptom, but the disease is a fact. The environment of the earth is declining. The rates of asthma, certain cancers, and autoimmune diseases are on the rise simply because of environmental factors. Pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, drought, chemical poisoning of food and dependence on fossil fuels are all things that come together and wreak havoc on our home, Earth. Every change we make will send a message to our children. They can be raised with a new perspective on the environment and how we can coexist. We should teach them that the earth will still be here after humans have gone, but to save the human race, we have to change. Our kids will be a part of a new society that can be sustainable and can coexist with ecosystems that we count on for life. Small changes now will make a world of difference for our future.

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!

The informative www.carbonfund.org site allows users to calculate auto, home, air travel and natural gas emissions and purchase carbon offsets which go towards renewable energy credits, reforestation programs and other carbon offset technologies. In addition, it allows users to create online profiles and get useful tips on living a low-impact lifestyle. Carbonfund.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Green Business

SustainLane.com is the web’s largest people-powered guide to sustainable living. It is filled with personal accounts of howtos, news, and local business and product reviews for sustainable living. The site connects interested consumers with the tools and information on everything related to being green.

Ecocycle.org- This site is run by one of the largest non-profit recyclers in the USA. The site has everything you want to know about recycling as well as information on stopping junk mail and hazardous waste.

The Method site has a great blog that offers environmental tips for sustainable living and information about sustainable solutions for a greener lifestyle. They believe, “There are literally thousands of ‘comfortable’ ways to reduce your footprint on the world. The key is to start somewhere...anywhere.” http://www.methodhome.com/blog/

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

Companies Go Green The Chico Area Park and Recreation District (CARD) has been making efforts to be a little greener. They are sending mass mailings via email and are making their activity guides and forms available online. In addition to their efforts to go paperless, their Community Park Field House has been equipped with solar power. They are planning to expand their solar efforts to other buildings in the future. For information on CARD, visit their website at www.chicorec.com. w w w.communityseeds.com

It’s Easy Being Greener

Go Solar, and Kill-a-Watt! October, 2007: While working as an 8th grade aide in a 6th grade classroom at Paradise Intermediate School (in Paradise, California), Mario Visinoni wrote the following article that was published at www. energyseeds.com. From this article, he gained recognition for his commitment to the environment and was sought after to be a part of the 100 People Under the Sun Global Energy Project. Read on to see the original article and learn more about the 100 People Project. By Mario Visinoni Hello! My name is Mario Visinoni and I go to Paradise Intermediate School in Paradise, California. I am in 8th grade and have a strong interest in Earth Science, including solar energy. Solar can minimize your energy bill in many ways. Even if you do not have solar energy, you can save energy through conservation. A kilowatt meter is one way to check how many watts your everyday appliances use. Kilowatt meters are extremely easy to use. You simply plug your meter into the wall and then plug your appliance into the meter. My particular meter has four buttons: volt, amp, watt, and kilowatt-hours (kWH). By pressing one of these buttons you can view how much an appliance is using. The most common brand of kilowatt meters is the KILL-A-WATT®. The meters can range in price anywhere from $30.00 to

$40.00. Buy.com, Amazon.com, Shopping.com, and Bizrate.com are all online warehouses that carry kilowatt meters. Many people believe that when an appliance is plugged in but turned off that it doesn’t use any energy. This is not true! An Epson® Powerlite Projector uses 4 watts when turned off and 240 watts on. By the type of the appliance the wattage will obviously increase and decrease. Using a thousand watts for an hour equals one kilowatt-hour. So if lights are on for two hours using 1,000 watts per hour, it would use two kilowatt hours (kWH.) At Evergreen 6, a PG&E Solar School, our system will make about 7 kilowatt-hours on an average summer day. So the lights would use up a little less than a third of the solar energy brought in that day. Many people don’t realize that almost every appliance in their house uses some sort of energy, even being turned off. One eMac® computer turned off for a weekend will use 144 watts. Every year that same computer will use 6,912 watts (about 6.9 kilowatt hours.) Paradise Intermediate School has about 70 eMac® computers. All energy combined for those 70 computers turned off for one weekend, the wattage would be about 10,080 watts (10.08 kilowatt-hours.) For every year that equals 193.8

14 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

kilowatt-hours! The following list shows appliances at our school and how many watts they use:

Go Solar, and Kill A Watt Thanks Mario for the great lesson in conservation! So many people are focused on going solar that they skip the simple steps in reducing their energy use. Often times, it is much cheaper to find “leaks” in

A Panasonic® Microwave (OFF): 123 watts An eMac® PC (OFF): 4 watts Conair® Hair Dryer (ON HIGH): 1497 watts Motorola Talkabout® charger (charging): 123 watts Yacker Tracker® Plugged in: 6 watts Goldstar® mini-refrigerator (see picture): 86 watts while running, approximately 1kwh every 2 days A Power Strip with following appliances: eMac®, RCA® Boom-Box, and a Panasonic® VCR (OFF): 18 watts Using this data, we can figure out approximate costs. Mini Fridge: Approx. 15kwh/month, 180kwh a year. At $0.10 a kwh, that equals $18 a year. When you multiply that by 272 teachers, it costs the district $4896 a year!

your system to save energy…and sometimes going solar makes all of us look for these leaks to make the solar go even further. The “off” power strips are often referred to as “phantom loads” or “vampires.” These suck energy with no real benefit. Depending on your television, you might use more energy on standby than using the TV. For example: You watch television 2 hours a day, using 100watts of power on so the total = 200watts. Off, your same television uses 10 watts per hour. Over the other 22 hours, you use 220 watts!

If each of those teachers has a power strip that is “on” with the above plugged in appliances turned “off” for a year the following energy use would result: 18watts x 24 hours =‘s 432 watts x 365 days =‘s157.68 kwh x 272 teachers =‘s 42,888.96 kwh x $0.10 =‘s more than $4288! Remember, that is when the appliances are OFF! WOW! That is REAL money! As you can see, the amount of energy used can decrease significantly by just turning off power strips when they are not being used. Remember, even the smallest thing can really make a big difference in your energy bill. -Submitted by Mario Visinoni

Especially at schools, where some electronics are not even used weekly, by all means unplug them or turn off the power strip. By being careful about your energy use, you may be able to get a much smaller solar system to meet your new and improved energy needs. Happy watt hunting!

To see the original article and others about energy, go to www.energyseeds.com. See next page (pg. 16) for epilogue. w w w.communityseeds.com

100 People Under The Sun

The “Go Solar, and Kill-a-Watt!” Journey Continues

Now, more than two years after Mario submitted the Kill-A-Watt article, directors for the 100 People Under the Sun Project found him while searching for people to include in their educational video short about solar energy. What started as a spark for a PG&E Solar Schools Installation Grant in 2005, has grown into international attention to efforts in renewable energy in a local school.

100 People Under the Sun: A Global Energy Project If the world were 100 People, 24 would have no access to electricity. The electricity generated to power the planet for the rest of us produces 80% of all carbon emissions. Yet there is enough clean, renewable solar energy available to meet the energy demands for all the people of the world. In a new collaboration with SunPower Foundation (funded by SunPower Corporation), the 100 People Foundation focuses its lens on how we share energy on this planet, and the tremendous potential sunlight offers. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, the need to understand commonalities, shared values and resources is vital. As part of 100 People: A World Portrait, the 100 People Foundation is creating a global profile of the ways that people and communities around the world use energy. The focus of this profile centers on one of the oldest—and yet one of the most innovative—sources of energy we know: the sun. http://www.100people. org/100people_under_the_sun_about.php

Take ten minutes to watch this amazing video and be inspired to do your part. As Mario says, “Do you know where your energy comes from?” Click Here For Video. Click here to purchase an Earth Day poster

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Easy Being Greener

It’s Easy Being Greener

Going Solar Part 1

Wanting to go solar? Join us in this three part series about the steps to take to get solar on your home. By Greg Holman

First Steps Before Going Solar For years we have had the desire to go solar. Unfortunately, the main hurdle for purchasing a system has been simply the huge cost involved. It is hard to conceive that we can sink $30,000 into panels and an inverter when I drive a $2,000 car. However, with recent changes in tax laws effective January 1, 2009 and bids from several installers, we are inching even closer to our energy “holy grail.” After spending hours crunching the numbers, it is exciting to see that your payment for a new system can actually be less than 18 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

the energy costs you will save. I am getting ahead of myself… Here are some things to consider before purchasing a system:

and LEDs. We have reduced our energy demands by over 30 percent. Always go for this “low hanging fruit” first.

Energy Efficiency Why purchase a huge system in order to power your 30 year-old heating and air- conditioning system? Make upgrades to appliances and lighting first. Your return-on-investment (ROI) is often better on upgrades than on solar installations. We have spent five years replacing appliances, installing energyefficient windows, upgrading our well and pool pump, and switching our lights to CFLs

Access to Sun: An unobstructed, south facing roof is best. In some areas, if space is no issue, ground mount systems can be an ideal situation (no roof penetration to worry about for maintenance). Solar can be installed not facing true south, but any change in direction or partial shading will translate into lower amounts of energy generated, as well as a smaller rebate (Rebates are now based on the site of the

Going Solar

installation and your ability to generate to your system’s potential). As we re-landscaped our back yard, we were careful not to plant trees in a way that they would obstruct the area we have in mind for solar. Condition of Installation Site Ground mount may be an option for some. Living in an orchard, roof is best for us. Racking systems can be installed on a variety of roof types. There are integrated roof tile systems, but for a premium. We are in a quandary since our composition roof is in good shape, but almost 15 years old. Solar panels have a warranty of 25 years, and most continue to generate some electricity well beyond that. We will need to replace our roof before the system is done with its useful life. In our situation, we will end up with an installation that we will need to remove in 10-15 years, replace the roof, then re-install.

First is the, “you can eliminate your power bill,” approach. Sure, that would be great. However, we are not in a position financially to say that money is no object. Second is the system that optimizes your ROI. Carefully examine your PG&E bill. We are charged for electricity in a tiered system. Once you pass “baseline usage” for a particular month, you are charged 2-3 times the amount per kWh, the more you use. This can create a situation where using twice the energy of baseline can actually triple your bill. Now look at what would it

take to stay out of those upper tiers. On a clear summer day, a 1 kW system can generate up to 7 kWh in our area. To look at historical data for several demonstration systems located throughout California, go to www.californiasolarschools.org. Now you have become more efficient, have access to sun, an installation site, and an idea of your system size. In the summer issue of Community Seeds, we will examine what to look for in the bidding process.

System Size. Now, all installers will be happy to help you with sizing your system. I have found two different approaches typically taken when sizing our system. w w w.communityseeds.com

It’s Easy Being Greener

Community Seeds Product Picks I’

Chico Se

www.communityseeds.com

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

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

Earth Friendly Chopping

This eco-friendly board is shaped from the scraps of wine corks, then heated and pressurized. It is naturally anti-bacterial and as sturdy as hardwood. The board actually repels moisture, odors and bacteria. Replenishable harvesting uses only the bark. It has a recycled aluminum ring for hanging and it made in the USA. 18”Wx12”D. Available at CrateandBarrel.com. $19.95-26.95

Help Out The Drought

Saving water has never been easier. You are probably using more water than you need to every time you flush. A displacement bag reduces the amount of water per flush by about 0.8 gallons. Over time this can add up. Fill the displacement bag with water and hang it inside the tank of the toilet. Adjust the size by the amount of fill up. Available at GreenbyDesign.com and Greenfeet.com. $1.11-$4.00

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

info@communityseeds.com. Please specify quantity and size. Onesie sizes include: 3-6months, 6-12months, 12-18months. 18-24months, Toddler 2,4 and 6. Adult sizes may also be ordered.

The Seeds shirts may also be purchased at Eco in Chico, Baby’s Boutique and Apple Blossom Baby in Chico! 20 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Get Smart, Save Money

When many of your electronics are turned off, they continue to use energy, even after you turn them off. It’s sometimes called, “vampire load.” Even if you are not using your computer or peripherals, like the printer or scanner, you’re still paying to power them. The Smart Strip Power Strip turns off completely when it senses your computer is off, eliminating vampire load and saving you money. Available at http://catalog.bitsltd.us/index.html. $41.95

Green Products

Green Your Spring

Kill A Watt

Now you can cut your energy costs and find out how much energy your appliances are actually using. Simply connect anything with a plug to the Kill A Watt meter, and it will assess how efficient they really are. The LCD display will show consumption by the kilowatt-hour, same as your local utility. Available at SmartHomeUSA.com and eBay.com. $21.99-49.99

Coffee Alternative

Teeccino is a blend of herbs, grains, fruits and nuts and is roasted, ground and brewed just like coffee. Dark, rich, and full-bodied, Teeccino brings you all the satisfaction of a robust brew with no caffeine reaction. We tried this excellent herbal coffee and remarkably tastes just like regular coffee! With 65 mg. Potassium and 3 grams of carbohydrates, it provides a natural energy lift. Available at Teeccino.com. $7.25-$61.25

Natural Baby!

