Green Gal

Who else is ready for the weather to warm up the soil for our spring gardens? I've spent so many hours looking at seed catalogs and seed packets lately, I just can't wait for tomatoes and peppers! Despite the cool temperatures lately, the 2018 growing season has officially begun for Green Gal's Garden! We sowed our first round of seeds on February 18, including three varieties of basil and one variety of cauliflower. The first seedlings sprouted up out of the soil on February 24, and more continue to sprout and grow happily in their little cells of potting soil. I'm planting another round of seeds this week, and I finally finished my crop plan (just yesterday actually!) so now I have a schedule of what's getting planted when and how much and when it'll eventually get transplanted and then harvested. I printed it out to have a physical copy to refer to (see below), but it will be a living document on the computer that will get updated and changed as the ...

It's been almost 3 months since I said goodbye to my beautiful farm-ily and graduated from the UC Santa Cruz Farm Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture. Life since then has been a whirlwind of organizing to-do lists and timelines, adjusting to more screen time, balancing new responsibilities and projects without the structure of a 9-5 job, and reflecting on this past growing season of learning, growth, and community. Since October when I packed up my tent cabin overlooking Monterey Bay and closed a profound chapter of my life, the ideas that had sprouted into dreams and were woven into goals during my time at the UCSC Farm soon became integral to the fabric of my daily life. The vision I crafted as I dug potatoes and planted ranunculus and cooked meals for 45 of my favorite people has begun manifesting as tangible stepping stones into the future, each leading to deeper understanding of the purpose and potential of those dreams. No doubt, I have days when fear makes m...

I'm filled to the brim with inspiration this afternoon after a delightful chat over coffee with my friend Cain at a cool little coffee shop in downtown San Jose called Social Policy (part of the Bellano "family of coffee lovers" ). (If you live in SJ, you may have seen Cain cranking down the street on his red cargo bike hauling huge boxes of awesome stuff for Cowgirl Bike Courier !) We discussed an upcoming bike/art event he is planning, a bike-to-farms ride that I'm planning, San Jose bicycle news and issues, Viva Calle SJ promotion, and more. Last evening, I also connected with friends at my house to plan our bike-to-farms ride. We had a potluck feast of homemade, vegetarian yumminess, and then we identified next steps for turning our vision into a reality. And the night before last, I attended a bike coalition meeting where I saw plans for putting bidirectional contraflow lanes around the SJSU campus and heard the good news that the Willow Glen Road Diet has overa...

On Wednesday, August 26, Green Guy and I attended the 5th Annual Silicon Valley Bike Summit in Palo Alto for a day of presentations and conversations about the state of bicycling in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, what new roadway and technology improvements are planned to improve bicycle safety, and how we can encourage more people in our community to safely bicycle for transportation, fun, and health. Getting There - Caltrain After a short bike ride to the Caltrain station, we boarded the bike car along with fellow active transportation advocates Richard Masoner ( Cyclelicious ) and Jaime Fearer ( California Walks ), both of whom spoke at the summit later that day. As with a number of other bicycle advocates who have an online presence, I had only ever communicated with Richard by Twitter, and it was great to meet him in person. His blog is a really great resource for all things bike in this area, and he's also on Facebook and Twitter . Jaime Fearer, who I hadn'...

By 6:15 AM today, I was biking down the hill from campus, enjoying the moments of stillness right before the sun rose. Lights twinkled in the city below, a familiar view that has been part of my experience at UC Santa Cruz for the last four years. Most of the time when I see the city's twinkling lights, though, it's at night. Seeing it this early in the morning dispelled any lingering desire to be in my warm bed, and it prepared me for a day of engagement with transportation issues. I was on my way to the Silicon Valley Transportation Choices and Healthy Communities Summit in Palo Alto, and this 15-minute bike ride was leg one of a multi-modal journey! After biking fast down the hill with my bright yellow jacket on, I arrived at the Santa Cruz Metro Station downtown with about 5 minutes to spare. I put my bike on the bus rack, paid my $5 for the trip over the hill, and sat down to breathe. I promptly closed my eyes and half-slept while sitting and not le...