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Showing posts from January, 2008

Calendar: Weeks of February 4 and 11, 2008

If you hurry, you can catch the tail end of Focus the Nation's national climate change teach-in at the International House on the UC Berkeley campus. But if you miss it, check out tomorrow's townhall meeting on Barack Obama's energy plan sponsored by Boalt Hall Law School. There are several events in my calendar over the course of the next two weeks. Thursday the 7th poses a challenge with two events being held at the same time! Monday, February 4 Manufactured Landscapes documentary* Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall, UCB campus Starting at 7 p.m. ( more information ) *A friend, a photographer and professor in the East Asian Studies at UCB, recommended this film. The event sponsor, The Townsend Center for Humanities, describes the film in this way: Manufactured Landscapes is the striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of “manufactured landscapes”—quarries, recycling y

Garden goodies from Sunset magazine

Courtyard, Casa de Pilatos, Sevilla, Spain House & Garden was canceled last fall. The publisher, Conde Naste, offered to complete my subscription with issues of Domino. I read an issue of Domino; it's nice, but I miss reading new H&G issues. Plus, the H&G editor is a graduate of my college alma mater. Still searching for a replacement, I read several issues of Sunset Northern California edition. I like the focus on where I live - Northern California - and the magazine offers some great gardens finds. Here are some of my favorites: Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco sells plants and supplies for creating “environmentally responsible landscapes.” SafeLawns.org Foundation helps lawn owners tend their greensward without chemicals and pesticides. What a great idea: Urbanweeds in Seattle will pot your plants! It helps if you live in Seattle, around Fremont Avenue. Back to Berkeley, order your spring plants from Bay Flora (bayflora.com). My spring list includes l

Weekend headlines

Note: The first article was printed a couple of days before the weekend, but its topic is very salient, especially with a regional push for green jobs that does not mention tree-care related careers. Sunnyvale homeowners told to cut redwoods that block solar panels San Jose Mercury News [via TreeHugger ] Rethinking the meat-guzzler New York Times ‘Green’ buildings don’t have to be new Times Creeks rising in Bay Area, more rain forecast San Francisco Chronicle In Richmond, kids getting lesson in play Chronicle Albany opposes tree removal, aerial spray Berkeley Daily Planet A walk in the inimitable woods Daily Planet First 'green' homeless shelter opens Oakland Tribune [via Re-Nest ] See also Northgate Grandview Apartments developed by Resources for Community Development

Photo du jour: Berkeley library master plan

The Berkeley Public Library is seeking public input for its facilities master plan. As a first step, the Central Library has a poster board on which you can mark the libraries you regularly use. Visit the Central Library to make your mark. Read the master plan fact sheet .

Tree Walk: Eating the fruits of city trees

Fruit trees in the city. You are probably thinking of quince or lemon, apple or pear, peach or plum trees that grow in residential yards. But street and park trees also bear fruit. The yard tree and the public shade tree are part of the urban canopy and have important ecosystem roles. However, the fruit of yard trees like those mentioned above are typically grown for market. The quince or Chaenomeles speciosa (flower pictured above) certainly has an ecosystem role in my backyard; its flowers attract and feed the hummingbirds, who were noticeably absent after the roses faded. Based on an Agroforestry Research Trust fact sheet, I will also look out for honeybees; the quince flowers provide nectar. The fruit will follow the flower. Although it is not Cydonia oblonga - the quince used to make the jelly I ate in Madrid, Spain - the C. speciosa fruit can be made into jelly. I have not had much success with harvesting the fruit in the past. My taste buds rebelled the first time

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Update BET is now showing Boycott (check your local listings). Read more about the film. Listen to Barack Obama's tribute speech to Dr. Kin g in which he describes himself as a "hopemonger." For a more floral, but no less hopeful, tribute to Dr. King, read a post about leis and civil rights marches on the Human Flower Project website.

Weekend headlines

Albany leads opposition to aerial spraying in Alameda County Berkeley Daily Planet City Council questions, approves Green Corridor Daily Planet Proposed wood burning ban draws fire San Francisco Chronicle Enid Sales helped save San Francisco's Victorian homes and never backed away from a preservation fight Chronicle BART directors OK paying more for green power Chronicle Safeway's trucking fleet shifts to biodiesel Chronicle Builders green up their act Oakland Tribune