Waste Not

The colander made by Preserve Products is easygripping, fast-draining, and BPA free. The colorful colanders are made from 100% recycled plastic and is recyclable in communities with #5 recycling. The 3.5 quart colanders are dishwasher safe and made in the USA. They come in white, green red and blue to match any kitchen. Available at PreserveProducts.com. $12.99

The Eco-Me baby kit contains the basic essentials for you to make natural, chemical-free, and safe products for your baby. The 100% natural essential oil mix with Lavender, Chamomile & Mandarin Orange smells great. You provide your own white vinegar and water. This kit shows you how to make baby wipes, diaper deodorizer and room spray. Available at Eco in Chico (babysboutiquechico. com) and eco-me.com. $36

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It’s Easy Being Greener

More Community Seeds Product Picks Yummy Earth

WIN Teeccino to try at home! Community Seeds is giving away a grand prize gift basket filled with Teeccino products ($50 value) as well as Teeccino samples to several other winners. Here are several ways you can enter: • Send a sentence or two describing your favorite thing to do in the summer • Tell us how you have become more “green” since reading Community Seeds • Let us know the best part about reading Community Seeds • Submit a photo of your Chico Bag being used somewhere locally or around the world • Send in a photo of your family or friends to be published in the “Community Faces” or “Summer Fun” features in the upcoming summer issue Please email your responses or photos to: info@communityseeds.com. Readers may enter one time per category for up to five (5) entries per reader. Winners will be notified by email. For your entry to be considered, your email must include the following: your first and last name, your mailing address, and your response to at least one of the five items listed above. Please title your email: “Teeccino Contest.” Each email will be treated as one entry. Please email us with any questions, and happy entering!! ALL entries must be received by May 20, 2009. 22 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

When the kids are begging for a treat, parents can’t beat these delicious lollipops! YummyEarth candy is USDA and EU certified organic, kosher, gluten-free, nut-free, and has no type of corn syrup. With 17 different flavors including Pomegranate Pucker, Blood Orange Cocktail, Mango Tango and Chili Lime Lambada, these award winning lollipops are sure to please any crowd! We love these as treats in piñatas or birthday party favors. Available at YummyEarth.com. $7.99-$31.96

Organic Celebration

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in authentic style with the world’s only certified organic tequila. 4Copas is 100% natural and the winner of gold, silver and bronze medals, as well as being the Absolute Winner at the San Francisco World Wine & Spirits Competition 2005. For information go to 4copas.com. $24.99-$59.99

Bottle Glasses

Hand made in Wisconsin, these cool glasses are made from recycled beer bottles. Rolling Rock, Corona, Sol, as well as Boylan Soda, glasses are all made in the U.S.A., so you can feel good while enjoying your beverages in these eco-friendly tumblers. Available at Elsewares.com. $34 Set of 4

Green Products

We Tested It!

Fountain Jet Home Soda Maker

By Amy Behlke

When I first heard about this product, I thought it had to be too good to be true. Soda and other carbonated beverages, while enjoyed by many, are very hard on both the environment as well as consumers’ health. Too many empty calories, high-fructose corn syrup, along with caffeine make traditional soda beverages unhealthy. As sited on Soda Club’s site: “Americans drink more than 55 billion liters of soda and seltzer each year. That’s almost 200 liters—about 600 cans!—for every adult and child in the United States. And, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, that adds 10 1/2 cubic feet of packaging per American—over 3 billion cubic feet—in our landfills and recycling facilities every year.” Consumption of a product this heavy on packaging, even if it is recyclable, has a very serious impact on the environment. The concept of this product is simple: Carbonate regular tap water and add flavor to suit your taste. Using the provided 1-liter carbonating bottles, users attach a bottle full of cold tap water to the fountain machine, press the carbonating button several times until a loud buzz is emitted, take the bottle off the machine and add flavor. This diverse appliance is about the size of a blender and uses no electricity or batteries, as it is “powered” by compressed carbonation at the push of a button. Soda Club offers a wide variety of flavors that do not contain any high-fructose corn syrup or aspartame and have about 3 times less caffeine and calories than traditional bottled sodas. Or of you prefer, you can flavor your bubbly water with a splash of any organic fruit juice of your choice! We love the orange soda mix with a tiny splash of sugar-free vanilla flavored syrup. It tastes just like an old-fashioned 50/50 bar! The

Eco Soda

With a Soda-Club home soda maker, you’ll enjoy freshly made, great tasting seltzer and soda in just seconds ... You’ll be helping our environment by drastically reducing waste from store-bought cans and bottles. With no batteries or electricity, you can use your soda maker in your kitchen, outdoors on your patio or deck, or on your boat or RV. Available at SodaClubUSA.com. $94.99-$249.99

diet cola was great plain, but it was delicious with a little grenadine and a maraschino cherry. All-natural “flavor essences” are available for the carbonated water, creating a refreshing flavored sparkling water beverage. At only about 20 cents per liter, this flavored seltzer is much more economical than pre-bottled conventional brands. The feature we like best about Soda Club is that when making sparkling beverages at home for our families, we can control exactly what ingredients are being consumed without sacrificing quality or taste. Making sparkling all-natural juices is a healthy alternative to soda and costs close to nothing. Since arriving at our home, Soda Club’s Home Soda Maker has earned a permanent place on our counter top and has been used several times a day. We have brought it to a birthday party and a Superbowl party where it was a huge hit. This gadget is one we are glad to have come across and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys refreshing carbonated beverages.

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It’s Easy Being Greener Recycling helps, but cannot fix the problems of our “materials economy.”

Recycling Is Not Good Enough By Jennifer Arbuckle

on’t get me wrong. I encourage everyone to recycle. In fact, I have said “it is the least we can do,” at least 100 times this week. Recycling is a daily contribution to the health and well being of our planet. Please keep up your efforts; even those of you out there that just can’t seem to bring yourself to wash out that ketchup bottle. Although recycling education is under funded and ill explained, any effort is keeping the knowledge of environmental duty alive and every little bit helps.

Those that wince at the devastating effects produced by our current economic system, and feel an inherent need for redirection, already recognize that recycling is not enough. Something isn’t quite right here, we are not getting the full story, and the story we are told is deceiving; if not down right wrong. Changing habitual

disposal behavior is not enough, there has to be a change in knowledge. If we recycled everything, it wouldn’t be enough because it doesn’t fix the problems associated with our materials economy. “Materials economy” is a succinct way of referring to the extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal system that result in

our stuff. However, it’s not that simple. This system, that provides our convenient disposable bags, cups, cameras, phones, etc., has led us to a harsh reality. We are cutting, mining, and killing off species at a rate that is undermining the Earth’s ability to support life: “In 2003, humanity’s footprint exceeded the Earth’s biological capacity by over 25%.” When I say “we” I am referring to w w w.communityseeds.com

Recycling is Not Good Enough, Continued the human community, however, it is important for us Americans to know our contribution to the whole. Currently, the U.S. is the largest consumer in the world; we live on 5% of the Earth’s surface and consume 30% of its resources and produce 30% of its trash. Saying that we take more than our fair share is an understatement; if everyone lived they way we do we would need 3 to 5 planets. This system/materials economy is run as though it has no limits. The Planet continues to contradict this (note: the Planet also, very clearly, shows us how to live in it; however we have chosen to turn a blind eye, and continue to labor under the false premise that the world was made solely for humans!). However, we continue to ignore the warning signs. I believe this system is worth discussion. Honestly, how many people actually know where their stuff comes from? You might get answer like “China” but that is just where the “stuff” was put together, where did all the

26 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

materials used to make it come from? First, resources are extracted. What this looks like is cutting down forests, blowing up mountains, using vast amounts of water and exterminating species.

“Currently, the U.S. is the largest consumer in the world; we live on 5% of the Earth’s surface and consume 30% of its resources and produce 30% of its trash.” In America, we have less than 4% of our native forest left and 40% of our waterways are now undrinkable. Our response, go to other countries and take theirs. And this has resulted in the same situation; “75% of global fisheries are fish at or beyond capacity; 80% of our forests are gone, and are being cut down at a rate of seven football fields a minute and counting.” So here the system has

hit a limit; the Planet is finite, and our system is linear and growth based. You cannot run a linear system on a finite planet forever, it is impossible. Next is production. We do this by adding toxic chemicals to virgin materials. Currently, there are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals in use today. None of them have been tested to see how they react synergistically! The point here is that we are allowing toxic chemicals to be placed into our products, thus into our homes and then into our bodies without knowing the impact to our health or the environment. Plenty of products out there claim that leaching of chemicals is not possible, and there are plenty of products that don’t use toxic chemicals at all. But how are we to know which ones are safe? More importantly, how do “they” know these products are safe if the chemicals have not been tested? For example, we manufacture

It’s Easy Being Greener

BFR (bromated flame retardants), a neurotoxin (yes, toxic to the brain) to protect our computers, appliances, couches, and mattresses from catching fire. It seems we should be able to come up with something better than a neurotoxin to put in products that we sleep, work, and cook with. Tons of toxins leave the factories as products, but more leave as pollution. The U.S. admits to releasing 7 billion tons of toxic chemicals per year. But “not in our back yard,” so the corporations moved all the dirty factories overseas. It is the factory workers that pay the biggest price. Who would work in an environment where neurotoxins are made? Well, the system assures plenty of workers because their environment and way of life has been destroyed to fuel our materials economy. Now the products have to be distributed, and the goal here is to get rid of all this stuff as quickly as possible, keeping the economy

flowing. They do this by keeping the prices down, by externalizing costs. How do they externalize costs? Well, they aren’t paying the workers very much, and health insurance is lacking (imagine how many factory workers in third world countries are offered health insurance). Thus, the actual costs of making an item are not included in the

and maybe the whole thing was assembled by some 15 year old in Mexico. $5.99 wouldn’t even pay part of the staff person’s salary that helped you pick it out, or the multiple ocean cruises and truck rides pieces of this remote went on. You didn’t pay for that remote. Our environment paid for it.

“We have become a consumer based society; we shop, shop, shop to let the world know we have value. Fifty years ago people consumed half what the average person does today.”

The engine that drives the system is consumption. We have become a consumer based society; we shop, shop, shop to let the world know we have value. Fifty years ago people consumed half what the average person does today. So what happened? It wasn’t an accident that we became a society that considers resourcefulness, stewardship and being thrifty as “hippy” traits; it was designed this way.

price of that item. In short, we are not really paying for the stuff we buy. For example, you need a new remote and find one at the store for $5.99. The metal was probably mined in South Africa, the petroleum was probably drilled in Iraq, the plastics were probably produced in China,

Shortly after the World War 2, the government and corporate heads were figuring out how to increase the U.S. economy. Retailing analyst Victor Lebow came up with the solution that w w w.communityseeds.com

It’s Easy Being Greener

would become the basis for our entire materials economy. He said: “Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life; that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption .We need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” And President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors Chairman said that “The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.” Really, it is the main purpose of our economy? Not life, health care or sustainability? All we came up with was consumer goods! How did we buy into this? The answer is annoyingly simple, and down right aggravating. They used a simple strategy of planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. Planned obsolescence means that they design things to be immediately thrown away or at least rendered useless as quickly as possible so we go and buy a new one; i.e. plastic bags, coffee cups, cameras, mops, DVD’s, everything really. 28 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

However, all stuff can’t break fast enough to keep our materials economy moving at a fast enough rate, so there’s also “perceived obsolescence.” This convinces us to throw away stuff that is still perfectly useful. Media and ads have a huge part to play in this. How else do you justify the current fashion? The average person is exposed to over 3,000 ads per day, all with

the goal to get you to decide that what you have isn’t good enough, that you need another one, a better one…etc. Once you are convinced that what you have is bad, you simply toss your “stuff” into the trash or recycling can for disposal. On average, each U.S. citizens produces 4.5lbs of trash per day. Of items that can be recycled, many are tossed into the recycling bin with food residue on them. When the recyclables get melted down, the ones with residue cause

the machine to produce unsightly specs in the new plastic or air bubbles, thus the quality of the product comes out low. People will not want to buy the recycled products because it looks cheap or unreliable. So we go back to buying the “virgin” stuff, thus dismissing the potential benefits of a closed loop system. We fuel this unsustainable, linear system, in place of a closed looped system, every time we buy items that can’t be recycled (i.e. juice boxes, which are paper lined with aluminum and a plastic base coat, you cannot get all those materials out to recycle). We, as a whole, could simply stop products like this from being manufactured if we just didn’t buy them. Perceived obsolescence has taught us that it is too inconvenient to put some juice, or better yet water, into a thermos. Change is happening. There is another way; we have green chemistry, zero waste, and closed loop production. It is time to create a new system. Knowledge should dictate action, not obsolescence!

It’s Easy Being Greener

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It’s Easy Being Greener

“Green Car of the Year” By Greg Holman

ften when we think of doing something that is environmentally friendly, we think of compromise. Composting your food scraps takes a little extra time; buying local food requires shopping more carefully. Driving an ecofriendly vehicle means giving something up, right? Wrong. Enter the www.greencar. com 2009 “Green Car of the Year”: the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit our local Volkswagen dealer and experience this car first hand. General Sales Manager at Chico VW, Barry Lehrbaum, shared this amazing car with me: sleek European styling, excellent attention to detail, cavernous trunk space, solid construction, 140 hp, fuel economy in the forties, turbocharged diesel.... Wait. Did I just hear the word diesel? Now to be honest, my mind was flooded with thoughts of those 1980’s diesel Rabbits. They had the quietness of a semi-truck, school-bus smells, and pedal-to-the-floor acceleration. A turn of the key of the new Jetta quickly dispelled those myths. At idle, you can carry on a conversation almost forgetting the car is on. There is no smell, and it has an extremely sporty feel. Is this all for show? I step on the accelerator and quickly merge into traffic. I feel the involuntary smile begin to build. Is this an economy car? How? Surely I am driving the “sport” model. No, this is the same model that two Australians used to break the Guinness Book of World Records for best fuel economy on a trip to the lower 48 states. They did this in 20 days, 12 fill-

It’s Easy Being Greener

greencar.com 2009

“....fuel

economy without compromise. It’s safe, affordable, and fun to drive. German Engineering at an affordable price.”

