DIY solar cookers have their day in the sun – but don’t leave them out in the dew

I brought two DIY solar cookers to my cat-sitting gig in “THE VALLEY”. Because they are so portable, and because this home has every modern convenience + solar panels, it’s a cheap thrill to do something low tech and hands on.

How portable are these cookers? The five pieces of poster board form a 14″x14″x1/2″ packet!

4- 14″ sq, 1-10″ sq. posterboard,
4 clothes pegs and a shoelace.

Or, you can fold it like a fig and invert it into a shopping bag.

Invert it into shopping bag

Fold it like a fig

The neighbors gifted me some freshly caught tuna and I had butternut squash from LA EcoVillage garden. I always use a meat thermometer when cooking fish or meat. The covered pan is wrapped in an oven roasting bag to trap heat.

Tuna and squash

Use thermometer for
meat or fish

In spite of the cooker’s curled edges, the cooker cooked the cabbage.

Despite the warped pasteboard edges of the cooker on the right, a pot of cabbage was well cooked.

Solar cooker tip: Don’t expose the poster board cooker to moisture – not even over night dew – because the edges will curl. After a few days under heavy books, they resumed their former shape. At the EcoVillage, when I store the cookers outdoors, I wrap them in plastic.

Solar Cooker Demonstrations: It is my intention to plan a solar cooker demonstration to fund raise for Solar Cookers International and for the LA EcoVillage, so stay tuned for that announcement.

Day 9- Solar Cooking Sabbatical

in which I nap too long and try to crank up the temperature in the cooker

After a bike ride and lunch, I napped while the veggies were roasting. My plan was to roast chicken next, but it was 3:30. Is that too late? I spread 2 brined chicken thighs, seasoned with lemon & oregano over a bed of onions, cumin seeds & lemon grass; put the pan in a roasting bag and onto a metal rack in the cooker, (to let heat circulate under the pan). I pegged two halves of a large roasting bag across the cooker opening: 285° on the pan’s lid and digital in chicken probe = 156°.

Boost cooker T with roasting bags & metal rack.

Not wanting to ptomaine myself, I cooked chicken in toaster oven, 285° for 9 min. until chicken was probe was 165°.

Day 10 – Can the cooker temperature increase enough to roast an undelicate “delicata” squash?

At the farmers’ market yesterday I bought what appeared to be a delicata squash on steroids. When I tried to slice it this morning I discovered that, instead of the delicate, edible skin of a delicata, it had the rind of a gourd. I wanted to make a bean-boat, so I scooped out the center, flipped the lids of two cans of organic Goya beans* -and the cats appeared in a nano second.

They became polite but disinterested observers as soon as they discovered that the cans were not tuna!

Bean boat topped with ginger and remaining scooped squash.
Re: leftovers. I love the beeswax cotton wraps – in lieu of plastic.

Winter squashes need 400° + to bake.

• How close can we get?

• Will slow cooking compensate for temperature?

At 10 am I did the same routine as yesterday: pan in roasting bag on metal rack, covered cooker with roasting bag.

T = 310° when I returned from bike ride at 1 pm – and squash was cooked. (Taste is bland, not like delicata!). (Did I mention that there was only 1 farmer and a lot of misc. vendors at the NoHo Farmer’s market.)

Bike ride side note. Used my new telescope to watch cormorants feed their “babies” in their nests high in the trees at Sepulveda Nature Preserve.

Get your ticket while the oven is hot

for the Solar Cooking Workshop on Saturday, Aug. 27. If you can’t make that one, we’ll plan to channel the rays again in Oct., and maybe Tea and Solar Treats in Sept.

• Product placements are part of my effort to demonstrate cooking with easily accessible food.

Why build a worm bin?

During our Eco-village Garden Exploration May 21, I plan to include vermicomposting by demonstrating DIY worm bins. (Eventbrite is helping us with the ticket hustle: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/explore-gardens-at-los-angeles-eco-village-tickets-326749395237

Why demonstrate a few puny worms munching on food scraps when we’re going to show off our 3 bin hot composting system?

