EXPERIENCE A DAY ON THE FARM! Learn, Eat & Celebrate! Sunday, May 20, 2012 A Day on the Farm, Sunday, May 20, 2012, at Soil Born Farms’ American River Ranch is an enjoyable day on the only organic farm in the area, plus an educational opportunity for the entire family. Sponsored by the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op, the 40-acre farm serves as a living educational resource, with emphasis on food, nutrition, ecological farming and sustainable living. The day includes a wide variety of farm life-oriented, engaging events and hands-on activities tailored for both youth and adults. The Sacramento National Food Co-op sponsored event charming landscape, and activities that focus on good health

What is Liberation Permaculture? When posed this question, creative organizer Rafael Aguilera’s answer is amazing pasta sauce. “It’s not all about gardening. It’s about village alchemy. How do we identify who has needs or skills in our own neighborhoods and work together? Is some guy growing tomatoes and has too many while another guy down the street has an incredible recipe for pasta sauce?” And as simply as that, the concept of permaculture is boiled down. Bill Mollison, who is credited with helping develop permaculture as a systematic process in the 1970s defined it as “a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than pro

  Sunday evening Patrick Mulvaney couldn’t be found in the Mulvaney’s B&L kitchen. Instead, the chef and restaurateur was at Time Tested Books with Shawn Harrison, executive director of Soil Born Farms, discussing local agriculture as part of The Sacramento Living Library series. The series is presented by Midtown Monthly and Time Tested Books. Tim Foster, editor of Midtown Monthly, moderated the talk. Harrison began the conversation with the historical context of Sacramento’s agriculture addressing the question: Why it is the way it is? “Farmers were unable to sell their crops in Sacramento because there was not a huge demand for those crops so they went elsewhere,” said Harrison. Mu

Soil Born Farms and Mulvaney's B & L are among those being honored Friday when the Sacramento Area Council of Governments hosts a regional forum as the next step in the region's smart-growth plan. SACOG is hosting the Rural-Urban Connection Strategy to provide an update on best practices they've uncovered here and elsewhere for containing urban sprawl and protecting farmlands from being lost, partly through expanding local markets for local produce. This year, SACOG's Salutes! Awards have a rural focus after being incorporated into the forum. SACOG will present awards to 10 organizations, people and projects. More than 500 people are registered for the forum, set for 7:30 a.m. Friday at

As the 2010 holiday season goes into full swing, the Sierra 2 Center offers the Curtis Park and Sacramento community at large a truly unique way to combine its indulgence in merriment with its interest in sharing with those in need. On Friday, December 3rd, the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts & Community presents Best Friend Friday, an ongoing social gathering at which attendees get to meet new people, enjoy terrific food and drinks, and learn something they didn’t know about their own community. This Friday attendees will get the chance to meet Harvest Sacramento, an amalgamation of area residents, non-profits, community groups and businesses who work together to gather uneaten fruit and ve

 Late risers were disappointed when they showed up for Soil Born’s newest farm stand in McKinley Park on Saturday. By 10:30, the stand had sold out of beets, carrots, green beans, cucumbers, apricots and blackberries. Only potatoes and okra were left by noon, so Randy Stannard, Soil Born Farm’s food access coordinator, turned shoppers away, promising to triple the amount of fruits and vegetables next week. “We’ll have to make it bigger,” Stannard said. “We had an amazing response. People are just really excited to be able to have something down here in the park.” Soil Born chose McKinley Park for its stand because of its popularity. “Many people, a diverse amount of people, use the park

Starting this coming Saturday, Soil Born Farms will operate a farm stand in front of the library at McKinley Park in East Sacramento. The stand will sell fruit and vegetables grown by farmers in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado, Yuba, Sutter, Solano and San Joaquin counties. Randy Stannard, Soil Born's food access coordinator, is heading up the stand. It is one of many food-delivery models that the farm is using to bring healthy, locally grown food to the community. "Instead of bringing ten to 20 farmers to one spot, we go to the farms and we basically buy and resell produce as well as our own," Stannard said, comparing the stand to a farmers market. The stand is one component of sev

More than 4,000 people gathered Sunday at Soil Born Farms' 40-acre American River Ranch for the second annual "Day on the Farm." The family-oriented festival celebrates farming and gardening and emphasizes the importance of eating locally grown food. Along with tours, classes, music and a farmers market, 35 community organizations passed out information on healthy living and being conscious of the environment. The day began with the "Veggie Chase," a 5K run in which children chased runners dressed as giant vegetables. Other physical-fitness possibilities included rock climbing, yoga, martial arts and an obstacle course. There were offerings for the mind as well as the body, with classes

There were several Earth Day celebrations and events Thursday. One of the biggest and most successful was the official City of Sacramento Earth Day Celebration. The event was held at Cesar Chavez Park and in the plaza of City Hall. An estimated 3,500 people of all ages attend this years' event. It was supported by Mayor Kevin Johnson and the City Council. The City of Sacramento Neighborhood Services Department organized the event.   I spoke with Neighborhood Services Department Director Vincene Jones. Jones and her staff started back in January giving early notice to Sacramento area schools, informing them of the event and its value as a field trip. Local media was enlisted to help get t

Sacramento is nicknamed the "City of Trees" for a reason. Even in its most urban core, the city is filled with fruit trees. So what happens when those trees produce more fruit than the owners can harvest, let alone eat? One option is to let Harvest Sacramento take care of it. This year alone, the group has collected more than 13,000 pounds of fruit from the Sacramento area, all of which goes to the Sacramento Food Bank. Harvest Sacramento organized a Midtown Fruit Harvest on Saturday in which 25 community volunteers helped pick more than 1,300 pounds of citrus for the food bank. In just three hours, the group collected grapefruit, oranges, lemons and kumquats from nine houses in the grid

Students help harvest fruit from neighbors to supply area food banks Gleaning effort facing possible shut down   By Maria L. Lopez & Randy Stannard Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. More than 50 students from Theodore Judah Elementary School and community volunteers will walk from their McKinley Park area campus to harvest fruit from their neighbors’ yards for local food banks on Saturday, Feb.20. Volunteers will receive an orientation at 9 a.m. and expect to begin walking to residences by 9:30. Judah is located at 3919 McKinley Blvd. Last weekend, volunteers walked to neighbors’ homes to ask for permission to gather the fruit. Randy Stannard of Harvest Sacramento, and a coordinato