Bringing Back the Art of Canning

Cecil Baumgartner

On Saturday, July 14, the OVGC Culinary Club invites you to a canning get-together from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The class is hosted by Cecil and Sue Baumgartner, who sell their local Thunderbird Farms produce at the Ojai Farmers Market. Cecil will demonstrate traditional canning techniques and healthy alternatives to sugar. The tastes of each season's harvest can be yours year-long. Come learn the fun and ease of canning, and bring a friend or make a canning buddy at this information-packed hands-on event.

Coffee and tea along with samplings will be served and you will take home a jar of homemade jam. Class is only $20 for OVGC members and $25 for non-members. Make your reservation right away. This class is being offered to a number of folks who were turned away last year due to lack of seats. Reservations are required and the class is limited to 20 participants. Send an email or call (805) 669-8445. Please provide your name, phone number, email and the number of attendees. We will then confirm with location and class details.

Download announcement here.

1% for the Planet

"The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary
of the environment, not the other way around."

Senator Gaylord Nelson

Those prophetic words form the basis of 1% for the Planet, which exists to build and support an alliance of businesses financially committed to creating a healthy planet. How cool is that and we're now a nonprofit partner of this fab 1% constituency!

The history of this organization is also very interesting. It starts off with the story: "not long ago, a mountain climber and a fisherman realized they had a lot more in common than a disdain for wearing a suit to work. Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, owner of Blue Ribbon Flies, were also passionate environmentalists who happened to be running successful businesses." Read the rest of 1% history and then check out the 1% story.

So, what does this mean to you and us? 1% for the Planet is an alliance of over 1472 member companies in 43 countries that give one percent of TOTAL revenue to environmental causes. The Coalition is now eligible to receive donations from 1% member companies, placing us among an impressive 2,970 global network of environmental organizations. 1% member businesses fuel this nonprofit network through annual contributions, which totaled over $22 million in 2010! Join 1% for the Planet as a business and add OVGC to your 'support local' investment portfolio or be an ambassador for us in the community and spread the word.

Why pick us? Because every morning we get up and think about how to preserve and better our local environmental ecosystems within our capacity, and how we fit into the larger global ecosystems. We do this on behalf of everyone in our community and beyond. Our partnership with 1% greatly expands the potential pool of funding to which we can look to for capacity building to advance a green, sustainable, and resilient Ojai Valley.

In hope and determination,
OVGC board of directors and staff

Education and Advocacy Updates
from the Frontlines

Sunday, July 1 the city of Ojai Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance officially went into effect. We had folks at Vons and the Farmers Market passing out complimentary reusable bags and talking about the ordinance. All in all folks are positive and we think most people get (even if subconsciously) this really needs to happen. It's a first step toward our community supporting the global reduction of throw away plastic, which is starting to suffocate more than marine life - just ask the state of Hawaii. We still have more reusable bags and signage coming to distribute to retailers. Thanks to the City of Ojai and Harrison Industries for their outreach sponsorships, along with Surfrider Foundation Ventura Chapter members for all their support.

At the June 12 Ojai City Council meeting, Scott Kardel of the International Dark Sky Association gave a well-received presentation on why we want dark skies (i.e. responsibly lit skies) and need an exterior lighting ordinance to support it. Scott then met with city staff and community members to discuss the details of a good lighting ordinance. Many people don't realize the city already has a pretty stringent lighting ordinance. It just needs to be updated and enforced.

Have you done your Edison and Gas Company survey yet and turned a copy in to us at [email protected]? Or maybe you've recently bought new energy efficiency appliances and received a rebate from Edison or the Gas Company? All your energy efficiency and conservation steps done right now are worth local business discount coupons to you, plus your name will be entered into a larger drawing to be held in early 2013. Check it all out at ojaienergy.org. Remember: 'saving energy is cheaper than buying energy'.

Green Home & Building Tour sites are selected and we're now gearing up for this popular first Saturday in October event. This year will be October 6th. First step is to bring on sponsors for the event, vendors for the green home show, site coordinators to help with the planning, and other staff for the day of event help. Let us know if you can join us!

Ventura River
Parkway Presentation

Wednesday, July 18

This is big, folks - see invitation details here.

The following was excerpted from www.friendsoftheventurariver.org. Though the parkway will run between Foster Park and the Pacific Ocean, we are all part of the Ventura River watershed community:

"In many communities across the nation, local organizations, groups of citizens, government agencies have worked together to create wonderful public recreational spaces with their rivers as the centerpiece. These communities have restored their river ecosystems while providing outstanding recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike.

The Trust for Public Land produced a short brochure to provide a summary overview of the benefits that the Ventura Parkway would bring to our community, as well as examples of other successful parkway implementations in California and in other cities across America.

The Ventura Parkway Vision Plan was created by students at Cal Poly Pomona Studio 606 and funded by the California State Coastal Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land with the goal of providing a vision for reconnecting the residents of Ventura with their river.

Plan Highlights include:

• Parks and Open Space: Conserving suitable areas along the river will provide neighborhoods with new picnic sites, recreational areas, wildlife viewing points, and interpretive exhibits.

 

• Public Access: A contiguous corridor of pedestrian and cycling trails, river crossings and public access points will reconnect people with the river and offer direct connections to city neighborhoods and rural communities.

 

• Improved Water Quality and Wildlife Habitat: By protecting and restoring streambanks, floodplains and other natural areas, the river parkway will improve the quality of water flowing downstream to our beaches and enhance the environment for the birds, fish and animals we all value."

In other watershed news:

Check out Santa Barbara Channelkeepers awesome Watchdog Diaries Series.