Because building a DIY worm bin from discarded material aligns with 3 of our Core Values:

• Celebrate and include joy in all our endeavors. I feel a rush of joy when resources “magically” appear after I envision a project. And I enjoy the magical transmutation of food scraps into rich humus.
• Take responsibility for each other and the planet through local environmental and social action.
  • It doesn’t get much more local than plunking your food waste into your own worm bin
  • a DIY worm bin is pretty cheap, and
  • easier to fit into small spaces – indoors or out – than a large composting system.
• Learn from nature and live ecologically. (Worms help us) gain a better appreciation of the intricate balance and interdependencies in nature…inviting us to tread more gently upon the Earth, says Mary Applehof, Worms Eat My Garbage.

Gather discarded material

Worm Buffet

Worm bin covered with shade cloth in shade of orange & papaya trees

Worm bin on blocks = instant sun shade for Taurine, LA Eco-village hardworking cat.

Cycles. Converting waste to a nutrient rich resource is just one of the natural cycles we’ll consider during our garden exploration, May 21. Please get tickets at Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/explore-gardens-at-los-angeles-eco-village-tickets-326749395237

Cycle of life in the April garden

Cycles are one of the themes of a walk-about tour through Eco-village gardens, lead by Sage and me on May 21. Event tickets available through May 19.

Blossoming trees in their prime

Fejoa (Pineapple guava) blossoms behind Terraces

Pomegranate blossoms in front of Terraces

Persimmon blossoms along Terrace right-of-way

California Primroses by 117 front gate

Bounty at the end of plant life cycles

While Sunflower seed heads look raggedy at the end of their season,
birds and squirrels feast on them.

Nasturtiums often harbor aphids at the end of their season so I harvest them when they start to die back.

Pickled, nasturtium seeds taste like capers.

• 1 pint Nasturtium seeds – let them dry a few days
• 1 pint white vinegar
• 2 bay leaves (from bay bushes in front of Terraces)
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• Peppercorns (optional)

Boil vinegar, bay leaves, salt & pepper. (This year I boiled vinegar in sun oven). Cool. Pack seeds into clean pint jar & pour cooled vinegar mixture over them. Store several weeks before using them.

Pizza topping: combined with crushed garlic and oil.

Nettles – the plant you love to hate!

Nettle seeds drop off dried plant

If you’re not dressed for success – long sleeves, socks, long pants and gloves – you may be painfully introduced to nettles. I try to keep them pruned from paths, and let them grow in less traveled areas. Young plants are among the earliest greens to emerge and I enjoy adding them to soups, so I let them re-seed themselves. They can be used to make fertilizer and they help composted material break down. Chickens and other birds are said to deworm themselves by eating nettle seeds. Fibers from nettle plants are used for making rope and are spun into a silky fiber. (Who knows when we may need to harvest nettle fibers?).

Shameless Commerce Division

Sage & Springer, Solar cooker and Garden guides, invite you to explore the water-wise, integrated vegetable and flower gardens, with over fifty fruit trees in our eco-village urban oasis. We’ll demonstrate various composting methods and offer optional composting participation. When the walk-about concludes, we invite you to socialize with us over a solar baked snack and garden-herb tea. Eventbrite tickets

New Intersection Repair Street Mural

L.A. Eco-Village’s new intersection repair mural – finished mural photos: Joe LintonThanks to the hard work of lots of local residents and many people in town for Bike!Bike!, last weekend the community repainted the L.A. Eco-Village street mural at the intersection of Bimini Place and White House Place.

The street painting is inspired by a group called City Repair from Portland Oregon. They do intersection repair murals as part of to make crossroads places where people come together.

Eco-Village has done earlier intersection repair murals three times: in 2011 and 2009 and circa 2006. The mural gradually wears away and after a half-dozen years needs repainting. Lately  the city has resurfaced the local streets, erasing worn murals.

Designing a “Perma-Circular” Economy in the City of Los Angeles

Last Summer (2016), L.A. Eco-Village hosted a fascinating public talk with Professor Christian Arnsperger of the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Christian has an endearing love for Los Angeles, always intriguing to hear about from Europeans who are not here just for the “Disneyland” type attractions.

