President Obama's Local Garden

This story has been out for a little while, but it is still no less inspiring.  If you have not heard already Michelle Obama has begun the process of setting up a vegetable garden at the White House.  The space and weather conditions are pretty ideal, not to mention the greatest impact will be what it says to the rest of the country.  More and more I am hearing friends tell me about their own small herb or vegetable gardens.  People seem to be really excited at not only eating the "fruits" of their labor, but also having a project they can watch grow.

Spring Seedlings

Tomato seedlings: Fog, Sprite, Royesta, Celebrity 

Tomato seedlings: Fog, Royesta, Celebrity 

Pepper seedlings: Salsa, Pepperocini

Tomato seedlings: Roma

Beet seedlings (large pot)

Onion seedling

(all 2 weeks old)

Local Voting

Yesterday was Election Day for many of you, including those in Los Angeles.  The two hot topics on the table were the race for Mayor and Measure B (Solar Energy).  Here are some numbers comparing registered voters to actual turnout.  It's pretty depressing considering the people who came out in November.

                 Registered Ballots Cast % Reporting

City of Los Angeles 1,596,165  239,374     0.15

On a better note, a few weeks ago Venice had a local vote through the Venice Neighborhood Council.  The subject of said vote was on Overnight Parking Districts.  Although the outcome was not what I wanted, an overwhelming 1506 people came out.  (See picture below I took of Venice democracy at work.) This surpasses the 1189 voters who came out in 2005 for a different issue. Donny and I personally stood in line for over an hour at the Venice library just to cast our vote. Now it has come to some attention that the ballot counting process may have been flawed and could turn into a re-vote.  We will wait and see.

 

And one last note, even though it's not about my local community.  My good friend Katie Wilson won her race in Vermont as Brattleboro Town Rep for District 2.  Congrats!

Bread

Donny has a favorite bread called Black Pepper Parmesan that is made by Manhattan Bread & Bagel.  He will often ride his bike down on Tuesdays to the Manhattan Beach Farmers' Market to pick up a loaf or two.  Even though he likes to make that ride a couple times a week for exercise, its a long way to go just for bread.  Twenty-four miles roundtrip to be exact. Last time he was at the market, the guy told Donny MB&B will start selling products at the Venice Farmers' Market. Wonderful!  So this morning we rode the 1/2 mile and scoured the small, but plentiful market and found MB&B around the corner at the end.  Much to our surprise we walked up to a dozen plastic containers full of...bagels.  Donny nicely asked the guy if he had any bread.  The man replied simply, but with some anger and resentment, that he is only allowed to sell bagels and he can't sell anything else.  So I bought a bagel (and it was really tasty!).  

Disappointed, Donny found Jim who is the guy that runs the Venice Farmers' Market. Jim decided to give us a little lesson in big business.  His speil was basically about how The Breadman has been here for 14 years and MB&B has been here for 2 weeks.  He contests that MB&B is actually a bakery and has too much inventory.  Not sure why that's a bad thing.  He went on to say that if MB&B can sell anything they want then the Bread Man will be out of business.  And then an even larger company will come along and push out MB&B.  The moral of the story, according to Jim, is that soon we'll just have only big businesses at the farmers' market.  Yet oddly, the Rockenwagner stand sells anything they want (including bread) - they are not only a bakery, but a cafe too!  With 3 locations!  That seems to be a much larger establishment than MB&B.  I think a little competition is good and it also gives people options.  There isn't just one stand that sells orange juice or just one stand that sells berries, so why can't we have more than 2 stands selling bread?

Here is one of the rules from the Venice Farmers' Market Operating Rulebook: 8. Producers are admitted into the market based on the following considerations: consumer demand, product mix or competition at the VFM, and/or seniority on the waiting list.

I tend to think we're pretty knowledgeable about our local bread and we weren't there just to give Jim or the Venice Farmers' Market a hard time. We've had at least a dozen experiences with The Bread Man bread going stale in a matter of days. We've tried so many things, including putting it in the bread box, a plastic bag, a paper bag, a plastic bag in a paper bag. And though Rockenwagner has amazing challah, the normal bread loaves are extremely dense and dry that it is often impossible to cut or bite down. All we want is our Black Pepper Parmesan bread.  Isn't that enough consumer demand?

