Organic Gardening Summer/Father's Day Weekend

Just in time for the double whammy weekend of Father's Day and the Summer Solstice, we've got a workshop for you to play in the dirt with your kids. Help us help you make growing your own a family affair.

Organic Gardening for Kids and Parents
Learn how to plant an earth-friendly garden with friends and family.

Saturday, June 20th

4:00 p.m.

At a Private Residence on the Eastside

Taught  by Sustainability  Coach, Deborah Tull

Adults: 20.00

Kids: 10.00

Additional kids: 5.00

*For more information and to reserve a place call 323-665-7454 or 

email creativegreen@hotmail.com.

"Those are the tomatoes I watered" and "I grew that squash" are only two of the many cool things you can brag about as you enjoy the fruits of your family's labor around the dinner table. And for inspiration, we want to share with you some photos of All Shades owner, Liza, and the beginnings of an organic garden at her daughter, Hannah's school in Israel. 

Once again, she shows us how it's done as Deborah will show us in person on Saturday. 

Hope to see you there!

Green Resolution: Growing Things

January may be over, but green resolutions never go out of style.  

Here's another one: organic gardening.

By planting something, almost anything, we get the pleasure of connecting to nature, to its cycles, and in the case of planting edibles, we get to connect more fully to our own food. Plus, the fruits of your own labor, fresh from the garden, always taste better than that which has traveled 1,500 miles to get to our fork.

So even if you don't have the gusto be an all-out organic farmer, you can continue to support them by buying from a farmers' market or CSA (which typically travel under 200 miles to get to cooks and eaters) while supplementing your produce with what you grow yourself as organic farmer in training. No land to speak of? Try containers for everything from rosemary to blueberries(!!) to squash.

All Shades owner, Liza, is growing some of her own food organically in Israel. Check out her soy milk carton containers for seeds that she's planted (with the help of her own home-brewed nutrient-rich compost).  When they've grown into seedlings, they'll be headed for the soil.

The containers: 

Planting seeds in soil/compost mix:

Water for the thirsty:

And wouldn't you know it, we've got a workshop that can help you on your path to a green thumb.  Once a month, sustainability coach Deborah will hold a weekend workshop in a local backyard for all gardeners in training to dig, plant, and talk shop about how to grow an organic garden.  And Deborah should know, she's been doing this for over a decade and is certified in permaculture design, bio-intensive organic gardening and compost education.

Organic Gardening Workshop

Saturday, January 31st

1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Los Feliz

*Please call (323) 665- 7454 or email creativegreen@hotmail.com for more information or to register.*

Green Resolution: Composting (with inspiration from Liza)

Composting is no longer just for farmers!!

We all have food scraps, no matter how much we lick the platter clean--banana peels, carrot tops, apple cores, egg shells, and the like.  Just think, 30% of our U.S. wastestream is made up of food we throw out. Then, there's the other waste we can compost like leaves and paper that normally go in the green or blue bin on pick up days. 

By composting you have the opportunity to:

*Free up ever decreasing landfill space.

*Recycle!

*Participate in the process of nature breaking down materials for reuse.

*Get a nutrient-rich salve for your soil.

That's the beauty of composting--it's good for the planet, good for the soil, and good for you.

There are a couple of routes you can go.  You can get a worm bin and have worms do the work of decomposing waste for you--that's called vermicomposting. Then, there's a traditional compost heap/bin in the backyard.  There are also more and more opportunities to compost indoors.  The Happy Farmer compost bin is small enough to fit under your kitchen sink, doesn't have odors, and delivers compost (with the help of bokashi) in just a couple of weeks.

Liza, All Shades of Green's owner, is composting in her own backyard in Israel.  Check out how she's reduced her waste stream by 50% with a worm bin and a compost pile, in addition to recycling glass, plastic, aluminum, and paper.

Liza's food collection in her sink and kitchen bucket:

Her worm bin:

Her backyard compost pile:

Thanks to Liza for showing us how it's done!

And please join us on Wednesday, February 4th, for a composting workshop 

with compost connoisseur, Deborah,

part of the ASOG Sustainability From the Inside Out 

winter/spring 2009 series:

Composting 101: Carrot Tops, Castings, and Creative REuse

Wednesday, February 4th

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

@ All Shades of Green

Deborah's also leading a series of organic gardening workshops in Eagle Rock that are sure to dig into composting as well. 

Please call (323) 665- 7454 or email creativegreen@hotmail.com for more information or to register.

Introduction to Organic Gardening Workshop

This Saturday, our staff sustainability coach who has served as the organic gardener and cook at the Zen Monastery Peace Center is teaching a workshop for all of us who want to learn how to grow our own food.

Rising food prices and tough economic times are just two more reasons to start tending your own veggies.  Add to that keeping diverse seed varieties around, nourishing the soil, the joy of digging in the dirt (which studies show increases happiness and improves immunity), and enjoying delicious, organic produce and the benefits certainly abound.

The workshop will cover how to:

*double-dig

*create nutrient-rich soil

*build beautiful vegetable beds

*save water and energy

*utilize companion planting and crop rotation

*control pests

*compost

Introduction to Organic Gardening

Saturday, November 8

9:00 a.m. to noon

@ a private residence in Eagle Rock

**This extensive workshop is $35.00. Call to find out more and reserve your spot today! 

(323) 665 - 7454. **