Rather he, like many of us who live and thrive here, Christian has a vision and a plan for transforming Los Angeles in the next 50 years, utilizing permaculture principles, into what he is calling a Perm-Circular Economy. Why not? we ask. Many know that passion, combined with vision, planning, commitment and perseverance can make anything happen! Right?

So, here’s how Christian starts out his blog on this inspiring topic:

“It’s kind of a dream idea. A bit crazy, in fact — the stuff utopian ideas and innovations are made of. You might call it a thought experiment. On a massive scale.

I want to call it Ecovillage L.A. 2066.

The question: What if, 50 years from now, Los Angeles were organized and inhabited as an ecovillage, or – more to the point – a federation of ecovillages?”

Read on about Christian’s vision and plan for our future here.

And read his other fascinating blog posts on Permacircular Horizons

If you’re an LA visionary who wants to join with others to move forward on this new way of living in Los Angeles, let me know! And be sure to add your thinking on this topic to Christian’s blog.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: BARE WITH ME WHILE I GET SOMEONE TO HELP ME GET BETTER AT FORMATTING THESE BLOGS. IF YOU’RE THE ONE, I’M READY FOR YOU. LOIS

Garden Group Meeting and Work party, Aug 20

attending : shaila, sarah, samantha, carrie, dani, yolanda, bambi, jocelyn, lara, carol jessica, ely; cameo: bruce

succulent garden : samantha researched plants that might be suitable for the dry area next to loquat tree in front and possibly in the bulb-out raised bed. Contestants were: yucca, ornamental grass, indian mallow. we choose mallow which is perennial, blooms year round and has orange flowers. as a member of mallow family, may also be medicinal. samantha will check for sources.

clean chicken coop & prune adjacent lamb’s quarters & lemon verbena bambi & jocelyn overcame anxiety about not knowing what to do by expertly hauling bedding from chicken coop to compost and pruning around the coop entry path.

transplant goji berry from sandbox dani and yolanda located a good site for the goji berry & dug & prepared a hole for it’s new digs. Unfortunately, the goji berry had been cut down, but it’s roots were still in the sandbox, so they have been re-located to the bed with banana & papaya trees fed by greywater.

prune apple, pomegranate trees & wooly aphids shaila, sarah & carol pruned & carol and yolanda continued on sunday. Jessica researched the wooly white growths on the trees & diagnosed “wooly aphids”.
carol’s wooly aphids control plan spray with 1 TBSP dish soap dissolved in hot water. [1]

Pruning-at-large lara pruned plants surrounding entry to her apartment. Carrie pruned where needed.

After party sweet & juicy pomegranates from our pruning, and cold, sweet watermelon brought by bambi were our rewards while we chatted in the courtyard after working. Many of us went from there to sea dragon for supper & more lively conversations.

Next garden group planned for Sept. 17

Garden group observes front, north & courtyard gardens 117 Bimini

olive (non-bearing), bananas (poor producers), apple; foreground – lots & lots: nasturtiums, Nichole

carpet your trees?

4th of July BBQ with 1st corn

eating 1st corn

shucking 1st corn from garden

somerset grilling 1st corn from garden

Kick off party for Pacific Electric, a worker owned co-op

Pacific Electric is a full service electrical and solar contracting firm and a worker owned coop.  They are having a kick off party at the L.A. Eco Village on Friday, April 25 at 6pm and you are invited.

Make sure to check out their website to get an idea of the range of services they can provide and some cool pictures of their portfolio: www.pacificelectric.coop

More info on the event:

What: Pacific electric coop kick off party.  Enjoy some homemade food, locally brewed beer and cider.  Music by DJ Nova Jade.  Live music by Pawing at the Ceiling.  Featuring locally crafted pendant lights by Melba Thorne.

When: Friday, April 25, 2014.  6pm

where: L.A Eco-Village, 117 Bimini PL, LA 90004.  map

 

 

Grand Opening for New Virgil Avenue Bike Lanes This Saturday

At one point in the protracted Bike Plan processes, the city of Los Angeles labeled the Virgil Avenue bike lanes as “infeasible.” Thanks to persistence from local cyclists, including Eco-Villagers, and leadership from then-Councilmember now-Mayor Eric Garcetti (special thanks to Garcetti’s deputy Marcel Porras), the city is now striping new bike lanes on Virgil Avenue from Santa Monica Boulevard to Melrose Avenue – just northeast of L.A. Eco-Village.