Clean Diesel, Continued

With a MSRP in the $22-23,000 range, depending on transmission, the Jetta TDI is definitely worth a look. To quote Barry, “You get fuel economy without compromise. It’s safe, affordable, and fun to drive. German Engineering at an affordable price.” For more information visit: chicovolkswagen.com or VW.com ups, and a total distance of 9,419 miles. They averaged 58.82 miles per gallon! That is better than a hybrid, but without the concerns or premiums that come with battery banks. Now there are some good connotations that are true about diesel motors and apply to the TDI. Diesel owners often are repeat customers, citing less maintenance, torquey engines, and cars routinely lasting into the 200,000-300,000 miles range. Down sides? Well, with such a quiet motor, you need to be sure to put diesel - not gasoline in the tank. Diesel currently costs about 32 cents more than gasoline. However, there is a $1300 tax credit for people who purchase the Jetta TDI (that rebate will diminish in the future). Also, the price is a bit more than a gasoline vehicle of comparable size. VW includes 3 years of maintenance, and considering the life cycle of potentially 300k miles plus and the better fuel economy, an initial outlay of more money to start could be repaid in savings over time.

The Chico Connection Green Page Your Source For Green Links: Local and Beyond VISIT: www.thechicoconnection.com and click on “Green Living” Get Your Green On! 32 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

It’s Easy Being Greener

EWG’s Guide to Light Bulbs START with the fixtures you use most. Choose CFLs for locations where breakage is rare for instance, for ceiling fixtures rather than table lamps in high traffic areas or clip lamps. BUY a few test bulbs of several brands and try them out in different areas. With standard use, CFLs will last a long time -- all the more reason to make sure that as you consult the EWG guide, you and your family are comfortable with their quality of light. BUY CFLs bulbs with the lowest mercury content. The Energy Star logo is not a good indicator of low mercury bulbs. Instead choose from the 7 types EWG research shows have the least mercury: For online buying options visit ewg.org/greenlightbulbs Brand & bulb line

Mercury per bulb

Average life span

Earthmate Mini-Size Bulbs (13, 15, 20, & 23 Watt) about 1 mg

10,000 hours

Litetronics Neolite (10, 13, 15, 20, & 23 Watt)

about 1 mg

10,000 hours

Sylvania Micro-Mini (13, 20, & 23 Watts)

less than 1.5 mg

12,000 hours

Sylvania DURA-ONE (reflector bulbs)

less than 1.8 mg

15,000 hours

Feit Ecobulb

less than 2.5 mg

8-10,000 hours

MaxLite

1.2-2.5 mg

10,000 hours

Philips with Alto

1.23-2.7 mg

8-10,000 hours

DON’T use CFLs where mercury exposure is unacceptable or cleanup is difficult --- children’s rooms, playrooms, recreation rooms, workbenches and near irreplaceable rugs and furniture. DON’T use CFLs in closets and other spots lit for short periods. CFLs take 10 to 15 minutes to reach optimum light and energy efficiency. USE mercury-free bulbs such as LED (light emitting diodes) or halogen energy savers where CFLs don’t work. Also consider them for stairs and hallways where a CFL’s slow start-up poses a safety risk. Cleaning up broken CFL bulbs If you break a bulb follow EWG’s 10 step clean-up checklist [ewg.org/greenlightbulbs]. The most critical steps to remember: • Keep children and pregnant or nursing women away from the contaminated area. • Close doors and open windows to allow volatile mercury vapors to vent outdoors. • Leave the site for 5 to 15 minutes. • Scoop up bulb fragments and use tape to collect tiny particles. • Seal the waste in a glass jar with screw-top lid.

ewg.org/greenlightbulbs

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FOCUS on Green Business

Teeccino Caffé

Beyond Fair Trade: Creating New Trade By Caroline MacDougall

Fair Trade is an important and worthy certification that is available for large-scale commodities like coffee, tea and cotton grown in developing countries. This certification ensures that people who harvest these crops are given a living wage with safe working conditions and are protected from exploitation by large landholders. However, there is also a great need beyond the fair trade certified commodities. This is for the smallholder farmers, who often have less than one acre of land to support their families. It also applies to women and children living in rural locations who have never been able to earn an income. Harvesting herbs for use in herbal teas and herbal coffees creates new trade that provides much 34 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

needed income to support their families’ basic needs such as food and health care.

Creating Trade In Central America One company that is very active in creating new trade is Teeccino Caffé, the makers of Teeccino® Caffeine-free Herbal Coffee. The company has been sourcing herbs in developing countries since the 1970’s. As founder, I have designed herbal beverages for top tea companies in the US including

Chicory Farmer

The Republic of Tea, Yogi Tea, and Organic India as well as for Teeccino. It is my passion for preserving the rainforest that took me into Central American forests 30 years ago to find ingredients for herbal beverages that would give value to standing forests, thus protecting them from logging. In 1992, I created Rainforest Tea for The Republic of Tea and worked in remote villages in Veracruz, Mexico to help the villagers harvest allspice leaves and vanilla for export to the US. It was my first exposure to the plight of rural women whose value in their communities was undermined by their inability to earn income. Often dismissed as “cocineras” or “cooks”, women only began to gain status when they could contribute to their family’s income. The look of

It’s Easy Being Greener

pride and astonishment when women, along with their children, were paid for the herbs they had collected deeply impressed me and I vowed to search for more ingredients to bring new economic opportunities to rainforest villages. I set to work, creating Teeccino Herbal Coffee. The first flavor, Vanilla Nut, used vanilla beans from smallholder farmers in Veracruz. Vanilla flowers have to be hand pollinated, a time consuming task requiring lots of patience where women proved to be particularly good. Since vanilla is a very valuable crop, women’s social worth began to shift rapidly in these traditional communities dominated by men. Since women invest their income in their children’s well being, a source of income immediately begins to improve their children’s health and educational opportunities. Searching for a tree crop that would protect upper canopy rainforest trees led me to experiment with Ramon nuts, the seed of the fruit of the

Brosimum alicastrum tree, a 120 foot tall tree growing in Central American rainforests.

notes that made it the perfect ingredient to feature in a line of herbal coffees!

Ramon nuts were a traditional food of the Maya civilization

Creating new trade is a highrisk endeavor as so many challenges have to be overcome before a crop is commercially viable. It took many years to develop the correct harvest and roasting methods for Ramon nuts including time consuming studies for government permits and organic certification along with community organizing. Simply determining the time of year when the wild trees fruited was a challenge as weather patterns caused wildly different results each year.

Ramon Nut Branch

that called Ramon trees, “the corn tree”, because the nutrient-rich Ramon nut flour could be mixed with corn flour making it more nourishing. The Maya also drank Ramon nuts as a roasted beverage long before the Europeans brought coffee trees to be planted in Central America.

At last in 2006, Teeccino launched its line of Maya Herbal Coffees based on certified organic Ramon nuts, My excitement about Ramon wild harvested in the Maya nuts was double fold. Here was Biosphere Reserve and roasted the perfect crop that gave value in Guatemala. The harvest to a canopy tree comprising created work for women and 20% of the rainforest, thus children collecting nuts from protecting it from logging and trees growing close to their thereby protecting the forest’s homes and also for men who teeming life. Plus its roasted could forage deeper into the flavor profile was a lovely blend forest. Continued on page 36 of coffee and chocolate flavor w w w.communityseeds.com

Teeccino, Continued Ramon nuts have provided an additional source of income for these remote villages that depend on a variety of products that they can extract from the forest. Additionally, women have now learned how to cook and prepare them to improve the nutrition for their families.

a country that produces large quantities of conventional chicory. Working with Organic India’s agricultural team, I met with smallholder farmers from a region of India where land suitable to organic chicory is

Creating Trade With Small Holder Farmers In India In pursuit of organic certification for Teeccino, I ran into a major obstacle. One of Teeccino’s major ingredients, chicory root- an herb that has been grown and roasted for use as a coffee alternative for centuries in Europe- is difficult to grow organically for one simple reason. Its young seedlings are very sensitive to competition from weeds that have to be removed by hand to comply with organic regulations. Such work is too expensive in Europe and America, where conventional chicory is grown with an early application of weed killing chemicals. Providentially, my work developing Tulsi teas for Organic India took me to India, 36 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Ramon Farmers

available. Since smallholder farmers depend on the income from their land to support their families, convincing them to try growing new crops that will produce more income than their traditional crops is nevertheless difficult. There has been a devastatingly high rate of suicide of thousands of Indian farmers who are in debt due to failed crops and can’t face the shame they feel being unable to support their families. Organic farming has offered these farmers a way out of debt, but they need economic and

agricultural assistance to be able to make the transition away from conventional farming. The smallholder farmers had to be offered contracts for a certain amount of income for their acreage planted in chicory no matter what their yield might be. Of course, this becomes highly risky for small companies like Teeccino, since a failed crop can mean both substantial financial losses and lack of supply of an essential ingredient. Fortunately, in the first two years, small amounts of organic chicory were grown successfully for both the farmers and Teeccino. Now, a more ambitious crop is in the ground for harvest in 2009 that hopefully will allow Teeccino to use only organic chicory in 2010.

Creating New Trade Supports Family Education & Health It is Teeccino’s philosophy that corporate responsibility includes supporting social programs in the communities where its ingredients are

It’s Easy Being Greener

“It is Teeccino’s philosophy that corporate responsibility includes supporting social programs in the communities where its ingredients are harvested.” harvested. Teeccino donates 1% of sales from its Maya Herbal Coffees to help Maya communities in Central America where Ramon nuts are harvested. Teeccino’s contributions help support programs that improve the health of Maya children. Working with The Equilibrium Fund, www. theequilibriumfund.org, women in rural villages are educated on the harvest and preparation of Ramon nuts to feed their families. One result has been a program run by a women’s cooperative – the Alimentos Nutri-Naturale (Nutritious Natural Foods) to provide Ramon nut baked goods to Guatemalan school children. This project has helped reduced illness in children thanks to greater

nutrients and has, in turn, lowered the absentee rate in schools. With Vitamin Angels, www. vitaminangels.com the money raised helps support the organization’s nutritional supplement work preventing childhood blindness and malnutrition in Maya communities in Belize and Guatemala. Creating new trade depends on all of us. Without American customers for new and novel product lines, new trade can’t flourish. Without companies willing to risk launching new product lines that depend on ingredients that can’t be readily sourced, new trade can’t flourish.

willing to take risks to learn how to grow and harvest new crops, new trade can’t flourish. It takes all of us in a network linked together by common needs to create these opportunities that benefit everyone. From the families that harvest the new ingredients to the people who enjoy their health benefits and delicious flavors in the company’s products that rely on them, new trade is the bond that gives us the opportunity to help one another.

Without people living in developing countries that are

For more information about Teeccino and Teeccino products, visit their website: www.teeccino.com

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FOCUS on Local Green Business Green Clean

Eco Friendly Carpet Cleaning By Chris Floren

What Are The Benefits of Hiring an attracting dirt after your carpet is dry. Ever Environmentally Safe Carpet Cleaning Company? noticed how fast your carpets start tracking after your carpets are cleaned? Or those soda stains Conventional carpet cleaners use heavy that magically re-appear a week after cleaning? detergents that are acid based to loosen the dirt from the carpet fiber. The second step in the Green Clean uses its own ‘Greenclean,’ hydrogen cleaning process is to neutralize the acid with peroxide based solutions that keep carpets an alkaline based fiber solution, injected in the cleaner – longer. Our environmentally safe rinse cycle of the cleaning. You probably didn’t solutions are detergent-free. In fact, because know that the detergents are acids and acids they are hydrogen peroxide based, they are need to be neutralized with heavy chemicals like 100% safe and require no fiber/chemical rinse. an alkaline rinse. This continues to be the norm We rinse with clean, penetrating steam. Our safe in the home carpet cleaning process today. I am solutions eliminate allergens, are non-toxic and not suggesting that powerful detergents are not are residue free. Every time we clean carpets needed or required to do some heavy lifting in with our patented cleaning solutions, we are our industry. In fact, they are necessary in some pulling all the old detergents out of the carpet; applications like in restaurants and in industrial carpets stay cleaner-longer and are baby soft. It buildings. But even now those solutions are is really quite amazing! on the way out. It is important to know that today we have a very effective alternative to Environmentally safe carpet cleaning by Green toxic cleaners for cleaning our homes, including Clean costs the same as the old, conventional carpets, and we all can make a difference detergent method. We use a truck-mount unit without sacrificing results. with penetrating steam, industry proven to be the most effective way to clean your carpets, and Many people are highly allergic to detergents thoroughly remove all the harmful detergents. and they can be harmful to your family, small children and pets; not to mention what they You wouldn’t think of pouring a box of laundry do to our streams and rivers. The ugly truth is soap on your sheets before bed- would you? that in much of the detergents, acids are never So why do we leave abrasive soaps in our completely neutralized and high concentrations carpets that destroy our carpet fibers and of these acids have been building in your carpets are toxic to our kids? Well, we don’t have to for years. Ever had crunchy carpets after your anymore. By hiring an environmentally safe carpets have been cleaned? That’s detergents carpet cleaning company, you can reap so many and surfactants left behind. healthful benefits and enjoy soft, clean carpets. GreenClean is one such company. Detergents are designed to attract dirt and break it down. That is the good part. But the For more information about Green Clean in the detergents left behind in your carpets keep Butte County Area, call: (530) 570-5400. 38 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

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It’s Easy Being Greener

Green Spring Cleaning By Amy Behlke

It’s the season for spring cleaning, and Community Seeds is all for reducing clutter, minimizing messes and scrubbing our homes to a shine. However, using typical household cleaners to get the job done may not be the best idea. Typical store-bought cleaners almost always contain harmful and toxic chemicals that are not only very damaging to the environment, but they can be downright harmful to your health. Asthma and other breathing disorders, as well as cancer and central nervous system illnesses, have all been linked to exposure to some of the chemicals commonly found in typical household cleaners purchased and used by millions of Americans each year.

