Art on the streets

I've read a lot about art on the streets this week...

Abandoned storefronts in SF to be turned into gallery space for art installations. More info here. This should become a permanent policy!

There's a telephone tree tour in the Bronx--this sounds SO RAD! 100 trees along the Grand Concourse tell the oral history of the Bronx. More info and sample audio here.

too many blogs too little time.

Fog City USA.

Getting psyched for a Portland trip...but I still have yet to blog of all the cool things from my DC trip...indicative of my life lately. A lot of things going on, but little in the way of focus or organization. Maybe focus and organization is overrated, or impossible to achieve. Or maybe it's this ever-present fog that is making me hazy.

My new blog...

Holla! I've finally started my food/enviro/urban sustainability blog. FINALLY.
Check it here: www.roottofruit.blogspot.com

The idea is to talk about the connections between food-environment-and urban sustainablity. Telling these stories through my own experiences and experiments with citysteading. And share cool stuff and interesting events I find on all of the above. The hope is to begin to collaborate with the inspiring people I've met along the way, eventually including interviews and guest posts and even broaden the scope beyond the Bay Area (from AZ to NY to Colombia?). Who knows where it will go--but it will keep me writing and exploring and shooting photos on the issue I love. And leave me the freedom to post other silly stuff here on treeographer.

Feel free to pass along the blog to anyone you think would be interested. Check it out, and if you hear of any good events, ideas, or if you come across people I should talk to, let me know. Comments welcome!

Goosebump Inducing...

Portland Cello Project + Thao.
Listen now - Tallymarks and Beat.

Friday was a good day

SF Bike Plan PASSED! The public came out in full force, reclaiming democracy and reclaiming our streets!
Federal Climate Legislation PASSED! Now it's on to the Senate....

David Byrne+Devotchka+Extra Action Marching Bank at the Greek Theater.
It doesn't get much better than that.

mi familia

Spent the last week in our nation's capital catching up with the extended familia. I actually took photos, of people too! A major breakthrough for me and my family vacations...

Star of the show--my new cuz Zach

Uncle Mark gave Zach the best tour of Mt. Vernon...
I wanted him to carry me on his shoulders too, with no luck!

The crew.

This photo is so cute of my Mom...so horrible of me.

The farm at Mt. Vernon--sustainable before it was in vogue.

A heritage breed Ossabaw Island Hog!

Mike and mini-Mike.

The grill master.

All together now...

We ate so good. And we ate so much.

The infamous pool table @ the world's weirdest B&B.

Migas throw-down.

The ladies.

The cousins.

Grandpa & Grandson waiting to show the young guys how to really play some b-ball.

Zach is going to be a star!

Compost is happening now.

SF Board of Sups just passed the country's most progressive compost and recycling law! Read more about it here. SF creates a football field worth of trash Every. Day! and 40% of it can be composted, creating new soil amendments for local farmers. I love the full circle of it all.

 

It's a shame that people have to be forced to sort their trash through the threat of fines, a more comprehensive education campaign may have been a better move...but what is clear is that there needs to be a broader awareness of the waste we create as individuals and households and what we can do to reduce that waste. 

I love taking my kitchen compost bin to the green can every few days--it's always more full than the black bin--I just think of that beautiful soil that's growing the veggies I buy at the farmers' market each week. Complete the circle. Compost. 

Scenes of May at White Crane Community Garden

May is flowering pea plants...

Budding strawberries...

Poppies!

Foxgloves, everywhere. This beauty is at GFE.

Artichokes!

Mysterious larvae on my red russian Kale!

A Real Food Smackdown

That's right, Alice Waters + Food Network kings Anthony Bourdain and Duff Goldman break it down here. The boys were throwing the f-bomb around A-Dubs whoa!

Back off bad boy Bourdain, let's start talking about the real cost of food, and let's start talking about how cheap my home-grown organic lettuce is. Yes, the world of local and slow food has an elitist rep and that's gotta change fast because everyone must have access to affordable, safe, healthy and delicious food.

BTW don't even attempt to say that some non-organic tomato from Chile eaten in January actually tastes anything remotely like a tomato.

A Righteous NYC Transportation Commissioner and another reason to love NY Magazine

A righteous woman, Janette Sadik-Khan, is starting a revolution in the world of transportation agencies, and a transformation of our streets and city spaces. She is converting streets that once prioritized cars into places for pedestrians, bikers and faster buses too. Check out this spot on article in NY Mag.

A love of reading out loud...

It's true, if I could read out loud everyday I would. If I could, I would make it a profession even. There's something about reading beautifully crafted prose aloud, giving it life...it has been a point of ridicule for anyone I've ever lived with, so I've stopped. I'm a closeted reader. Maybe I need to start volunteering at a local library--genius!

Someone shares my love of reading out loud "our idea of reading is incomplete, impoverished, unless we are also taking the time to read aloud." Read the rest of the article here.

Picturing the Recession...

Photos of our time. Don't miss them, check them out here. 

A celebratory weekend...

My partner in crime celebrated another turn around the sun in style. Here's some photos from the both of us...

Arugula pesto bruchettas for an artshow potluck.
That's arugula from the garden. Oh yeah.

Magnolia Brewery. It's got a new look.

Mt. Tam hike=redwoods, creeks, moss, unfurling ferns, grasslands, ocean views, birds big & small, and waterfalls scaled by old wood ladders.

Mushroom Madness

Just can't get enough...

of these baby peregrine falcons across from work. On Monday they were outfitted with tags so they can be tracked. The parents went crazy dive bombing near the nest to scare away the scientists...you could hear them screaming and squawking from inside my building across the street...so traumatic!

A car free America?

Check out this amazing discussion on the potential for car free spaces in America. I live car free--but it's a concerted choice. I moved to a city where I could give up my car and it's still hard. How can we build communities to encourage walking, biking, and good transit? 

Pooperrific

Yup it's all about the chicken poop. In your garden that is. Check this article about urban gardeners from NYC to SF and everywhere in between discovering the beauty that is manure. 

Another reason to love the Obamas...

It just doesn't stop. A poetry jam at the white house--say what? Read more here.

A Must Read Interview w/ Obama

The NYT Magazine published a fantastic interview with Obama that is a must read: After the Great Recession. I love the premise of looking forward--and I also gained a better understanding of the struggles we're going through now.

Right now....

Exploring the wonderful world of Miso with a Walnut Miso Noodle recipe. Adding fixins from the CSA box and the garden...sugar snap peas, chard. Yum.

YAY! MAY!

April was a busy month. Ready to slow it down. Here's some photos from my DC trip last week--I was on the ground for less than 48 hours, craziness, but I managed to snap a few photos. I was in DC for the release of this: Reinventing Transit -- peep the link and you can catch me on a video...classic!

high in the sky over the sierras

I wish I was a morning person, so I could soak up the morning sun more.
Here's the view from my hotel...

Spring was in full effect. Capitol Hill was covered in bright pink cherry blossoms and this tree greeted me each morning.

Founding Farmers--a LEED certified, farmer owned, seasonal food restaurant SO good.
Hands down, best homemade english muffins. Ever.

I love architecture in DC.
So sad to see beautiful old buildings of a time gone by enveloped by bad 80s archiecture.

Founding Farmers is just three blocks from the White House...I headed around the back to the oceanic South Lawn

to see this little mound of dirt that is the most beautiful little vegetable garden--I wish I had a better zoom...but you can at least see how it is blessed by a tree loaded with cherry blossoms.