The new Virgil Avenue bike lanes connect to these recent bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood

The new bike lanes are a road diet – reducing four car lanes to three – adding bike lanes and making the street safer for driving, walking and bicycling. They are beginning to build the East Hollywood portion of the city’s bicycle network by connecting to recent bike lanes on Santa Monica Boulevard and are very close to bike lanes on Myra and Sunset. You can ride the new Virgil lanes nearly from the Bicycle District to the new home of the Bicycle Kitchen. Woooot! Woooooooot!

Join now-Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell in celebrating the new bike lanes at their grand opening this Saturday January 18th at 9am at Sqirl, 720 N. Virgil.

Here’s the official announcement from City Councilmember O’Farrel’s office:

Please join Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell as we celebrate the newest bike lane project in the City of Los Angeles!

120 attend LAEV 20th Anniversary Celebration Honoring Jackie Goldberg

And what a night it was a month ago on December 7th! So cold, we squeezed almost everyone into the lobby, which made us much warmer and cozier, like an art opening, as pizza appetizers circulated hot out of Ray Cirino’s astounding rocket stove with great local and organic veggies donated by Mud Baron and Camille Cimino.

Eco-Villagers Ana Paula Noquez Mercado, Jimmy
Lizama (ctr) and Eric Roman (photo by Yuki)

While wine flowed to accompany Jimmy Lizama’s great rice, beans and veggies with help from sis Mayi Mauricio,  more great food was prepared by Lara Morrison, also chief server for the evening.  Nichole Schwab provided a popular wine pairing activity while Eco- Villagers Jordan B and Becca L. tended bar. To top off the food

Early LAEV visionary Maria Davalos (photo by Yuki).

part, 15 dozen fabulous homemade cookies were provided by early LAEV visionary Maria Davalos.                                                                                   


A silent auction and raffle event were  organized by members Claire Bergen and Laura Allen.  LAEV members Yuki Kidokoro and Ianne Lavigne took some terrific photos as did our cohousing consultant and friend Raines Cohen from San Francisco. Yuki K. and Irma Garcia along with our friend Tina Mata helped check folks in at the door.  Other Eco-Villagers circulating to host the event and welcome our guests included Eco Maya Festival producer Julio Santizo, Peter Ralph, George Patton, Melba Thorn, Randy Metz, Somer and Aurisha Walters, Eric Roman, and Michelle Wong.

Thiago Winterstein and friends provide mellow bossa nova (photo by Yuki)

Eco-Villager Thiago Winterstein DJed for the event, and, with his musician friends, Elizabeth Perry Dickson, Matt Dickson, and Clark Skelton, provided mellow live Brazilian bossa nova. Los Angeles Country  Bicycle Coalition staff Chris Barnes provided volunteer bicycle valet service.  LA Walks’ Deborah Murphy couldn’t join us but graciously loaned us her catering supplies making our effort at holding a zero waste event very successful.

Midnight dishwashing party with LAEV Intentional Community members (photo by Lois).

We had planned to debut our outdoor courtyard kitchen (coordinated by LAEV member and Greywater Action co-founder Laura Allen) for the dish washing activities, but the cold weather resulted in our carting all the dishes up to our community room for the midnight dish washing party spearheaded by Eco-Villagers Melba Thorn and Ana Paula Noguez Mercado, then joined by members Nichole, Becca, Yuki, Eric, Michelle, Laura, Jordan and Randy who finished the job.

KCET’s “Engaging Spaces” blogger and LAEV friend George Villanueva describes the highlight of the evening as we honored our former LAUSD School Board and City Council member Jackie Goldberg “who fought side by side with LAEV to make the physical and social space for the Village that we see today.” George goes on to quote Jackie saying  “how LAEV members ‘not only talk about what to do, but live it and demonstrate it.'” Go here to read the complete blog post.

