Turning Trash Into Treasures

Would you like to have a Reuse Center located in Contra Costa County? You can help! The non-profit group Generation Green is trying to raise funds to open one. They’ve entered in the National Geographic Green Effect contest, and have a chance at winning $20,000 towards their cause. Please vote today for Trashopia!

What: Open Contra Costa County’s first reuse center – Trashopia. Trashopia will fulfill many needs for the community, including:

• Art gallery for local artists using reclaimed materials
• Classrooms for hands-on reuse art instruction
• Intern program for youth at risk
• Low cost materials for art, science and math programs in schools. There are twenty-two Title 1 schools in our catchment area. Teachers may spend up to $1,500 of their own money per year on supplies. Supplies from Trashopia will be a fraction of this.
• Central place for businesses and the community to send, and find, reusable materials

Where: Fachinni Salvage has acquired a warehouse in Antioch and will donate the second floor for Trashopia. The building has been vacant for 15 years and needs repair and remodeling.

When: If awarded $20,000, work would begin immediately. We have the space, the sources for reuse materials, the community contacts and the experience. Funding would be used for:

• Repairs and remodeling
• Reuse store equipment
• Classroom equipment
• Creating and distributing reuse education brochures

Who: Generation Green has been holding educational workshops since 1990; engaging people in the process of reusing materials creatively and helping people divert materials from landfill. Businesses ready to donate include:

• Thrift shops
• Bowling alleys
• Sign manufacturers

Why: So many reasons, including:

• Low cost materials for the community
• Materials diverted from landfill
• Promote creativity and environmental awareness while educating and engaging people through the medium of art

Please vote today for Trashopia!

Brentwood Bicycle Farm Tour

Brentwood Farm Tour via Bicycle

June 21, 2009, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.  $30 per adult, $15 per child.

A 15 mile tour by bicycle through farm country in Brentwood.  Enjoy a chef-prepared lunch at Frog Hollow Farms (famous for it’s organic peaches) and visit Shelly’s Garden (known for it’s culinary herbs). Enjoy picking  some corn along the way, plus snacks and water are provided. You must bring your own bicycle and helmet. Click here to purchase tickets.

Upcoming Festivals & Events

Walnut Creek Art & Wine Festival

Saturday & Sunday, June 6th and 7th, Heather Farm, Walnut Creek. Wine and beer, distinctive art, hand-made crafts, children’s area, entertainment and more.

Diablo Valley Farmers’ Market

Saturday, June 6th, Shadelands, Walnut Creek. Opening day of the new Diablo Valley Farmers’ Market. Ribbon cutting ceremony at 9am along with local Shadowbrook Winery releasing it’s new wines. Kids crafts, music and of course lots of fresh local produce!

San Leandro Cherry Festival

Saturday, June 6th, downtown San Leandro. 100th anniversary of the San Leandro Cherry Festival which started in 1909! Farmers market, cherry pie bake-off, live music, arts and entertainment, specialty foods, activities for children and more.

Temescal Street Fair

Sunday, June 7th, Telegraph Ave. from 47th to 51st, Oakland. Eco activities, music, global food and more.

Brentwood U-Pick Update

We’re headed out to Brentwood on Saturday to pick fruit so I called a few farms today to get an update on what’s currently available:

Dwelley Farms – Just Olallieberries. Starting next weekend Boysenberries will also be available.

Mike’s U-Pick – White and Yellow Peaches

The Farmers Daughter – White Peaches (not confirmed but from what I hear this farm is ORGANIC)

Pease Ranch – Bing and Rainier Cherries, Boysenberries, Olallieberries and Loganberries

Tachella Family Farms – Several types of Cherries, Peaches and Apricots

Smith Family Farm – No one “picked” up their phone but for sure they’re open. They have a nice farm stand with produce and flowers and may or may not have U-Pick available.

The Stand at Knightsen – No U-Pick but their stand is open and they’re ALL ORGANIC. They currently have tomatoes and asparagus plus other veggies and lots of fruit.

I see that Mangini Farm is a new addition this year to Harvest Time. I have to laugh at the description of where they’re located, “Next to Napa Auto Parts and across the street from Taco Bell”. Hmmm that doesn’t sound so appealing to me 😉 But on their behalf I must say they have some of the best corn around that I buy from their farm stand in Pleasant Hill when it’s in season (mid June – August).

For farm details and a map go to the Harvest Time website. Please also see my post about Brentwood farms from yesterday located right below this one.

Not into U-Pick? The Contra Costa County Fair is this weekend. It’s located in Antioch.

More Fruit to Pick in Brentwood – Cherries, Berries, Peaches, Apricots!

There’s still plenty of fruit available for picking in Brentwood! This weekend Pease Ranch will have Brooks and Rainier cherries and bush berries.

My Favorite Picks:

Diablo Valley Farmers’ Market

New to Walnut Creek this year is the Diablo Valley Farmers’ Market! The market will be open every Saturday morning from 9 am -1 pm from June 6th through early August. The market will be located at the Shadelands; Mitchell Drive and North Wiget Lane in Walnut Creek. I’ll let you know how it is!

Looking for a California farmers’ market near you? Check out this link: California Certified Farmers’ Markets.

Exploring Middle Harbor

One of the newest East Bay Regional Parks is Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland. It’s a small green space sandwiched between one of the busiest container ports in the nation. It offers more than 3 miles of trails, lots of grass and picnic areas, a children’s play structure, a fishing pier, and two observation platforms; one indoors and one out. Here you can see the famous four Hanjin cranes from China up-close that barely made it under the Bay Bridge in the year 2000.

Next month Middle Harbor will host a FREE Eco-fair for families on June 6^th.

Solar Dyed Yarns

There is a local company located in Martinez, CA which uses natural sunlight to dye their beautiful yarns. Yarns are dyed by hand in small batches without the use of electricity which saves energy and CO2 emissions. Their yarns and fibers can be ordered directly from their website: Ceallach Dyes

10 Green Search Engines

Most of these search engines are powered by Yahoo or Google so they’ll get you similar search results. These websites are “green” for different reasons (ad revenue donated to green causes, Co2 neutral, green search results, etc.), and each one is unique. 10 Green Search Engines

Cherry Picking at Pease Ranch in Brentwood

We braved the triple digits to go cherry picking today at Pease Ranch. We picked Early Burlats (dark red and very sweet) and Chinooks (lighter red/pink and slightly sour). Next weekend they will have Coral Champagnes and several types of berries. They recommend getting there early since the berries are in full sun.

On our way home we stopped by Prewett Water Park to find out they don’t open until next weekend!!