A few companies offering great natural cleaning options include: Method is a company devoted to creating a wide variety of safe, non-toxic products derived from

natural materials like soy, coconut and palm oils. We love that their company is committed to the environment as well. They reduce CO2 emissions from employee commute and travel by purchasing carbon offsets and using recyclable materials for packaging and bottles. A 25 ounce bottle of their all-purpose cleaner is available in five scents including French lavender, cucumber and winter berry for $4. (http://www.methodhome.com/)

Dr. Bronner’s offers a line of fair trade liquid and hand soaps that are completely biodegradable

and vegetable based. They are all made with certified fair trade and organic oils. Their Sal Suds allpurpose hard surface cleaner ($11.99 for 32 ounces) will cleanse any surface while being gentle on the skin. ( http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/LS.htm)

Mrs. Myers is known as a line of “aroma-therapeutic household cleaners.” All products are made

from naturally derived or safe synthetic ingredients and are biodegradable. Mrs. Myers products are also cruelty free and are never tested on animals. You can search for products on their website by fragrance or by cleaning type. A 16 ounce bottle of lemon verbena countertop spray costs $3.99 and a 32 ounce bottle of lavender all-purpose cleaner costs only $7.99, so the prices of these products are reasonable. (http://www.mrsmeyers.com/)

40 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Green Spring Cleaning

Thanks to the “Green Revolution” Thanks to the green revolution that has been taking place recently, consumers are lucky to have many options available to clean their homes without sacrificing the environment or their health. On another exciting note, these modern green cleaning options also do not sacrifice cleaning strength at all! These cleaners get the job done just as efficiently as their much more toxic and harmful versions.

Make your own natural cleaning products at home! See the recipes on the next page.

GreenCupboards finds the “greenest” and most effective products and conveniently bundles them in what they call “Cupboards.” All of the products have been tested and certified on the basis of five criteria: ingredients, toxicity, efficacy, manufacturing processes and packaging. (www.greencupboards.com)

Nature’s Source, SC Johnson’s new line of cleaning products, are made with natural,

biodegradable, plant-based ingredients, yet pack the punch of the cleaners you are used to buying, including Windex and Scrubbing Bubbles. They are offering a “starter kit” including the glass and surface cleaner, bathroom cleaner, all-purpose cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner plus a reusable tote for $18.99, with free shipping and handling. (https://www.naturessource-offer.com/)

Ecover is an international company committed to the production of ecological cleaners. One

example of this company’s dedication to the environment is the building of their ecological factory in 1992, which includes a 10,800 square-foot grass (sedum) roof. Ecover’s cleaning products are plant based, biodegradable, economical, are not tested on animals, and have a minimum impact on marine life. Bottles and caps are 100% recyclable. All-Purpose Cleaner can be purchased for $4.69. (www.ecover.com )

Simple Green is biodegradable, non-toxic, non-flammable, non-abrasive, and has been around

for over 30 years. The proof of their commitment to the environment comes not only in the safe cleaning products, but in their packaging as well, which is made of 100% recyclable PETE plastic bottles with 25%+ post-consumer content, printed with soy inks. These products are very affordable as well. For example, a 32 ounce bottle of Natural’s glass and surface cleaner in rosemary mint scent costs only $3.99. (http://www.simplegreen.com/) w w w.communityseeds.com

It’s Easy Being Greener

Green Spring Cleaning Continued

Make Your Own Cleaning Products at Home!

If you want to avoid toxic chemicals and save some money as well, consider making some of your household cleaning products yourself! Using just a few safe ingredients usually found in the home, anyone can make a wide variety of great cleaning products using these recipes from Mother Earth News.

Magic Window Wash

Soap Scum Fighting Spray

What You Need: • 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar • 1/2 teaspoon liquid soap or detergent • 2 cups water • A few drops of essential oils, for scent (optional) • Makes 2 1/4 cups Directions: 1. Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle 2. Shake to blend. 3. Spray on surface 4. Remove with a squeegee, paper towel or newspaper

What You Need: • 1 teaspoon borax • 1/2 teaspoon liquid detergent • 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar • 2 cups hot water • Makes 2 1/4 cups Directions: 1. Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle 2. Shake to blend 3. Spray 4. Follow with a sponge 5. Rinse 6. Repeat

Dish Soap

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

What You Need: • 1 ounce liquid castile soap • 2 cups water • 1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin • 5 to 10 drops lavender essential oil (Optional- lavender is antibacterial) Directions: 1. Combine the soap and water in a jar 2. Add the glycerin and lavender (if using). 3. Stir to blend. 4. Use as you would any other cleaner 42 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

What You Need: • 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar • 2 cups water • Makes 2 1/4 cups. Directions: 1. Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle 2. Shake 3. Spray along the inside rim of the toilet 4. Leave on for 15 minutes 5. Scrub with a toilet brush.

It’s Easy Being Greener

Get Organized and Reduce Clutter Organize For Easy Photo Finding

Try this simple system for making photo retrieval of specific pictures faster and easier.

By Pete Holman

Over the past few years, most of us have moved from a film camera to some kind of digital camera. One of the big reasons that we made this transition was the significant on-going cost of film and processing. These costs also limited the amount of photos taken and limited use of the equipment that most of us could afford. One of the big drawing points of the digital photography world is that we can take all the pictures that we want at a substantially lower cost. Most of us started with a simple digital camera. I started with a Sony Mavica because I could save my pictures directly to 3½ inch disks. This worked fine for a while until I found that I could only put six pictures on each disk at the resolution that I wanted to photograph. This was soon replaced with a memory stick adaptor so that I could take a significant number of pictures at any one time. As time went on, I graduated from 16-megabyte memory sticks to 4-gigabyte memory sticks for my present camera. The good thing about the larger capacity is that you can take a lot of pictures. The bad thing is also “You can take a lot of pictures.” The 4-gigabyte memory stick will hold almost 1000 pictures! I soon realized that I could not just

leave the pictures on the memory stick. Fortunately, it is not difficult or expensive to move the pictures to a computer and then burn them to a CD or DVD. This worked well for a while, as I would write on each CD the dates and what the pictures were that were on that disk. At some point, the face of the disk became too small to hold all of the information about all of the pictures. At about the same time, I began getting requests from the family like, “Do you have such and such picture?” Or “What pictures do you have of so and so?” I knew that I had to begin to do something differently or I might never be able to find many of the pictures that I wanted. Saving the pictures to CDs and DVDs worked well, but it was still difficult to find a particular picture when I was looking for it. I have now developed a system to help organize my photos and reduce the stress of finding them. When I fill a memory stick or change to another one, I make two copies of it on CDs or DVDs. I then make thumbnail prints of all of the pictures on that disk with the filename printed below it. I am using a program call “ACDsee,” but I am sure that many of the photo programs will do the same thing. I have found that I can put up to 80 pictures on a page (8 columns and 10 rows) and still be w w w.communityseeds.com

Organizing Your Photos

Green Spring Cleaning Continued

. 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

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

able to see enough detail to find a particular picture. These are printed on photo paper and then placed back to back in sheet protectors. One of the disks goes into a box as a backup and the other is placed in a three ring binder sleeve. The disk and all of the pictures on the disk are then placed in a three ring binder with dividers between each set. These are being kept in chronological order. We have a binder for each camera in the family and also binders for special projects that relate to the interests of the family members. What this system does, is allow anyone to quickly leaf through the pictures without getting on the computer and going through a pile of disks. When they find a picture that they want, they can quickly make a copy or print of it. Since we can now get large USB portable disks at a reasonable price, I think that my next step will be to put all of the pictures on one of those disks and organize them into subdirectories that match the groups that are in the binders. This should make retrieval of specific pictures faster and easier. I found that it takes a little work to set the system up, but if you get requests for pictures, like I do, the time is well spent. 44 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

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

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Green Crafts It’s Easy Being Greener

SPRING

By Amy Behlke and DeAnna Holman

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.

Greener Baskets

Make your Easter a little more eco-friendly with tips on making baskets that are less wasteful, much healthier, and lots of fun!

Eco Cinco de Mayo

Using a used brown paper ~ for sack, you can make a pinata your Cinco de Mayo fiesta or decorate it for your individual party theme. Page 48 Image provided by www.artistshelpingchildren.org

Knead Some Fun Organic Color Fun

Get recipes for non-toxic, organic dye that you can use on your eggs. Get creative this Easter and have some healthy fun doing it.

46 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

With a few ingredients, you can make your own organic play dough. The kids can help and then play with their own creation. Page 48

It’s Easy Being Greener

Tips For an Eco Friendly Easter By Amy Behlke Natural Egg Dyes

Many natural options for dying eggs are available. We encourage our readers to check out some of the websites listed below and give safe, natural dyes a try this Easter! http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/03/09/the-incredible-edible-egg-dye http://whatscookingamerica.net/Eggs/EasterEggDye.htm http://www.plantea.com/Easter-eggs-natural-dyes.htm http://www.naturemoms.com/blog/2007/04/03/all-natural-easter/

Ideas for a “Green” Easter Basket No one can resist putting together a beautiful Easter basket for their kids. This year, send your kids out to hunt for those eggs with a more eco-friendly version of the traditional Easter basket. The following are some tips for making an Easter basket that is better for the environment and healthier for your kids! • If you like to sew, it is easy to create a simple Easter bag from recycled or previously used fabrics. For nostalgia, use an Easter dress or shirt that no longer fits your growing child and use it as fabric for their Easter egg hunt bag! If you aren’t the sewing type, Fisheye offers beautiful handmade Easter bags made from recycled fabrics at http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_ id=9611388. • Visit a second-hand or thrift store and purchase a used basket or Easter bucket. • Instead of lining your child’s Easter basket with non-recyclable plastic grass, why not use the real thing?! Wheat Berry Grass can be sprouted in just 1-2 weeks and can be planted or composted after Easter is over. Plastic grass will sit in our landfill for thousands of years. For more information visit: http://www.care2. com/greenliving/sprout-an-easter-basket.html • Fill your child’s Easter basket with fair-trade chocolates and organic, natural treats. A fair-trade Easter basket is available at: http://store.gxonlinestore.org/gbeasterkids.html and some other great sources for natural and organic candies include YummyEarth Natural Lollipops (http://www.yummyearth.com/), FruitaBu Organic Smooshed Fruit (http://www.fruitabu.com/),and candy from the Squirrel’s Nest Natural Candy Store . • Etsy (www.etsy.com) is great for handmade gift ideas. Check out the adorable bunnies made from recycled bottles from Yuzucha. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_10&listing_ id=20190833&ga_search_query=bunny+recycled+plastic+bottle s&ga_search_type=tag_title_description. w w w.communityseeds.com

Crafts Green

SPRING

Cinco de Mayo: ~ Paper Bag Pinata You’ll need: • Paper bag • Newspaper • Hole punch • Treats • String or yarn • Craft Glue • Crepe paper/ Items for decoration

Instructions: 1. Add treats to your bag. See note below for more eco-friendly and healthier treat suggestions to use as alternatives for the typical plastic items traditionally used in piñatas. 2. Fill the remaining space in the bag with wadded-up newspaper. Be sure not to pack the bag too tightly, as it may become heavy if too much newspaper is added. Fill to about one-inch from the top of the bag. 3. Close the top of the bag and fold it over, punching holes all along the top edge of the bag. 4. Use the string or yarn to lace through the holes across the top of the bag and tie the two ends of the string together, creating a hanger for the bag. 5. Using the crepe paper and other decorative items, make the bag as festive as you see fit. Have fun with this step! One eco-friendly and seasonal suggestion is to cover the bag with some fresh spring leaves or to decorate it with other items from nature! 6. Try to avoid the plastic toys typically used in piñatas, as they are not very eco-friendly. Instead, consider filling your piñata with pencils, crayons, coins, fabric, wooden toys, boxes of raisins, fruit bars, granola bars, popcorn balls, etc.

Organic Homemade Play Dough This popular, organic play dough recipe is one that we have made for home and to donate to our kids’ classrooms. You can add different coloring and flavor extracts to make it more unique. Ingredients 1 cup organic flour ½ cup sea salt 2 Tbs. cream of tartar 1 cup filtered water 1 Tbs. vegetable oil Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in a saucepan. Combine water and oil in a small bowl. Gradually stir into the flour mixture. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until very thick, stirring constantly. Remove the dough and allow cooling for a few minutes. Knead until it is smooth. Store the dough in an air tight container until it is play time. Special thanks to Cyndi Haapanen of Durham for this play dough recipe! 48 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Easy Being Greener

w w w.communityseeds.com

Entertainment

A Global Perspective By Pete Parada

Winston Churchill said, “America will always do the right thing, but only after exhausting all the other options.” That same logic could easily be applied to the current state of our environment. There seems to be only two schools of thought in the debate about global warming: either we’re needlessly and maliciously destroying our planet, or we’re not. There seems to be no middle ground, and according to the documentary, The 11th Hour, maybe there shouldn’t be. Produced and narrated by Leonardo 50 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

DiCaprio, the film looks unflinchingly at the climate crisis and explores many new and exciting ways to combat it. Notable scientists and scholars from all walks of life lend their expertise and opinions to try to get us away from our utter dependence on oil and coal technology and move us toward embracing newer, cleaner and renewable energy sources. The usual suspects, such as solar and wind power, are obviously represented, but also joined by many new and interesting ideas. My favorite was something called Trident energy, which uses the motion of the waves in the oceans to create energy cleanly and

Entertainment with seemingly no pollution or waste to dispose of. Another segment looks at the dramatic increase in the world’s population as a side-effect of our ever-increasing use of oil. The fact that there were twice as many humans on earth at the time of Barack Obama’s inauguration this year as there were in 1960 for John F. Kennedy’s was astounding. Many people’s first impression of the film might be to dismiss it as a Hollywood actor’s vanity project to capitalize on the success of the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, but where that film focused much time and energy on how we got here, The 11th Hour aims its sights on how we can begin the process of changing our ways. The obstacles are large and almost overwhelming- Big Oil companies like Exxon/Mobil (that generate more money by themselves than every automobile manufacturer in the world combined) are obviously not going away without a fight. But I wonder at what point these companies, and especially the people who profit from them, can take a step back and say, “That’s enough. We’ve made enough money. Can we possibly continue this in good conscience?” That seems to be the great question of the film: Have we had enough? Are we ready to buckle down and do the work, the enormous change that it will take, to save not only our species, but the thousands of others which are becoming extinct each and every year? This didn’t just happen on its own. WE DID THIS; to ourselves; to the only planet that we will ever have. I’ve heard the argument from those who would make global warming out to be some sort of myth or urban legend. They say that the earth has been here for so long and seen so much, that we couldn’t possibly affect it in such a

negative way that we would completely destroy it. But their argument misses the larger point made at the very end of the film: the earth isn’t going anywhere. In time it will cleanse itself of all that we’ve done if it is allowed to. It will live on and thrive without us. It has all the time it needs. WE do not. We can’t continue to survive in the direction that our environment is headed. The earth will eventually take care of itself. Whether we are still here to see it or not is entirely up to us. All of us need to take a hard look at how we impact our environment and what we can do to change for the better. I know it’s not easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. To continue our ways and to pass the buck to the next generation is no longer an option. The buck has gone as far as it can. It stops with us.