Honored guest Jackie Goldberg holds plaque award up (photo by Yuki)

We presented Jackie with a small crystal plaque with the engraved words “Thank you Jackie Goldberg for giving us a garden plot instead of a parking lot” to honor the many times she helped save the LAEV neighborhood from being razed for a new school, especially because there were better alternatives. Jackie set the precedent which ultimately resulted in the saving of the northeast corner of Bimini and White House Place for the White House Place Learning Garden instead of more asphalt.  Currently in development, the corner will eventually host gardening instruction for kids from eight schools within walking distance of LAEV.

Eco-Villagers Mayi Mauricio (left),
George Patton, Lara Morrison (photo by Yuki)

After the presentation to Jackie, I made a special acknowledgement to Lara Morrison, 15 year LAEV member who has been our buildings manager for over ten years, nearly half of that time as a volunteer.  She will be leaving that position in 2014 as she pursues a variety of other earth-related interests.  A key player in piloting the conversion of our two adjacent apartment buildings of 45 units from conventional nonprofit ownership to the Urban Soil-Tierra Urbana limited equity housing cooperative,  Lara also oversaw the

Eco Maya Festival Producer and BVCLT Board member Julio Santizo (photo by Yuki).

Eco-Villagers Melba Thorn (r) and Lois Arkin (photo by Yuki)

development of the Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust, which now owns the land underneath that housing.  The White House Place Learning Garden has also been spearheaded by Lara’s boundless energy.  She will, of course, continue as a valued member of our LAEV Intentional Community.

Eco-Home Network Founder Julia Russell, now retired, chats with new Sherman Oaks ecohome creator Avo Babian and former EHN Board member Mary Proteau (photo by Lois).

More media coverage was provided by Koreatown News staffer Leyna Chon.  Referring to Jackie’s comments, Leyna states “Noting the recent natural disasters around the world and the unusually cold LA weather that evening, Jackie also emphasized the urgency of LAEV’s cause,”  referring to the increasing volatility of climate change.  Leyna’s article on LAEV is one of the most comprehensive in recent times, referring in some detail to our Housing Co-op and Community Land Trust, the LAEV membership process, the Arroyo SECO Network of Time Bank, and more.  See full article here.

Arroyo-Seco Network of Time Banks co-founder Autumn Rooney and Santa Barbara Time Bank activist Jonny Sacko (photo by Lois)

Among some of our long time friends and activists attending were noted permaculture trainer Dr. Bill Roley, Eco-Home founder Julia Russell, LA Streetsblog founder Damien Newton, permaculture trainer David Kahn, environmental and political activist Hans Johnson; LAEV co-founder and CRSP board president Architect Ian McIlvaine and wife, architect Victoria Yust, both principals of Tierra Sol y Mar; City Planning staffers and CRSP board members David Somers, Priya Mehendale, and immigration attorney Jesse Moorman; Santa Barbara activist Jonny Sacko, Burbank recycling coordinator and long time friend Kreigh Hampel; Time-Bank founder Autumn Rooney, Time Bank activists Lee Conger and Kathie Adams; Cohousing coaches Raines Cohen and Betsy Morris,
affordable housing advocate
and consultant Ryan Lehman,
L.A. River consultant Jill
Sourial, Filipino-American cultural ambassador

Left to right: George Villanueva, Roque Bucton, Michelle Wong, David Kahn (photo by Yuki)

and environmental activist Roque Bucton, long time affordable housing activist Sheila Bernard; Beverly-Vermont Community Land Trust co-founders and Board members Tina Mata and Helen Campbell; LA County Bicycle Coalition co-founder Ron Milam, popular permaculture activist Hop Hopkins, attorney and social activist Adalilila Zelada-Garcia, Cal State Chicano Studies and Urban Planning professor David Diaz, Sherman Oaks ecohome creator Avo Babian, and school garden activist Mud Baron.

Long time LAEV friend Hop Hopkins with daughter (photo by Yuki).