Living Locally returns to Los Angeles

I am not ashamed to say that at the core, Donny and I are lazy when it comes to cooking and preparing food.  While we do like to make our own food and create homemade dishes our natural instinct is to go out to a restaurant or get something delivered.  Last night was no different.  We had not "thought" about what to make for dinner, which translates to "we think" there is nothing to eat.  Of course there is a small mountain of local chicken, bison, turkey and beef in the freezer, but that would need to be thawed and thawing takes time.  Time that you don't have when you want food that second.  For a moment I unknowingly mislead Donny into thinking that we had salad mix.  When he found out that we didn't (my mistake), he was briefly let down and then realized, wait, we have our own salad mix!  Donny went up to the rooftop garden.  In barefeet and pajama pants he went grocery shopping for fresh lettuce.  

Local Pennsylvania Edition: Dining in Harrisburg

Donny and I had a brief, but busy trip back east for the holidays.  While visiting friends and family in the Harrisburg area we had planned a night out.  Since we spent the week eating mostly home cooked meals & fast food we thought a dinner at a nice restaurant was in order.  One of Donny's friends picked the place.  Our only request was that it didn't serve light beer or hot wings.  Let's just say we didn't have high expectations.

Upon our arrival to Mangia Qui, I was pleasantly surprised. This Italian restaurant Ben brought us to had a romantic interior and a nice wine list.  After just a few moments I heard the waitress describe one of the appetizers and all of a sudden I heard three magic, unexpected words "local and organic".  To our shock, we had found the one restaurant in all of Harrisburg that not only serves organic, but also local fare!  The food was delicious and I look at central Pennsylvania in a new way.  The wine list and some of the ingredients are not all local, but their mantra is simple: We embrace fair trade, environmental, and economic sustainability. We do this, with you in mind, as well as the health of our planet. 

If you live in the area, I suggest signing up for their newsletter and updates.  I learned that the owners are in the process of opening another restaurant in the area.  According to one of the servers this new place will in fact be all local.

Local Pennsylvania Edition: Living Tree

This holiday season my mom and her partner opted for a live Christmas tree. This tree (pictured) was purchased from Mostardi's Nursery in Newtown Square, PA, but I'm told you should be able to find them from most local orchards or nurseries. Depending on where you go the live tree can range anywhere from $50-$180. Call ahead to be sure.

The tree my mom bought is about 4 ft. tall and comes in a pot. Some come with the root ball wrapped only in burlap. In that case you would provide your own pot. To care for it properly the tree should remain outdoors when it is not being used for decoration.

It must be nurtured into the indoors. About 2 weeks before the holiday put it in a garage or covered area for about 5-7 days. Less than a week before the holiday you can start to enjoy it inside your home, but only for another 5-7 days.

Once you've celebrated the holiday, reintroduce your tree to the natural elements, which means another 5-7 days in the garage. After that time it goes back outside to a year of full sun with continuous watering. The tree can go through this process of inside/outside for 3-4 years of holiday cheer. Be prepared with a larger pot after a year or two, as the root ball could outgrow its original home. You can then plant it in your yard. If you don't have space, consider donating it to a local park or school.

If you can find a live tree in your area, I think its a great idea. I hope to get one for our house next year.

Local. Reuse. Grow.

Los Angeles Trash Part 2: BLUE

What can you put in the BLUE bin?

- Clean dry Paper: computer, ledger, wrapping, arts and craft paper, unwanted mail, flyers, telephone books, note cards, newspaper, blueprints, magazines, file folders, paper bags, Post-it notes, catalogs, envelopes (with or without windows)

- Cardboard Boxes and Chipboard: cereal, tissue, dry food, frozen food, shoe, detergent, paper towel and toilet rolls

- Metal: aluminum, tin, metal and bi-metal cans (soda, juice, soup, vegetables, pet food), pie tins, clean aluminum foils, empty paint and aerosol cans (plastic caps removed) and wire hangers

- Glass: bottles and jars (soda, wine, beer, sauce, pickle jars), broken bottles

- Plastic: Plastics 1 through 7, plastic bottles (soda, juice, detergent, bleach, shampoo lotion, mouthwash, dishwashing liquid, milk jug), butter tub, yogurt, plastic planters, food packaging, plastic bags (grocery, dry cleaner), Styrofoam & Polystyrene (egg shell cartons, block  or clamshell packaging), plastic coat hangers, non-electric plastic toys' plastic swimming pools and plastic laundry baskets

Make sure all boxes are broken down or flattened.  Sometimes your recycling may not get picked up if it is spilling out of the bin and rinse all food related products, if possible.