For more information on the movie, The 11th Hour, and for ideas on what you can do, go to

http://wip.warnerbros.com/11thhour/mainsite/site. html.

To view Leonardo DiCaprio’s MySpace green page, go to: http://profile.myspace.com/index.

cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=176085693 w w w.communityseeds.com

Local Artists “Make It So”

Local Folk musicians look back at the journey leading to their latest CD release. By Bob Kirkland

Peggy and Bob Kirkland began performing as an acoustic duo in the very early 1990’s. Since both were fans of Star Trek – The Next Generation, Captain Jean Luc Picard’s signature phrase seemed a good reflection of mutual encouragement to get out of the living room and perform in public. Their first performance as “Make It So” was at the Butte Folk Society’s annual Home Grown Music Festival. The audience response was gratifying and the duo began to play regularly in and around Chico. Bob started writing songs with local musician Lloyd Foote. They were pleased with the results and Lloyd joined Make It So. The band became a quartet with the addition of long-time friend Jack Lemley on bass. After Jack was replaced by Hugh Santos, the 52 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

band opened the main stage at the first Chico World Music Festival in Bidwell Park.

encounter with a local music legend changed the sound of the band forever.

Bob and Peggy left Chico in August 1996 to relocate to Nashville where Bob pursued his song writing at the source. The final Make It So show before the move was as opening act for Peter Rowan and Jerry Douglass at beautiful Laxson Auditorium on the Chico State campus. In Nashville, Bob made some contacts and musical friends, but the couple knew they were Californians at heart. Bob and Peggy returned to Chico in August, 1997.

On December 31, 1997 Peggy and Bob played at a New Year’s Eve jam session at the home of Oroville’s Dave Houser. Also in attendance was harmonica virtuoso Bob Littell. The couple was awestruck when, at the end of the evening, Littell asked if he might come to rehearsal the following week. He quickly integrated his signature playing into the musical mix. The sound of the band and Bob and Lloyd’s ever-growing crop of original songs, demanded documentation. Make It So recruited bassist Jerry Logan and embarked on the recording of their first CD at Starshine Audio, the recording studio of Hugh Santos. Hugh’s absolute mastery

The band recruited Brian Burtenshaw on upright bass and resumed playing occasional dates. Things continued uneventfully until a chance

Local Artist

of recording, mixing and mastering techniques contributed greatly to the quality of “The Ride,” released in January 2000. Bob and Lloyd wrote nine of the twelve songs on the album. Foote left the band after recording was finished. Lucy Smith signed up to sing and play banjo and guitar. Her debut with the band was a successful and well-attended CD release concert at the Chico Women’s Club. Jerry Logan left the band shortly thereafter. Hugh Santos, after many years of pleading from Bob and Peggy, was finally able to make a full time commitment to Make It So and became “The Rock Upon Which the Rest of the Band Stands” on electric bass. Bob and Hugh began writing songs together, and the band played rewarding dates at Gold Country Casino and the Lake Almanor Country Club Summer Concert Series.

After two musically satisfying years, Lucy Smith left the band and the band, after much deliberation, decided not to replace her. Make It So has been a quartet ever since. Hugh closed the recording studio and spent several years installing a digital studio in his home. Recording for the second CD began in January, 2007. All four band members had life-changing experiences during the following months. Finally, after heroic work by Hugh, “Headlights and Hubcaps” was released in January, 2009. The band continues to MAKE IT SO! For more information about Make It So, to contact band members, to purchase CD’s or to download their music, visit their website: www.makeitsomusic.com

• • • • • •

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Reading Garden

Reading Takes Root in Paradise By Karen Balestieri

ay Paden, Resource Specialist at the Ponderosa Elementary School in Paradise, California, envisioned a welcoming place where children and classes would come to read and learn in a beautiful outdoor setting. It would be a place where reading would be seen as a leisure activity and not be limited to the classroom; where students would enjoy reading in their free time- alone or with their buddies. As a result of this vision, Kay initiated the Ponderosa Reading Garden and was instrumental in its design.

School Districts’ grounds keeper, Chris Bolshazy, to implement the design. Chris also donated many hours of his own time installing the sprinkler system for the garden. Nearly all the labor was provided by Ponderosa staff and parents who donated their time and muscle on several Saturdays to do the actual planting.

A mural was the idea of the Reading Center staff: Wendy McKinnon, Debbie Sharrett and Karen Quillen-Lancy. Their goal was to create a beautiful mural as a backdrop for the Reading Garden that would inspire and celebrate the love of reading and children’s literature. The Paradise Recreation Center’s staff member, artists, Chris Russell, Sarah McKinnon-Russell Jim Murphy, assisted Kay in the design of the and Matt Russell worked tirelessly long days, reading garden. Many of the local nurseries in all kinds of weather. The mural will serve as assisted with the project. Reid Nursery provided consultation on the selection of plants an inspiration for countless young readers for years to come. and Mendon’s Nursery helped to organize the generous donations made by Ponderosa The garden continues to be a work in progress families, classrooms and staff. made possible by the generosity of so many in the community. Kay worked closely with the Paradise Unified 54 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Photo: Ryan McCausland, 4th grader at Ponderosa Elementary School, takes advantage of the peaceful Reading Garden during his lunchtime.

Community Seeds’ Suggested Readings

Off the Shelf

If you want to read for fun, inspiration, or if you are looking for a few tips on how to live more sustainably, there is something here for everyone.

Teen SelectionGeneration Green, The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life, by Linda Sivertsen, Tosh Sivertsen “Every generation thinks they want to change the world. If the latest generation is serious about it, Tosh and Linda provide the blueprint. This book is deep and yet fun and smart and filled with great tips, facts, stories, and interviews. Every school needs to have Generation Green as part of their curriculum!” -- Ed Begley, Jr., for Discovery’s Planet Green

Toddler SelectionI Can Save the Earth! One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle (Little Green Books) by Alison Inches (Author) and Viviana Garofoli (Illustrator). Max, the Little Monster is cute, but this furry green monster is an “environmental nightmare.” He is always doing things that are less than eco friendly. When his over use of electricity leads to a power outage, he discovers the wonderful world outside and he learns how he can make a difference.

Adult SelectionHot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution-and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman In this book, Friedman, a former White House reporter, examines the advantages of going green and how conservation and climate change affect our future and the future of politics. He explains how globalization and a green movement can be a great thing for the future, in spite of any possible climate changes.

School-Age Reader SelectionA Forest Of Stories by Rina Singh (Author), Helen Cann (Illustrator) Tiffany from www. naturemoms.com/ blog writes, ”This book tells the story of seven magical trees from around the world including the Kapok tree, the Cherry Blossom tree, and the Palm tree. These trees were around long before man and in a sense are our living ancestors. We have a relationship with them now that is strikingly unfair as we accept from them a multitude of gifts and we often give nothing in return. It goes on to show us all of the gifts that trees give us and why they should have a special place in our lives and hearts.”

Classic SelectionPulitzer Prizewinning novel, The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck Buck tells the story of an honest farmer and his giving wife and how they face the hardships of the political and social upheavals of China, as it moved into the twentieth century. Buck shows, through her classic novel, the importance of simplicity in one’s life when dealing with a changing society. The novel touches on many universal themes, such as women’s rights, family bonds, spiritual conflicts, moral dilemma, class differentiation and the conflicts involved with the a changing, modernizing culture. w w w.communityseeds.com

Family

A Fabulous Green Birthday Party By Jennifer Smeltser

My little boy is turning seven this month. The last time I threw him a birthday bash, eco-friendly consciousness was not on my mind. I did not violate the “green law” because although I was not thinking green, I was thinking frugal. Somewhere along the line, I believe I earned some “green points.” This year, I am doing things a little more differently, still frugal, but definitely a little more green. Some of the changes I have made over the past few years include moving from using paper plates, napkins and cups, and plastic utensils to now using silverware, reusable dishes (mostly glass), and linens for napkins and table cloths. I have a little bit more laundry, and trying not to panic while watching my two year old carry his glass plate from the counter to the table, has been a challenge. But I believe in the long run, it is worth it. We are keeping his birthday party simple this year with only family, but I was amazed at the green options now available for parents to throw the ultimate party, while still observing their eco-friendly lifestyles.

Put Your Finger On it

Serving finger foods versus a full meal is another way to reduce waste. Finger foods require only plates (reusable), napkins (cloth) and fingers (reusable). If you choose to use utensils and party supplies, then Green Party Goods is your place for planet friendly goodie bags, toys, and serving items. 56 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Location, Location, Location

Having the birthday party at your home, not only cuts down on the frenzy of getting everything set-up because you are already there, but aides in savings because there is no rental fee for the party location. If your home is a little bit too small for what you have planned, then you may also consider using the grounds at a local park or nature center which provides a day of natural entertainment for the birthday child, as well as for their guests. Instead of payment only for the site, the monies you pay may partially, or in full, go towards maintaining the non-profit organization where the party is held.

Birthday Party With a Purpose

Although we know we are celebrating the day of a child’s birth, it does not mean the party has to be all about them. As you celebrate your children, make sure that they understand that their guests are just that: “guests,” and they are being treated on party day, too. Along with the spirit of giving, you may want to have a theme of generosity which may include allowing your guests to make a difference in a cause that is special to your child and/or your family. ECHOage is a generosity theme preparation site in one swift “click.” You choose the cause and the guests make a monetary donation which is divided up between “the purchase of ONE special gift for your child and a purchase that supports ONE meaningful cause of your choice.” This is a great opportunity to teach your child, and possibly their guests, about environmental, as well as social issues that are important to your family, while inspiring others to do the same.

Fabulous Green Party

Invitations

Once the logistics have been worked out (location, date, time, etc.), inviting family and friends is actually the easy part. • E-vites have become really popular and are available through many online resources. • Release the creative juices and make that special invitation for your little ones birthday party. • If putting the party together is creative enough for you, then there are many pre-made, recycled cards available from companies like Blue Whale Invitations.

Be Grateful

My Gift to You

Fortunately, my children’s taste in toys is quite affordable. We give them a choice of one toy which causes them to seriously think about their decision before they make it. Rather than giving them many toys which will probably get little use, they receive one special gift that is treated with care and truly appreciated. Another thought is to have a gift exchange where each guest, as well as the birthday child, chooses one of their own gently used (or never used) toys to exchange at the party. To ensure that everyone is “satisfied” with their gift, you may want to set parameters for the type of gifts that will be exchanged (ex: dolls only, books about a specific topic, action toys, etc.). You can also follow the “one gift in, one gift out” rule if they receive multiple toys. For every new toy they receive, your child can donate one of their existing, gently used toys to a charity.

The day after my son’s big bash, we sat There is no gift wrapping required, but if you down with some leftover card stock prefer to deliver a gift dressed in decorative and he created thank you notes that attire, then visit sites like Lucky Crow for reusable even impressed me. He handwrote retro and organic “wrapping” options for gifts a message, drew a picture of his gift, and goodie bags. and we included a picture of him using his gift. Needless to say, expressing gratitude took on a whole new meaning for him. For the younger crowd, you may consider using pre-made thank you Whether you go the traditional route notes made from recycled stock. There and serve cake for the party or decide to is no free-hand required, just a whole do something a little bit different like serving cupcakes (without the paper wrapper), brownies, lotta’ coloring fun.

Let’s Eat Cake!

Whatever decision you make about the type of celebration you have for your child, include them in the preparation. Try not to pedestal them and instead let them help serve their guests. Treat this beginning of a new year for them as a teachable moment, and remember to show them how special they are to you.

or some other delectable treat, make it at home. As a self-proclaimed dessert connoisseur, I have perused many cookbooks and online resources to create a nice stash of yummy dessert recipes. Your ingredients can be organic and natural, and because it’s your party, you can serve what you want. One of my favorite dessert resources is MY Sweet Vegan. Each page is full of delicious recipes that are sure to please your guests.

Family

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Diary of a Mom

Any parent knows that caring for a child when they are sick, is a challenge. Just knowing someone else out there has been through it, gives other parents a sense of solace. Read the diary of Community Seeds writer, and mom, Tara Donnell as she cares for her sick son. You’ll find a similarity in her struggle and realize a small ounce of humor can be found by reflecting on those difficult hours.