Then Surprise–
The surprise of the evening was when Eco-Village members Yuki Kidokoro and Becca L presented a large framed LAEV photo collage with congratulatory notes from many LAEV community members to LAEV co-founder Lois Arkin (i.e., “me”) along with a very special native buckwheat plant.  I was so surprised and flabbergasted, I was speechless, a most unusual response from someone who generally has something to say about almost everything. It’s pretty hard to keep a secret in the

Eco-Villagers present congratulatory photo collage to a speechless Lois Arkin

LAEV community, but they really did it.  After the photo presentation, long time friend and colleague Julia Russell made some very moving  comments about our friendship, followed by Tina Mata’s words of appreciation.  Here are a few of Julia’s words:  “…In my opinion, it’s the most evolutionary project in all of Los Angeles, demonstrating a society of economic and social democracy rooted in ecological wisdom.  Yes, it’s true, as Lois never tires of reminding us, none of us do what we do, or did what we did, alone.  It’s the armies of people that catch the vision and the fire of inspiration and opt to become part of it and give it their energy and commitment that actually bring it to fruition.” (Do email me if you would like to see Julia’s entire comments crsp@igc.org.)  If ever there is a time to make you feel humble, it is when something like this happens, so completely unexpected.

So, yes!, what a night it was to remember.  As an old lady of almost 77, who knows if I’ll be around for the 25th or 30th Anniversary party or not, and/or what shape I’d be in by then, to appreciate such lovely warm and inspiring thoughts?  So a great big public thank you to a wonderful community, one that knows how to throw a great party and make the most brash amongst us feel a tearful and speechless humility.

But, ultimately, the message has got to be:  let’s not take 20 years to create thousands of transitional urban ecovillages.  We’ve got the tools, and, already, there are dozens of eco community initiatives happening right here in the greater Los Angele area. What we call them is not so important as what people are doing in their neighborhoods to connect, collaborate and cooperate with one another for creating an ever higher quality of life at an ever lower environmental impact.  We’re nearly out of time so better to make change happen deeply and rapidly and with all the justice we can muster in the process.

Dec 7, 2013 from 7pm to 11pm: Come celebrate our 20th Anniversary with Us!

We’d love to see you.

You are cordially invited to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Eco-Village on Saturday evening, December 7, 2013 from 7pm to 11pm. We are honoring our former school board member and former city council member Jackie Goldberg, and acknowledging the many people who have contributed to our community.

Wine, food, music, fun, silent auction, raffle, schmoozing, networking, hanging out with old friends, making new friends.  Your donation supports new demonstration eco-technologies for our Urban Soil-Tierra Urbana limited equity housing cooperative.
——————————————
It’s a fun raiser and a fund raiser.
Make your reservation by donating here:
Donation: $25 – $100 (or more if you’re able and up for it)*.
Timebankers:  $20 plus 5 Time Dollars to Urban Soil-Tierra Urbana
or RSVP here:  crsp@igc.org or 213/738-1254

*Donations above $25 are tax deductive
as CRSP (the fiscal sponsor for this event)
is a 501.c.3 tax exempt corporation.
——————————————-

For a colorful electronic flyer to pass along to others, go to our website:
www.laecovillage.org

For newbies to our blog:
Los Angeles Eco-Village – Since 1993, LAEV members have been demonstrating how to reinvent urban life by integrating the social, economic and ecological systems of our neighborhood. We work at raising the quality of life while lowering our environmental impacts.

Examples include getting rid of many cars, walking and biking more, growing organic food, participating in our local Time Bank, removing land and housing from the speculative real estate market, home based livelihoods, regular community dinners and meetings, sponsoring public events on urban sustainability, engaging in the visual and performing arts, engaging with neighborhood kids and organizations, and more.

Long time L.A. Eco-Villager Julio Santizo reads Diana Leafe Christian’s book Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools for Creating Ecovillages and Intentional Communities.  His pet bird “Buddy” (now gone) sits atop his head.

Oppose Unsafe Restart of San Onofre 12/14/12 in City Hall

LA City Council To Vote Tomorrow, Friday December 14 

On Resolution To Oppose Unsafe Restart of San Onofre

This is an issue that is near and dear to the hearts of many of us who have followed the events and on-going disasters at Fukushima.

 

TAKE ACTION

1. Please call your Los Angeles City Councilmember and tell them you support the Koretz/Rosendahl resolution on San Onofre safety!

