Lower Haight Art Walk Tonight!

What are you doing tonight? I highly recommend checking out the LH Art Walk.. The holiday version is only held once a year..

Please Help for the Call for the Release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee

I just read this today and have been following the story since it broke in late March. I am particularly concerned about this since I am an avid follower of Current TV and particularly of exceptional journalist Laura Ling. I can't believe they are being charged and tried with a possible 10 years of forced labor if convicted.

Please help by writing the President asking for his help to have the journalists freed.



Here is the post from AAA-FUND Blog:

N. Korea Trial for Lisa Ling’s Sister

Right now things are looking a bit bleak for journalist Laura Ling, the sister of journalist Lisa Ling. A couple weeks back, Laura was arrested by the North Korean military along the North Korea-China border, as she was covering a story on North Korean defectors.

It now appears that Laura and another journalist, Euna Lee, are going be be tried for “hostile acts” against North Korea (via People):

Preparations for an indictment are already underway, with Laura Ling and Euna Lee headed for a trial on the basis of “already confirmed suspicions,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

“The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements,” the news agency said.

Ling and Lee, who work for former Vice President Al Gore’s media venture Current TV,, were captured by a North Korean military patrol on March 17 near the North Korea/China border. The journalists were in China filming a documentary on North Korean defectors who reside there.
According to Slant Eye for the Round Eye, both journalists could be sentenced to up to 10 years of forced labor if convicted.

Former Vice President Al Gore has asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to intercede on the journlists’ behalf. In addition, the United States has also requested help from the Chinese government.

We’ll continue monitoring this story. Meanwhile, ask President Obama to get both journalists freed.

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Permaculture Presentation

I just completed my Four Seasons Permaculture Certification Courses! Wow what a great time.. I'm really going to miss everyone and going up to beautiful RDI every month. But hopefully I can keep up my permaculture chops by participating in the San Francisco Permaculture Guild here. Below is my group's final presentation which proposed a food forest design in an underutilized part of Golden Gate Park.

SF Permaculture Presentation- V3

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work golden gate park San Francisco

Get involved with Slow Food Nation!

City Slicker Farms

I wanted to highlight an organization that has been doing some amazing things in Oakland. Hopefully their ideas and practices catch on and we start seeing the same things here in San Francisco.

Run entirely by volunteers, City Slicker Farms

increases food self-sufficiency in West Oakland by creating organic, sustainable, high-yield urban farms and back-yard gardens. These spaces provide healthy, affordable food and improve the environment. We seek to serve all West Oakland residents, prioritizing people who have least access. Our farms and gardens demonstrate the viability of a local food-production system, serve as community spaces, empower children and adults who want to learn about the connections between ecology, farming and the urban environment, and give West Oakland residents tools for self-reliance.

Below are their programs. I am particularly interested in the Urban Farming and Food Distribution. Imagine being able to do this in the various neighborhoods in SF!



Urban Farming:
At their urban farms (former empty lots) they focus on growing a seasonal variety of organic produce by maximizing yields while promoting plant diversity and soil health. They continually increase the amount of produce available to the community by starting new farms and helping residents to grow.

Food Distribution:
City Slicker Farms distributes produce to residents through farm stands, farmer's markets and work-trade. Sliding scale pricing means that no one is turned away for lack of funds. Their marketing efforts focus on low income customers who lack access to other sources of produce.

Education:
The Workshop Series provides the information, resources, and supplies necessary for residents to grow their own organic produce and learn about gardening,cooking, nutrition, natural medicine, and ecology. The educational programs for children and adults also provide experiential learning opportunities through school visits, work-days, and in-school programs.

Back-Yard Garden Building Program:
City Slicker Farms helps low income West Oakland residents to grow produce to feed their families or to sell or barter through our sites. They help build organic vegetable gardens and provide the ongoing assistance, supplies, and materials necessary for successful growing. For those who want to sell produce they provide the markets necessary for sales and work with growers to ensure quality.

Compost Program:
The sustainable farming practices depend on decomposed plant and food wastes for fertilizer. They recycle local wastes such as wood chips and sawdust, restaurant and home kitchen scraps, garden clippings, and animal manure to create high-quality compost for use at our farms and for residents.

Nursery & Seed Saving Program:
They ensure plant health and vigor by propagating our own organic plants for farms and gardens throughout West Oakland and for sale at our markets. As well as propagating annual vegetables, they grow a variety of medicinal and culinary herbs, flowers and fruiting plants. Each year they save seed at our farms in order to foster varieties adapted to our growing region and reduce dependence on outside sources.

Volunteer Program:
Volunteers are the life-blood of the organization, providing the majority of the labor necessary for our success. They encourage people from all walks of life to come work in solidarity with the residents of West Oakland to create a more just system of food distribution.

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