Diary of a Mom Caring for a Sick Son By Tara Donnell

Friday Today we went to a friend’s house for a play date with her 3-year-old girl. The first 30 minutes of the play date go great and the kids are squealing with laughter. The next 90 minutes are not as great, as they can’t seem to agree on anything and are easily annoyed. Suddenly, it is too quiet in the house and I go to check on my son, Brian. He is lying down on the sofa. Not a good sign. He complains of a tummy ache so I grab him, say goodbye to my friend, and whisk him home without incident. He is lethargic all day and the two of us actually take a nap together in my bed. This has not happened since he was a baby. At night he gets a low fever. Hopefully, he’ll power through it and feel better tomorrow.

Saturday Brian is doing ok. No fever and it seems like he is feeling better. We go out for some family fun: bowling, followed by pizza. In the evening, we snuggle up for the movie, Horton Hears a Who. Brian flees the room at the end of the movie, saying he is scared about what is happening to Horton. As I try to calm Brian down, I notice he feels hot. I take his temperature and he has a fever of 100. So, we give him some medicine and he goes to bed. I hear him coughing off and on all night. Sunday My husband and I wake up in the morning to the sound of Brian coughing. He has a low fever and looks miserable. He is lethargic and out of it all day. We put him to bed early and he coughs w w w.communityseeds.com

Family off and on all night. I struggle to get to sleep and I put in earplugs. Then I turn on a white noise machine, and finally fall asleep with a pillow over my head. I feel twinges of mommy guilt, but decide getting a good night’s sleep is the best thing for the whole family. Besides, my husband is snoring next to me and I am jealous. Monday Brian looks like a zombie and has a low fever. I call the doctor to ask about his cough. The nurse said she does not want to alarm me, but that based on his symptoms, he should be seen. I ask what his symptoms could

room, but since he doesn’t seem to be struggling for air I decide to watch and wait. At 1:00 a.m., my husband wakes up and we discuss the situation. He agrees we’ve done all we can and thinks Brian will be ok. I try to feel reassured, but don’t. My husband falls back to sleep. I start to feel desperate. I remember when Brian was a baby, I would lay in the recliner with him on my chest and he would relax and fall asleep. I decide to try it. Brian willingly comes with me out onto the couch, but instead of climbing on my lap, he plops himself down across the quilts I’ve set down on the couch to use to

unless I take him to the emergency room, there really is nothing more I can do for him. I don’t think he is bad enough to go to the hospital, so why am I torturing myself sitting here on the couch in the dark? I put Brian back in his bed and crawl into mine. After a half hour, Brian is asleep and no longer coughing. I, however, don’t fall asleep for another two hours because I am too keyed up with worry. My husband continues to snore and I resist the urge to poke him. Tuesday Brian wakes up and is able to drink some juice and eat a few

“I, however, don’t fall asleep for another two hours because I am too keyed up with worry. My husband continues to snore and I resist the urge to poke him.” mean and she said it could be bronchitis, croup, or pneumonia. I start to get nervous and ask when we can come in; she says tomorrow at 11a.m.! Monday Night It is bedtime and my husband and I go through the nightly ritual of “the Brian cough reduction” routine. We give him honey and Benadryl (separately), rub Vicks Vapor Rub on his chest, prop up his pillows, turn on the humidifier, and keep our fingers crossed these things will work. They do, for two hours. I wake up at 12:30 a.m. and he’s coughing again. I am worried. I wonder if I should take him to the emergency 60 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

cover us. I encourage him to come and lay by me. At this point, I am still living in a fantasy world and imagine him snuggling up to me while my mommy powers work their magic. His breathing will become regular, the cough will subside, and we will drift off peacefully to sleep together. Reality comes crashing down as my son coughs on the quilts and kicks and moans at me when I try to sooth him. I recline on the couch and try to get one blanket out from under him for myself with limited success. I feel cold, tired and defeated as I sit on the couch listening to my son cough. Slowly it dawns on me that

Cheerios before passing out again on a big pillow on his floor. I take him to the doctor and have to go to the separate, sick waiting room. There are signs posted in bold, black, capital letters all over the small office about the separate room, but as I set my son down and start to pay, the receptionist reminds me that we have to go to the sick waiting room. Once we are in sick room, my son slumps into the chair and makes himself at home. I try not to think about all the horrible diseases floating around the room and pick up a copy of People to distract me. Finally we get to see the doctor. Brian sits passively, a sure sign he is very sick. We

Diary of a Mom have never made it through a doctor appointment without Brian having an emotional breakdown. The doctor says Brian has an infection in both ears. “Do your ears hurt?” he asks Brian. Brian looks blank and says “no.” The doctor says he also has an infection in his lungs and writes out prescriptions for antibiotics and an inhaler. An hour later, I am at the drive thru picking up the prescriptions. I try a new pharmacy because it is closer to my house. After waiting for several minutes, the clerk tells me I am in the wrong line. I curse silently under my breath: How can there be a wrong line at the drive through? Apparently the clerk sensed my frustration and explained that prescriptions

can’t be sent through the shoot because they get stuck in the ceiling. I back up and get in the other line and think to myself about how ridiculous this pharmacy is: Why don’t they have a sign posted?! I look up and see the signs “drop off” and “pick up” posted overhead. Sigh.

We get home and I give Brian his medicine, which he takes easily. Then I try to teach him how to use the inhaler, which is not so easy. Brian begins to

do better after a nap later in the day, but still looks bad. I miss my little boy and want him back. I feel sad looking into his tired, red eyes and hearing him cough and hack all day. At night, the three of us finally get a good night’s sleep. Wednesday Brian is doing better. He still coughs and looks tired, but is more active than he has been in the past few days. For example, he followed me around when I was vacuuming and made a game of trying to get me to run over objects that shouldn’t be vacuumed. I knew he was really on the mend when he gave me a sly grin and then dumped his bowl of dry Cheerios all over the family room floor (yes, the floor I just vacuumed). It’s good to have him back!

Tracy Lynn Photography

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.tracylynnphotography.com (530) 518 - 7431 Join Perry as he gathers treasures, makes new friends and learns life lessons!

Check Out

Kid's Page!

Visit the website for more information and the author signing schedule.

www.TheChicoConnection.com

Your Source For kid Related Web Links!

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Family

in the N m r o t s r e d Thun

ight

crack of the e h T . y k s e th g down from e the flash of a camera. in h s ra c e m k ca ing looked li thunder as it tn e h g th li f e o h T le . b whip I felt the rum e crack of a th e my face as I k li n o d e d d e n d u n o u s o r p et in thunde under my fe h rain. The ra in it ra w f p o u h r s e lu th s The to ga gather rain. dles began s d u le p d d e u th p e e th Beside m e sky. I heard th t a ly k ic u glanced q my ears. ould smell c I to d ic n s a u d m u e hm sounded lik overflow wit to t u o b a s wa looked like it t e fe y m r e d ir. The grass un rass fill the a g f o t n e c s the new ight for me. n g n ri p s g n uly fascinati This was a tr

Age 11 By Nate M.,

Dr. Suess by

James B.,

Paradise, CA , Age 4

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

62 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Owen

YOUR WEDDING It all happened on that day in May When you took your vows before the Lord to part never, ever, happen what may You took your vows and kissed each other Witnessed by your parents and brothers The pastor teased Mommy and said she was late It wasn’t just a regular date I wish I had been there to witness that scene It must have been happier than the happiest dream ! You ate chocolate off each other’s noses Mom’s cheeks were blooming like the prettiest roses Now you live at home with all of your brood Feeding us healthy and organic food We never want to make you sad You two have made our lives so glad Laughing and joking and having fun We have such good times under the sun! I love you both with all my heart And that is really just the start! HAPPY SEVENTEENTH ANNIVERSARY ! Love, Your Oldest Daughter Katrina (Written for her parents on the occasion of their 17th anniversary at age 10)

Kids Space

Wistful Wind Storm By Taylor H., Age 11 Rain plunges through the sodden air, crash-landing on the roof. The wind howls sending trees to the ground as if they were dominoes. The fresh smell of pine fills the air as the rain pounds on the fallen branches.

n, Age 2, Ma

galia, CA

The light tendrils of water run quietly across the window pane, sliding gracefully along. My cat curls up lovingly on my lap, the scent of damp fur reaching my nose as she finds her place. The power flickers out with a soft hum, not bothering me as I gaze out at the trees. I open the window to let in some fresh air, the thick taste of pine coating my tongue like syrup. The lone creaking of an old gate reached my ears, barely audible above the strong whistling of the wind. The storm seems to quiet as evening approaches. Wind chimes on the patio tinkle softly as if they are speaking to the sky. The rain subsides, a glint of orange and yellow sunlight finding its way through the layer of clouds. The sunlight hits the grass making stray raindrops sparkle like lost diamonds.

Age 6, Emily H., CA Durham,

As the sun sets, the clouds are filled with fiery oranges and soft pinks. I slowly close the window while the drowsy cat stretches lazily and slinks away. A silent yawn escapes my lips as I find my way to my room. A beautiful ending, bringing warmth to the shivery day.

E C A P S S KID Catarina F., A ge

6, Durham, C

w w w.communityseeds.com

SPRING

G FUN

Out and About

Out and About: LOCAL Destinations

Travel Tips on Adventures Not to be Missed

ne of our favorite local destinations in Northern California is Feather Falls, which is the location of an approximately 600 foot water fall, plunging from a rocky bluff. It is the 6th highest water fall in the United States. Everyone who has lived in Butte County awhile has heard of it; most “plan” on going there sometime, but few have made the trip. The falls overlook was a romantic spot we hiked to for one of our first dates, and where we became engaged, three years later. Aside from being a romantic place to propose, the Feather Falls hike offers scenic changes in landscape and colorful wildlife.

Northern California

Feather Falls A Great Hike With a Big Payoff By DeAnna and Greg Holman Photographs by Greg Holman 66 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Located outside of Oroville, the Feather Falls Scenic Area in Plumas National Forest (elevation 2500 ft.), is the starting place for the day hike up to the water falls. There is mountain bike, pet and foot access. The trails are open year round, but the best time to see the falls in full force is in the spring when the snows are melting. If you stick to the trails, you will be in for a sight. The everchanging landscape, “hobbitlike” feel of the trail around Frey Creek, and the countless

Feather River Falls

miniature waterfalls on the inside of each switchback are sure to please any nature lover. If you are lucky, you might see a swarm of ladybugs in late winter or early spring, or a maroon colored salamander in the creek. By all means, stop often to see the natural world around you. You will have to continue to remind yourself that the amazing place is less than an hour drive from most of Butte County. We would recommend starting the hike in the morning. Many have found themselves (ourselves included) hiking in the dark because they did not start early enough. There are a few ways to make the hike. It is a 9 mile total hike, with an 8 mile loop taking you to a 1 mile path to the falls. Many guides recommend taking the 4.5(gentle rolling hills) mile hike on the way up and the 3.5(steep down) mile hike on the way back. We followed that advice once. After making the steepest 1.5 mile climb at the end of the hike, we vowed never to take the short trail out again. Unless you are an athlete or experienced hiker looking for a challenge: short trail in, long trail out. Although there is there is a path that leads to the top of Feather Falls, where you can look down as it plunges down into the canyon, we do not recommend going there. It is very slippery and can be dangerous - several people have died there before. Other dangers to be aware of include ticks and poison oak. If you take w w w.communityseeds.com

Feather Falls, Continued

simple precautions and are careful and stay on the trail, you should be fine. In almost twenty visits to the falls, we have never had poison oak, and have only found one tick during our afterhike “tick check.” All of this said, don’t be one of those who plan on visiting – be one of those that say, “Yeah- that is an amazing hike!” This is the perfect time to go! Remember, you can hike this trail yearround, but spring is the best! 68 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

See the following for directions and safety information: Plumas National Forest: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/plumas/recreation/hiking/ Avoiding Ticks: http://www.nps.gov/archive/seki/ticks.htm Avoiding Poison Oak: http://www.nps.gov/public_health/inter/info/factsheets/ fs_pivy.htm

THE CHICO MUSEUM is pleased to present

CHICO, CIRCUS TOWN October 18, 2008 thru June 21, 2009 141 Salem Street (at Second Street) (530) 892-1525 The Chico Museum is sponsored, in part, by the City of Chico

In order to accommodate the treasure trove that makes up the Allread Collection, a section of one gallery will rotate a special, in-depth feature every 4-8 weeks: Sat.Feb.21-Sun.Mar.29 • Screamers, Bandsmen, & The Circus Fanfare March Sat.Apr.4-Sun.May10 (Mother’s Day) • Wild, Wild West Shows Sat.May16-Sun.June 21(Father’s Day) • Lions & Tigers & Bears, Oh My! w w w.communityseeds.com

June 13th and 14th 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

For more information, Call (530) 892-1525 or (530) 521-2012, or go to: www.ThePatrickRanch.org

Kick-Off Country Supper Friday Evening, June 12th

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Tins

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T. J. te nfor a P Farm s We’ve nche a m Got You Covered m o s C m r Fa Creek ables t Vege i Calif uin ms ornia q s n i r e C a F e H a B bane ro’s ans in ey c e P r e d Fra r on Skinn n o cisc B H an Vac a s i C v o ill off Drie Art ee . d Fr e o C ut uit N o. Rice r g a r t e s Nut C e ’ b e d h c n Lod y Du Lu Oil R. Jell ’ n Olive W. i Knu am J s ’ Mou dse Jim n Ju ntai n ice Farms y e Frui n o Mo t Co . Farm a d a v e N t s e a I ntern ers River W Sierr tard ation al Mus Almonds 629 Entler Ave. #9 · 530.345.1710 Down from Wood Bros. Carpet Monday–Friday 8–5 · Saturday 10–4 www.CaliforniaHarvestShop.com

ruit

The Yummy Earth Chili Mango Mambo and Chili Lime Lambada drops and pops will make your mouth dance as we use four different kinds of chilies for heat, organic cane juice for sweet, and real mango and real lime for sour.