Bird Watch: Tri-city bird spotting

Yet another series, but this one is about birds. The first post in the series explored the link between bird bills and their food and habitats . This post is more pictorial; during the past three weeks I have been in three cities and was able to photograph three bird species. In Caceres, Spain, I observed many white storks (or ciguenas blancas in Spanish) ( Ciconia ciconia ). The storks construct large nests on the highest points in the town of Caceres: steeples and crosses, bell towers and old watch towers, and chimneys (pictured above). Wooden roosts have been installed in the fields on the outskirts of the town. North of Caceres, in the city of Sevilla, I spied a couple of doves in the crevice of a planetree (pictured above). More locally, I observed several wild parrots at the Ferry Building on Monday (two pictured below - note a seagull at the far left). To be accurate, I heard them before I saw them. The sound is like a screech; Mark Bittner describes the parrot'

Tree Walk: Blake Street beeches

Tree Walk Wednesday has been renamed Tree Walk. The series is inspired by the Take a Tree Walk guide book for children written by Jane Kirkland and the Tree Tuesday series published by Spacing Wire. I do take purposeful tree walks, but most of my tree walks are accidental in nature.   European beech ( Fagus sylvatica) leaves (the American beech leaf has more serrate margins) One Saturday last fall, I walked along Blake Street to get to Lanesplitter Pizza on San Pablo. On the walk, I noticed four blocks of beech trees. I am accustomed to seeing beeches in parks (especially on the East Coast) but not in sidewalks. The tree can attain a height of 70 feet, but sidewalk conditions would certainly constrain this growth habit. I did not have my camera that day, but made a return trip in late December. My second walk down Blake Street, between Sacramento and San Pablo, was more purposeful and in addition to the beech I noticed several other species, especially between Mabel an

New books at The Printed Leaf

Doing Time in the Garden: The Handbook of Prison Horticulture By James Jiler Garden People: The Photographs of Valerie Finnis By Ursula Buchan Green Roof: A Case Study: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates' Design For the Headquarters of the American Society of Landscape Architects By Christian Werthmann Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding By Scott Weidensaul For more titles, browse The Printed Leaf book shop !

Photo du jour: biodiesel and bicycles

Outside Caceres, Spain Last week I saw a Smart car with Arkansas plates on Telegraph Avenue. Also last week, Indian car company, Tata, revealed the Nano , the cheapest four-door car in the world at $2500. The Berkeley Biodiesel Collective is moving to its new location on Ashby Avenue this spring. Sevilla, Spain If you live in Oregon, you can order pro-bicycling vanity plates for your car [via Spacing Wire ]. Finally, if you cycle in London, you might be required to license your bicycle. Lady Sharples was almost hit by a misbehaving cyclist and has sparked talk in the Parliament of a bicycle registration system.

Weekend headlines

Rebecca's Books opens on Adeline Street Berkeley Daily Planet More than a walk in the woods Daily Planet Pacific Steel health hearing packs center Daily Planet Backyard beekeeper finds the sweet spot San Francisco Chronicle Park pain Chronicle New city plazas Chronicle Planning new path for People's Park Chronicle Any other bright ideas New York Times A long-dry California river gets, and gives, new life New York Times

On the environment in politics

The presidential candidates did not adequately address environmental issues (with the possible exception of energy independence) in Iowa and New Hampshire. I wonder if this will change as they prepare for the California primary on Super Tuesday , February 5. (Read Grist 's candidate fact sheets for the environmental perspectives of the presidential candidates.) Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger proposed severe funding cuts to parks and the environment - among other services - to balance the state budget. The governor's proposal allocates $17.4 billion for state agencies that protect the environment, down from $1.76 billion this year. The departments also would get less money from bond funds: $5.55 billion in 2008-09 compared with $5.59 billion this year. The proposal also seeks emergency reductions in the current budget. San Francisco Chronicle , January 11, 2008 The governor also wants to close many of California's parks. Under his budget, 48 of the state's 280

There is a season

Tuesday's New Hampshire Primary illustrated that there is a season for everything and everyone. In Berkeley, quince trees are blossoming, like the one in my yard, and with them come hummingbirds! Speaking of birds, Sandra Steingraber writes in the recent issue of Orion that sparrow ( Passer domesticus ) populations in the Americas and urban Europe are declining. Sparrows are found on six continents, [and] they are the world's most widely distributed bird. Urban or rural is immaterial to them. Except for this: they are never found more than four hundred meters from a human structure. I am intrigued by Steingraber's observation that while sparrows do not exhibit a preference for urban or rural habitats, they are directly associated with human structures. Her comments remind me of the work of artist Daniel McCormick. McCormick's sculptures are tools for landscape restoration. In the same issue of Orion , McCormick writes about his installations of "healing sc