To find out who your Councilmember is, go to this link: http://lacity.org/YourGovernment/CityCouncil/index.htm  Go to the bottom right hand side of the page where it says “Neighborhood Resources” and type in your address.

2. Please show up at the meeting tomorrow. It is enough to stand up and be counted, when one of the speakers tells everyone in support of the resolution to stand up. If you want to speak, you will have about a minute. The most important message you can give is that you are an LA resident, you are concerned about safety, and you support the resolution. If you are not from LA, it would be most helpful to stand up and be counted, since the Councilmembers will prioritize LA constituents.

WHEN: The council meets tomorrow, Friday, December 14 at 10 a.m. at City Hall, 200 North Spring Street. Please arrive at 9:30 to have time to go through security.

WHERE: ROOM 1010, CITY HALL, 200 NORTH SPRING STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

Directions: http://bpw.lacity.org/PAO/City%20Hall%20Directions%20Map%20color.pdf

Bike Wash at LAEV Next Saturday!

Hey ridazz! Come get your bicycle washed at Los Angeles Eco-Village! For real. It’s a fundraiser for the Westside Invite L.A. – a bike messenger organized bike race, open to all cyclists.

Bike Wash!

The Bike Wash takes place 10am-5pm on Saturday Septmember 1st 2012 at L.A. Eco-Village 117 Bimini Place, Los Angeles 90004. There will be food and drink for sale – come hang out even if you don’t get your bike washed! Bike washes are available at a scaleable cost from ~$10-30 – ten gets you basic cleaning, twenty better, and for thirty: you may need to bring sunglasses because your bike will be too shiny for the unprotected gaze.

Scenes from the 2012 Eco Maya Festival

Last weekend, July 28-29, 2012, the latest incarnation of the annual Eco Maya Festival took place at L.A. Eco-Village. Below is a quick photo essay to show how the event went.

Setting tents up for the Eco Maya Festival

Within Reach Movie Screens Tomorrow at LAEV

Within Reach L.A. Premiere – Tomorrow at LAEV

Come on over to L.A. Eco-Village tomorrow night – Tuesday July 24th 2012 – and watch the new documentary Within Reach. It’s the story of a couple bike touring around the United States – in search of community – with stops at various intentional communities, including Los Angeles Eco-Village. 

Earth Day 2012 at the L.A. Eco-Village

by Michelle Wong, cross posted from White House Gardens @ LA Eco-Village blog:

Bresee kids Astrid, Nichole & their little sisters enjoying Earth Day 2012 @ LAEV

Even though Earth Day is everyday at the LA Eco-Village, villagers celebrated the occasion with an open house last Sunday. Friends & neighbors came out to enjoy the beautiful day that kicked off with Cachao chickens crossing the street and the sounds of Zumba inspiring some fun booty-shaking. In addition to refreshing the Salamander Plaza painting, kids participated in pinata making, face painting/ glitter tattoos, and the Children of Paradise art workshop.

Allies from the Bus Riders Union set up their garage sale and raised funds for their work. And David from the Bresee T.O.K. Street Team sold tomato seedlings raised by Dana C, another long-time Bresee kid. Thanks to Jasmine D. who helped with face painting, and Gabriel who brought his family to help with the Food Lobby.     

  

Extra thanks to Julio  Sr. for leading tours, Lara  for organizing the street painting, Jimmy, Josey & Ianne who master-minded the children’s activities, Yuki for facilitating, and to Lois who organized the yummy organic food that nourish volunteers & visitors alike. We hope to include the White House Place Learning Garden in next years festivities.

Mountain Top Removal Talk

Our long time friend Ben Guzman is helping with this talk about mountain top removal coal mining in West Virginia.  He invited us and we wanted to let more people know.   This process is really brutal and it affects people and the environment.

The event will take place at the Echo Country Outpost(1770 Glendale Boulevard,Los Angeles, CA 90026) on Sunday, March 25th at 3pm.

Here is a downloadable flyer with more information, you are welcome to print it and spread the word.

We hope you can make it and perhaps get your self a good dose of favorite local band Triple Chicken Foot.