What NOT to put in the BLUE bin:

- Contaminated Paper: all soiled papers or bags with oils and food waste (no dirty pizza boxes)

- Broken Glass: windows, mirrors, auto related, light bulbs, flourescent lights and ceramics

- Miscellaneous: electric or battery operated toys, coated milk cartons, electrical cords, cloth/fabric, appliances, mini blinds, kitchen utensils, lawn furniture, garden hoses, rubber tires, construction materials including asphalt or concrete, wood and wood products

To dispose of these materials, call: 1800 98 TOXIC

- Hazadarous materials: partially filled aerosol cans, containers for fluids (automotive, cleaning, pool or garden related), batteries of any kind, pesticides, oil based paint

If any of these BAD items are placed in the blue container you can run the risk of contaminating other clean items.  I am definitely guilty of this, you may be putting the wrong things in the blue bin unknowingly too.

If you DON'T have a blue bin, contact the LA Bureau of Sanitation at 800 773 2489.  I was able to get an extra blue bin for our building.  It came within a week!

Review this list before you put out your recycling OR download this comprehensive sign and keep it handy.

Los Angeles Trash Part 1: GREEN

I've put together a 3 part post that will help you figure out what trash items you can put in each of your 3 Los Angeles bins: black, blue and green.  If you do not have a home composting system yet or want to know more about where to throw out your trash, here are some answers.  And the more we know about what we can recycle or compost, the less waste will clog up our landfills.  

What can you put in the GREEN bin?

- Food scraps: fruits, veggies and grains 

Basically the bin is vegan - so no scraps that contain animal products, even milk, cheese or eggs.

- Grass, leaves, old flowers, weeds, palm frawns/tree branches, clean wood

Make sure that these items do not contain metal like nails in wood or wire wrapped around the flowers.

And it's interesting to note that compostable food containers, bags and silverware cannot go in the green bin.  These items should go in the black bin, unless of course you do have a composting system at home.  The LA Department of Public Works tells the LA Times that the city is looking to change that in the future.

Now if you live in Santa Monica (or have a friend there) it's a different story.  The green bins act as a composting bin, so feel free to throw in all your food scraps (even the non-vegan ones) and compostable food containers & silverware.  I think you can even throw pizza boxes in the green bin, but you might want to talk to the city and confirm that one first.

Local Ghostwriter checks in about Rooftop Garden

In addition to being too busy to write about my Thanksgiving, I have also been remiss in taking care of the garden.  News from a ghostwriter about the rooftop garden.

I was just up on the roof.  I gave the plants a once over.  I think the siberia that split may give some fruit after all.  I think we could end up w a hundred tomatoes total.  The only one suffering from the recent cold seems to be the grape.  Thankfully its bearing now.  I think we can safely say that operation tomato is a success.  I'd like to start prepping the next crop before xmas. But this time I want them all from seed.  Let's order some of those Martino Romas over the weekend along w some others.  I think mail order is the way to go. And there is a nice red grape tomato w your name on it.  You can grab it in the morning. ;) 

I put that lettuce in with its bigger brother too.

I'm just hangin on the balcony with a beer and a gardening book. You should come over.

Nature Mill in the News

I have been gone from this blog for a bit because work has taken over all my free time.  I have every intention of doing a few Thanksgiving posts after the fact.  Some of the recipes I used went over like gangbusters with my group and maybe some of you can use them for the upcoming holidays later this month.

In the meantime, I'd love to talk about my Nature Mill composter.  I have been posting for months about the problems Donny and I have encountered with our composter.  Our latest version still can't transfer even though Donny recently replaced the springplate and mixing bar.  This sad fact turns a great indoor composter into a messy bucket.  I felt obligated to post today because the LA Times put out a review of the Nature Mill (unbeknownst to me Smith & Hawken now sells the composter).  Take a look at the review and then come back to my site for more discussion.

I had a good feeling about this writer because right off the bat he seemed to have a clear sense of what it takes to compost.  He also mentioned that he grows cuccumbers in rain barrels, so thats pretty cool.  On the other hand, I don't think he gave the Nature Mill a chance.  Since Donny and I had not endeavored on anything so "hippie" as the composter beforehand, its not impossible to think perfecting your compost is something you can learn about and get used to easily.   

At the end of the day, we're both just looking for an easy composting experience.  If the Nature Mill doesn't do the job soon there are many kitchen top manual composters I might start looking in to.  The real question is whether I will get refunded for the machine AND the upgrade.  

Local Thoughts

Lately everytime I turn on NPR I hear facts about how little we Americans are spending money these days. The host often rattles off percentages of how much we spent this quarter versus last quarter, versus 6 months ago, versus last year at this time; expenditures from home construction, to holiday shopping, to new cars.  