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In the Garden

A Fruit For Your Vegetable Garden

By Ken Hodge

rowing your own fruits and vegetables is definitely making a comeback. Many people are becoming backyard farmers so that they can control what goes on their food, such as chemicals and pesticides. I always wonder what has been used on the vegetables and fruits that were grown in foreign countries, where the laws and monitoring of pesticide use is limited. Many of the vegetables we buy, like at this time when locally grown produce is out of season, was grown in the Tropics or in the Southern Hemisphere, where pesticide laws are different. Another reason many people are starting to grow their own food is the uncertainty of the economic environment we live in presently. Reacting to these unpredictable times, by becoming more selfsufficient, I think is a good response. But the best reasons for becoming your own farmer are: it is a healthy hobby and because homegrown food tastes so much better. 72 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Tomatoes Most home gardeners that I talk to, are interested in growing their vegetables and fruits organically, or as environmentally friendly, as possible. Last year when oil prices spiked, all the chemical fertilizers doubled in price because they are petroleum based. The good news for organic gardeners was that the environmentally friendly fertilizers didn’t raise much in price because they are mostly made of recycled products that were previously thought of as garbage.

Sunsugar and Sungold tomatoes are golden cherry sized fruit with sweetness that you pluck right off the vine and eat like healthy candy. Aunt Ruby’s German Green Tomatoes are 5-6 inches in diameter. They are sweet and juicy with a light spicy flavor. They are great for sandwiches. Hawaiian Pineapple is large deep gold with red marbling. It was voted the #1 tomato at the 2003 Tomatofest. Momotaro is a delicious tomato, with perfect acid to sugar balance and a light pink skin. Mortgage Lifter dates back to 1922. There Probably the most popular are 11 Mortgage Lifter strains. All are large fruit garden vegetable is the tomato. It with excellent flavor. These are just a few of the seems like every home gardener 50-60 varieties of tomatoes available this spring. plants tomatoes. But did you how many varieties of tomatoes there The most knowledgeable person, I know as far are? There are literally hundreds. as tomatoes are concerned, is Steve Goto who is Start with the well known home also known as the “Tomato Guru.” Steve travels and commercial varieties of Ace, around, giving all day talks and demonstrations Celebrity, Champion, Beefsteak on tomatoes, particularly the special “Heirloom and Early Girl. Even the more Tomatoes.” Steve is an extremely entertaining specialized types like Roma, and energetic speaker. He’s often on the Garden Yellow Pear, Jet Setter and Sweet 100 are Compass radio show, which airs at 8-10 am popular. But the Heirloom Tomatoes are the big every Saturday & Sunday morning on KPAY stars in the “Tomato Garden.” These have been 1290. Besides talking about tomatoes, Steve around much longer and are much more varied discusses the fertilizers and amendments which than the previously mentioned varieties. I think will improve your tomatoes health and yield. the reason they have been “lost” for so long is If you get the chance, go see Steve Goto in that, in our affluence of the last few generations, action and learn about the myriad of varieties we’ve become dependent on commercial farmers of Heirloom and previously lost and forgotten to produce our food. Farming is a hard business tomatoes: Tomatoes that are striped or mottled, and farmers need to grow tomatoes that produce torpedo or sausage shaped, enormous or cherry large quantities of uniform, long storing, tough sized and very distinctly delicious. Go to www. fruit that ripen at the same time. As a result, gotomato.us.com for more information. some of the taste and uniqueness is sacrificed for these characteristics. Many of these well known tomato varieties are quite good, but they can’t measure up to the flavor and variety of these babies.

The “Tomato Guru” will be at Hodge’s Nursery in Durham, CA On Saturday April 18th, Steve Goto will be at the nursery from 8:30 am till 5:00 p.m., talking to people one on one, but his main talks will be at 10:00 am and 1:00 p.m. Every person attending will be given a raffle ticket and products will be given away throughout the day. Many prizes will be quite valuable, so bring the whole family to increase your chances of winning. Lunch will be provided as well as snacks and drinks throughout the day. Hodge’s Nursery is located at 9681 Midway one mile north of Durham. Call 894-6598 if you need directions or information. w w w.communityseeds.com

Food

Cook’s Corner

FOOD For Your SPRING CELEBRATION With “Danny D”

Hello, and Happy Spring!! I hope you have all enjoyed cooking with Community Seeds. Remember that all issues are archived so you can go back and look at recipes from previous issues.

beef and cabbage that exist today evolved. The Irish traditionally stewed meat and vegetables. Therefore, I have included an Irish stew recipe along with corned beef and cabbage and Irish soda bread.

March, April and May have a few fun holidays to treat yourself and family, to some new recipes. Let’s start with St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), on which the Irish actually do not traditionally serve corned beef and cabbage. Historically, beef was a delicacy enjoyed only by Ireland’s wealthy. Cattle were originally kept for their milk, and sheep for their wool. This left old hens and pigs as the more likely contenders for the pot.

Another spring holiday is Easter; this year it happens on April 12th. Easter is always a good time to enjoy the outdoors and family. Traditional favorites are ham and fresh spring vegetables. I like to bake my ham, but the hubby likes to barbecue it. We both agree that scallop potatoes, along with roasted asparagus (recipe in the summer 2008 issue) and a fresh green salad, complete the meal. Our favorite dessert is angel food cake with When the Irish immigrated to America and fresh sliced strawberries. Canada, where both salt and meat were cheaper, they treated beef the same way May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, is always a fun time they would have treated pork or bacon at to enjoy the Hispanic foods. Some of the home in Ireland: they soaked it to draw off favorites are enchiladas, tamales, chili verde, the excess salt, then braised it with cabbage. etc. To finish the meal, try Flan for dessert (Flan is like baked custard). I am including From here, the many versions of corned my favorite Flan recipe for you to try. Don’t forget that the left over corned beef and ham make delicious sandwiches to take to work or on a picnic. It is that time of year to start enjoying the outdoors. The sun is shining longer and the days seem to be (hopefully) warming up. This means it is time to think about that summer vegetable garden. Happy Cooking!

74 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Food

Irish Soda Bread 3 Tablespoons butter or margarine, softened 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 2 Tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1/3 cup raisins, if desired 3/4 cup buttermilk Preheat oven to 375ºF. Using pastry blender or by crisscrossing 2 knives, cut butter into flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in raisins and just enough buttermilk so dough leaves side of bowl. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead 1 to 2 minutes or until smooth. Shape into round loaf- about 6 ½ inches in diameter. Place on greased cookie sheet. Cut an X shape about ½ inch deep through loaf with floured knife. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. **Suggestion: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can measure 3/4 cup milk with 1tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice and let stand 10 minutes before using. This recipe is also delicious for breakfast. When making for breakfast, you can substitute dried cranberries for raisins, and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar before baking. Serve with butter, jelly or jam.

Slow Cooked Corned Beef and Veggies 2 ½ lbs ( about 8) new potatoes, cut in half 2 cups carrots ( mini or large cut into chunks) 1 large onion sliced or quartered 3-3½ lbs Corned beef Brisket 1½ cup water or 12oz beer 1 head of cabbage cut into 8 wedges ( don’t remove core) Mix potatoes, carrots and onions in a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Thoroughly rinse corned beef. Empty seasoning packet into infuser or in small square of cheese cloth and tie closed. Place beef on vegetables; pour water or beer over beef. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 9 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender. Remove beef from slow cooker; add cabbage wedges; place corned beef on top of cabbage. Recover the slow cooker and cook an additional 30 minutes. To serve, cut corned beef across the grain into slices. With slotted spoon, remove vegetables and place them in a serving bowl or on platter with the corned beef. We enjoy this with the Irish Soda Bread. w w w.communityseeds.com

Food

Say (organic) cheese! If you’re serving appetizers, make the cheese organic. Besides being more nutritious, you’ll also support local, small-scale, humane farms, keep cows and your guests safe, and delight in sustainably-farmed cheese. In 2005 alone, overuse of antibiotics on livestock totaled more than 20 million pounds. IdealBite.com

Mother-In-Law’s Scalloped Potatoes 8-10 medium potatoes 1 onion sliced or diced 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 can milk 1 tsp garlic salt 2 Tbsp dried parsley 1-1½ cup shredded cheddar cheese Preheat oven 375*. Grease (or use spray oil) a 13”x9” baking dish. Prepare potatoes by either peeling or just scrubbing skins. Cut potatoes into 1/4” slices. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soup, milk, garlic salt, parsley. Add potato slices, onion and shredded cheese to large mixing bowl. Toss until completely mixed. Pour into prepared baking dish. Place in oven and bake for about two hours or until potatoes are tender. Cook the potatoes until the edges are medium dark brown and almost crispy. If the potatoes brown before they are tender, you can cover with foil to prevent further browning 76 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Call the shots Order organic next time you stock your home bar. Not only is organic liquor tasty, but it does the earth good. Organic farms emit about 60% less CO2 into the atmosphere than conventional ones.

Environmentally friendly BBQing If your bash includes a barbecue, remember this: both you and the planet stand to benefit from gas barbecues, not charcoal or electric. Although gas won’t add much flavor to your veggie kabobs or beer brats, it also won’t add as much CO2 to the air. Gas barbecues produce about half as much CO2 as charcoal grills, and about 1/3 as much as electric grills. Idealbite.com

Food

Food For Your Spring Celebration, Continued

FLAN (Baked Caramel Custard) Makes 8 servings

Preheat oven to 325* ½ -3/4 cup sugar 4 eggs, slightly beaten 2 (13 oz) can evaporated milk ½ cup sugar 1/4 cup Amaretto (or 2 tsp Vanilla) 1/8 tsp salt 4” cinnamon stick, broken into large pieces

Irish Stew

Makes 16 to 20 servings

1 Tablespoon olive oil 2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces ½ teaspoon salt Freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 large onion, sliced 2 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks 1 parsnip, peeled and cut into large chunks (optional) 4 cups water, or as needed 3 large potatoes, peeled and quartered 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (optional) 1 cup coarsely chopped leeks Chopped fresh parsley for garnish (optional) Heat oil over medium heat in a large stock pot or Dutch oven. Add lamb pieces and cook, stirring gently until evenly browned. Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Add the onion, carrots, and parsnips and cook gently alongside the meat for a few minutes. Stir in the water. Cover and bring to a boil before turning the heat down to low. Simmer for 1 hour or longer, depending on the cut of meat you used and if it is tender yet. Stir in potatoes and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes before adding leeks and rosemary. Continue to simmer uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, but still whole. Serve piping hot in bowls garnished with fresh parsley.

Heat milk and broken cinnamon stick in a sauce pan until warm (110*-115*). Cool slightly while you caramelize the sugar. ** Also, in tea pot or microwave, boil water to be used for water bath. In a heavy frying pan, add ½ to 3/4 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat and watch for sugar to start melting. Swirl or stir the sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved and reached an amber color. Pour into 8 inch pan or 6-8 custard cups and set aside. Beat eggs and sugar until frothy; pour strained milk, Amaretto and salt into eggs, and blend. Pour milk mixture into caramel lined pan. Place a larger pan on oven rack and carefully place flan pan onto larger pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan until about 1 inch deep. Carefully slide oven rack into place and bake in preheated 325* oven for 40- 50 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean. Cool to room temperature, and then chill in refrigerator. To serve, using a knife, loosen Flan around edges of pan. Place serving platter upside down over pan, invert quickly. Garnish with thin slices of orange or sprigs of mint. w w w.communityseeds.com

His daughter told him his farm was for the birds

ste Growing g reat ta â&#x201E;˘ for generations

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.

78 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Editor’s Choice Recipe

Whole Wheat Strawberry Orange Muffins Sent in by Kristin Finch

This recipe is easy and delicious! My daughter and her friends love to help make the muffins, and eat them! . Preheat oven to 400 F Makes about 18 normal sized muffins. 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/4 cup (granulated) sugar 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 Tbsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1 cup milk (room temp) 1/4 cup softened butter 2 large eggs 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Zest and juice of one organic mandarin (or small orange) 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped frozen strawberries Unsweetened shredded organic coconut (optional)

• Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. • In a second bowl, beat together the milk, butter, vanilla, and eggs until creamy. Squeeze in the juice and add the zest. • Toss your chopped frozen strawberries (not cut too small, but not whole) into the flour. Turn to coat. Putting the fruit in the flour first will help keep it from sinking to the bottom during baking. • Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Lightly stir to incorporate. Do not over mix. Let the mix sit a few minutes. • Fill paper muffins cups or a lightly greased muffin tin about 2/3 full. Sprinkle on coconut (optional). Put in the middle rack into your pre-heated oven. Bake about 15-20 minutes, until done.

Community Seeds Recipe Wins NATIONAL Contest! New York Times Best Selling author, Sophie Uliano, has recognized one of the Community Seeds featured recipes as a runner-up in her recent healthy recipe contest! Paradise resident, Kristin Finch, originally sent her recipe for Orange Bran Flax muffins to Community Seeds and it was featured on page 83 of the winter 2008 issue as the Editor’s Choice (see archived issue). This healthy recipe was one of only three winning recipes. As a winner, Finch’s recipe was prepared by Sophie Uliano herself, in a video on the popular food website, www.eatdrinkordie.com. She won a beautiful bake ware set from Chatal’s new Pure line. Uliano is well known as the author of Gorgeously Green, (reviewed on page 88 of the fall 2008 issue of Community Seeds). She also appeared with Julia Roberts on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Earth Day in 2008 and was a contributor in the fall 2008 issue of Community Seeds with her suggestions for packing a waste-free lunch. Check out a video of the Orange Bran Flax Muffins being prepared by Sophie Uliano at: http:// www.gorgeouslygreen.com/recipewinners.php. Try this prize-winning recipe yourself by visiting page 83 of the winter 2008 issue of Community Seeds. All past issues can be found archived at: www.communityseeds.com. w w w.communityseeds.com

Food

Pesticides in Produce

A Good Reason To Buy Organic DeAnna Holman

There has been a growing concern about pesticide use on our food and for good reason. In the studies that have been done, pesticides have been shown to have an adverse affect on people, especially developing children. Pesticides are toxic chemicals and their detrimental affects have only begun to be studied and have not been publicized enough. The recommendations we found, suggested we try to avoid exposure to chemicals on food whenever possible. This is a good reason to buy organic. One report we found was extremely helpful in deciphering the scientific evidence and advising us on which produce to avoid, unless it is organic. By searching through the data, they were able to develop a ranking of produce, according to residue found on certain produce. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The produce ranking was developed by analysts at the not-for-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2004. EWG is a not-for-profit environmental research organization dedicated to improving public health and protecting the environment by reducing pollution in air, water and food.â&#x20AC;? For more information please visit www.ewg.org. To get your own guide, go to http://www. foodnews.org/pdf/EWG_pesticide.pdf . Will Washing and Peeling Help?