Everyone is "pinching pennies". We automatically assume this is all due to the economy, the stock market crashing, the car industry bankruptcy, etc. Isn't it also possible that the concepts of reduce, reuse, recycle have hit the mark? Could we consider just for a moment that people are cutting back and spending less and buying local & reused items because it is the smart and responsible thing to to do? People are scared, I get that. We are all "tightening our belts".  But isn't it possible that people are just considering a new lifestyle of buying less crap. They want heirlooms and treasures versus things that will kick out on them in less than a years time. And Hummer isn't going out of business because their cars are expensive. People don't want gas guzzlers, plain and simple. 

Two of the people in my office are cutting back. They are cutting back because rents are higher and jobs are fewer and far between. They also discussed that while living locally is ideal - it can be more expensive. We started throwing around the idea that if food was cheaper, we might buy more of it, thus more would go bad. I personally find that I am very selective about the groceries I buy because of the high cost and the potential to waste.

I welcome thoughts on this topic.  

Local Decorating

Donny and I have been living together almost a year ago now.  We didn't buy really any new furniture at the beginning.  Mostly little accessories since we were lucky to have a lot of existing pieces that went together nicely.  After much debate we agreed to get a new tv and a dresser for the bedroom.  It was our immediate reaction to go online and see the newest, cool, vintage inspired, modern pieces from DWR, West Elm, Design Public, CB2 and the list goes on.  Having not purchased much bedroom furniture in my lifetime I could not believe how expensive these dressers cost. Anywhere from $500-$1500.  Sure, I could go to Ikea and spend $80 on thin wood, but I want a dresser that will last.  Don't get me wrong, I like Ikea for certain things, but not a dresser.  I started to scour craig's list, but if you've done it before you understand how it can be an exhausting task.  You want to be specific about a design era, but not too specific that filters out a piece you might really like.  Basically I typed in dresser and looked at a hundred pictures of really ornate dressers that I didn't like.  After a lot of searching I was lucky enough to come across this website Modern Search and Design.  They don't have too many pieces on their site, but for my taste they have a great used collection.  I emailed the guy Nick on Saturday morning and by Sunday midday we had a new (to us) metal dresser.  For $300 + a $40 delivery charge, it was totally worth it.  Granted its not straight from the box, I had to wipe it down a bit, but it works really well with our style and nothing new was manufactured.

President-Elect Obama

Election Day 2008

I am off to work at my local polling place.  

Please do not let the rain deter you from voting.  This will be a historic day.

Aside from the obvious race for president and Prop 8 - get an I voted sticker for free samples at: Starbucks, Krispy Kreme and Ben & Jerry's.  Not all exactly local establishments, but I will promote anyone for a day if they support voting.  Let me know if you hear about other companies doing the same.  

Pumpkin Carving

Local California pumpkins.

(Pictured left: Malika's ghost.  Pictured right: Donny's glare scare)

October Weekend Harvest

Rooftop garden pickings.

Strawberry Harvest

Sunday morning picking from the garden.

Traveling Locally

I recently went on a 48 hour jaunt from Los Angeles to Shreveport, Louisiana and back.  In the 16 hours of travel in such a short period of time I realized very quickly that it is near impossible to keep a local living regiment while flying, unless starvation is something you are willing to pursue. This is probably pretty obvious, but since I have not traveled much in the past few months it is something I quickly forgot.  

Attempting to eat healthy among options of snack food, fast food and prepared foods is a bit depressing.  It is also nostalgic.  During my travels I had: 2 bags of chex mix and an icecream sandwich, chicken & biscuit meal at Popeye's, shrimp cocktail and caprese salad from room service and water & cranberry juice on the plane.  

I'm curious if anyone has suggestions out there for getting around this.  

Abbot Kinney Festival 2008

This Sunday, September 28 is the yearly Abbot Kinney Festival in Venice. It is basically a really well organized block party. This year should be no exception.  I am looking forward to it. Aside from the music and the people watching and the mass consumption of alcohol & yummy food, there will also be several options to educate and participate in eco-friendly activities.

- a "green" food court 

- sustainable art workshops

- a bike valet (sponsored by WFM) 

- free test drives of alternative-fuel vehicles

- "green" lifestyle area to promote the environment within the community, not just as a trend or in a product

I hope all of these fun things really do come through.  It looks like a great event!  If you live in the nearby area, definitely stop by.  It will be going on pretty much all day, from 10A-6P.  Check out their website for more details.  

I will try to put out a full review of the festival by early next week.