Pesticide Ranking of Common Produce RANK

FRUIT OR VEGGIE

SCORE

1 (worst)

Peaches

Apples

Sweet Bell Peppers

Strawberries

Cherries

Lettuce

Grapes - Imported

Pears

Spinach

Potatoes

Carrots

Green Beans

Raspberries

Plums

Oranges

Grapes-Domestic

Cauliflower

Mushrooms

Cantaloupe

Honeydew Melon

Tomatoes

Watermelon

Blueberries

Broccoli

Bananas

Kiwi

Asparagus

Sweet Peas-Frozen

Pineapples

Sweet Corn-Frozen

Avocado

45 (best)

Onions

100 (highest pesticide load)

1 (lowest pesticide load)

Nearly all of the data used to create these lists already considers how people typically wash and prepare produce (for example, apples are washed before testing, bananas are peeled). While washing and rinsing fresh produce may reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.-EWG.org .

80 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Food

Family-Friendly Food Tips For Saving More Sent in By Brandie Ross, of Pampered Chef

Surveys show consumers want to cut costs at dinner table and bring home more ‘bacon.’ Amid an economic downturn with increased unemployment, rising food prices and housing foreclosures, the nation’s consumers are focused on the bottom line - their own wallets. In a recent survey conducted by The Pampered Chef, 84 percent of Americans living in the west said they’re making changes to help save money and relieve financial burdens for their families. Two of the primary changes consumers say they’re considering are how they can feed their family for less and padding budgets by bringing in supplemental income. With this in mind, The Pampered Chef has partnered with self-proclaimed “Budget Babe” Robyn Moreno, author of the newly-released book Practically Posh: The Smart Girls Guide to a Glam Life, to offer expert insights and tips on how to lead a budget-friendly lifestyle. “We’re all feeling the pinch of the challenging economy,” said Moreno. “But consumers don’t have to panic, I’ve got simple tips to shrink spending, starting with the dinner table, and also have smart recommendations for earning more income.” Overwhelmingly, food-related expenses rose to the top of survey responses for cost-cutting activities. More than half (52%) of Americans said they try only to buy groceries on sale or for which they have coupons; 44 percent now buy less food or fewer items when shopping for dinner. But consumers don’t have to scrimp if they’re smart about shopping. According to Moreno, planning complete meals in advance is one step towards ensuring grocery expenses don’t get out of hand.

Families can start planning with a week’s worth of NEW, affordable recipes, available for free on many websites such as www. pamperedchef.com. From Creamy One Pot Pasta to White Chicken Chili and Asian Pork Noodle Skillet, the dishes are hearty and use a variety of fresh ingredients. At around $2 per serving to feed a family of six, these options are budget-friendly, offering a lowcost dinner that can be ready in 30 minutes or less. A cost of around $2 per serving is a welcome surprise to the nearly seven in ten (67%) Americans in the west who thought it would cost $5 or more per person to feed their families a hearty meal. There are many other practical and affordable things people can do to help offset meal costs. For more tips, visit www. pamperedchef.com or see Moreno’s book, Practically Posh: The Smart Girls Guide to a Glam Life, wherever books are sold. w w w.communityseeds.com

COMMUNITY

Y FACES

Community

Small Town, Big Tradition EXPERIENCE DURHAM’S 92nd ANNUAL PARADE AND PICNIC By: Jan Holman

Circa 1905 Parade day in Durham evokes great excitement! Children wake up with great anticipation, still trying to figure out how they are going to be able to go through the parade on the 4-H float, march with their school band and navigate the parade route a third time, riding their horses. And, though the parade route proceeds south on Midway to Brown Street, everyone knows that Goodspeed Street comes in a close second for fun and excitement! It is upon Goodspeed 84 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

that parents and friends frantically transport their kids back to Putney Drive for their second and third trips through the parade. Families are excited as they arrive early to find their spot on the parade route! Friends, old and new, are calling out with the salutations of “hi!”, “Hello”, “how is your family?”, “We’ll see

you out at the picnic”, and “It’s good to see you!” Small American flags handed out by Durham Exchange Club members, are waved by children and adults alike,

Going South on Market (Midway) 1915

Small Town, Big Tradition

as they anticipate the beginning notes of the high school band, heralding the coming of the parade. By 9:30am the men and women of the Durham Volunteer Fire Department are in place at various intersections, ready to direct traffic and protect participants. Finally, at 10:00am sharp, the long anticipated parade begins as the color guard turns east on Durham Dayton Highway, immediately followed by the Parade Marshal, Woman of the Year and Junior of the Year. The community stands to salute our flag and to then applaud the parade dignitaries who have given so much to our community. Settling back in their lawn chairs, everyone laughs, cheers and shouts out encouragement to the parade participants.

Children on floats toss wrapped candy to spectators while kids scramble to get their share; kindergartners gallop by on their stick horses; and antique cars are proudly displayed. Antique tractors and their drivers elicit large cheers of appreciation and recognition from the crowd; magnificent horses and their riders are applauded; and small groups and childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entries bring out shouts of encouragement and laughter! As the parade entrants turn south on Midway, they pass the rose bouquet lined judges stand, a 24 foot flat bed trailer, where they are identified, their award announced, and their story shared with the folks who are lining the

1983

1920 or 1921

street. In just over an hour and a half, this enjoyable and interactive community event comes to a close with the appearance of the Durham Volunteer Fire Department entries. Rookie members of the Durham Volunteer Fire Department wearing red long underwear appear, pulling the departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1936 fire hose cart along the parade route. The crowd cheers as the rookie firemen are being liberally sprayed by veteran firemen, and fire truck sirens are intermittently turned on to salute the community and signal the end of the parade.

1983 Mel Lemm On the Tractor With Lloyd Abshier Walking

a petting zoo, karaoke, a small engine show, a silent auction opportunity, cupcake walk and the “Old Timers Booth.”

1997 At the conclusion of the parade, the entire community drives in mass to the Durham Park for a community picnic. The fast paced commitments and activities of the morning are washed away and townspeople take a deep breath as they turn into the park. The afternoon hours will be enriched as individuals reconnect with old friends, enjoy family picnics and reunions, share local history and good food, and participate with their children in good family fun. Many local nonprofit organizations offer a selection of food from hamburgers, hot dogs, polish dogs, tamales, frenchfries and baked potatoes to strawberry shortcake, snow cones, cotton candy, iced tea, lemonade and soft drinks. A sampling of the picnic day activities include children’s races and games, 86 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

The silent auction and costume jewelry sales at the Durham Woman’s Club booth offer excellent opportunities to find that perfect Mother’s Day gift for Mom. And, since it is Mother’s Day weekend, why not invite Mom to the picnic and team up with all the non-profits to provide the picnic lunch?! You will be honoring Mom while helping local organizations raise money for scholarships for deserving Durham High School graduates! This year marks the 92nd annual parade and picnic. The parade and picnic has been celebrated in consecutive years, except for a couple of years during

Small Town, Big Tradition

WW II when a rodeo was held at the park and a few parades and picnics held sporadically before and after the turn of the last century. The theme for our 2009 picnic, appropriate to the 1920’s and to 2009, is “Teamwork in Hard Times.” The annual parade button, considered a collector’s item by many, features a picture of Hiram Rodney driving a team of horses mowing alfalfa in 1920, on his Stanford Lane, Durham Land Colony allotment. Button sales help defray the cost of parade and picnic expenses and can be purchased from parade and picnic committee members, at local stores and at the “Old Timers Booth” at the park. A third activity associated with the Durham’s parade and picnic activities is held at 7pm on Friday night at the Durham Memorial Hall. The Parade Marshal, Woman of the Year, Junior of the Year, Girl’s and Boy’s State representatives and Camp Royal representatives are introduced, the high school band plays and participants hear from the honorees. This gathering offers people a chance to honor community members who have contributed to the

quality of life citizens enjoy today. The Durham Parade and Picnic is a community tradition that goes to the heart of our small town. It tells the stories of generations of citizens who have lived the motto on our community sign that says, “Welcome to Durham - the town where volunteers make a difference!” Parade participants carry on traditions of the past while building new ones. Community members,

whether young or old, long time residents or newcomers, come together to make new memories, to reminisce about the past and to reconnect with old friends. Attendance at the May 9, 2009 Durham Parade and Picnic is a must! Come start your own family traditions while making new friends, having a good time and helping support the greater Durham community as we focus on Durham’s youth!

Durham’s Community Website • Business Links • Durham Business Directory

Durham Community Calendar • • • •

School Events Community Events Durham Recreation Events Interactive

WWW.TheDurhamConnection.com

Community

BRING THE WORLD HOME Host an AYUSA exchange student • Expose your family to a new language and culture • Teach a student about American values and traditions • Make a difference in the life of a young person • Increase cultural awareness in your community Since 1980, AYUSA has arranged for over 40,000 students from over 75 different countries to spend a semester or academic year living with American host families.

Host an AYUSA foreign exchange high school student this school year! www.ayusa.org

1-888-55-AYUSA

Contact your local representative to learn more about hosting: Marne Larsen (530) 895-3241 Your Name Goes Here Local, Regional Director for AYUSA, a non profit Global Youth Exchange Organization.

Phone Number/Email1-888-55-AYUSA Address www.ayusa.org

Community

AYUSA IS LOOKING FOR CARING HOST FAMILIES By Marne Larsen

AYUSA is looking for caring families who wish to open their homes and share in a meaningful exchange with a young person from another country. AYUSA (Academic Year in the USA) is a nonprofit organization that works to provide young people with learning experiences, promoting cultural appreciation, insight and friendship. Since 1980, AYUSA has arranged for over 40,000 students, from over 75 different countries, to spend a semester or academic year living with American host families. Now is the time for you and your family to make a difference. Host a foreign exchange student this school year!

If you are interested in hosting an AYUSA Exchange Student, call your local representative today! In the Chico area, call: Marne Larsen (530) 895-3241 Local, Regional Director for AYUSA, a non profit Global Youth Exchange Organization. 1-888-55-AYUSA www.ayusa.org

AYUSA students come from diverse countries all over the world and are: • • • • •

Between 15-18 years old Able to speak, read, and write in English Strong academic achievers Enthusiastic and willing to learn Insured and have personal “pocket” money w w w.communityseeds.com

Community Seeds

Advertisers’ Index Advanced Inspection Services, Mold Inspection ___________________________________ 39 Apple Blossom Baby ___________________________________________________________ 49 AYUSA Global Youth Exchange __________________________________________________88 Babies in Chico.com ___________________________________________________________ 58 California Harvest Shop ________________________________________________________ 71 Chico Bag ____________________________________________________________________ 10 The Chico Connection.com _____________________________________________________ 71 The Chico Connection Kids Page ________________________________________________61 The Chico Connection Green Page _______________________________________________ 13 The Chico Museum ____________________________________________________________ 69 Chico Seeds Shirts _____________________________________________________________ 20 The Durham Connection.com ___________________________________________________ 87 Earth Day Network ____________________________________________________________16 Eco in Chico, A Baby’s Boutique _________________________________________________ 58 Global Basecamps _____________________________________________________________ 24 Green Clean __________________________________________________________________ 39 Green Baby Expo ______________________________________________________________17 Hodge’s Nursery ______________________________________________________________39 In Motion Fitness ______________________________________________________________2 La Rocca ______________________________________________________________________24 LeAnn M. Andrews, CPA ________________________________________________________ 29 Lundberg Family Farms ________________________________________________________ 78 Mr. Kopy _____________________________________________________________________ 45 The Nature Conservancy _______________________________________________________29 The Paradise Connection _______________________________________________________29 Patrick Ranch Country Fair______________________________________________________ 70 Rhonda Maehl ________________________________________________________________ 92 Soda Stream __________________________________________________________________ 24 Teague Family Chiropractic _____________________________________________________ 87 Teeccino Coffee Alternative Contest _____________________________________________ 22 Tracy Lynn Photography _______________________________________________________61 Words of Whimsy ______________________________________________________________61 The Worm Farm _______________________________________________________________ 53 Yummy Earth Candy ___________________________________________________________ 29

Additional Thanks To: Michael Holman, Pharm. D. Environmental Working Group 90 Community Seeds . Spring 2009

Join Us In The Summer! The Next Issue Of Community Seeds Will Be Released June 1, 2009! • Send us an article about being eco friendly • Send in photos of you and/or your family • Send your photos of the Chico Bag in unique locations throughout the world • Tell us your favorite summer memory or what you like to do in the summer • Send us a summer craft or recipe • Write a book review • Send us your child’s story or artwork • Send us your informational articles • Tell us about local summer activities • Purchase advertising

The deadline for the summer issue is April 25, 2009. E-mail items to info@communityseeds.com. For more information go to www.communityseeds.com. w w w.communityseeds.com

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

92 Community Seeds . Spring 2009