Second Annual
Ojai Valley Seed & Plant Exchange

Spring is coming and what better time to gather in the beautiful Ojai Valley to share seeds and seedlings! All gardeners and farmers - both current and aspiring - are invited to join in for the 2nd Annual Ojai Valley Seed and Plant Exchange on Saturday, February 23, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

All are welcome to bring your stories and passion for growing food to the Chaparral Auditorium located at 414 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai. And if you have them, bring seeds, cuttings, or starts to share. We encourage you to bring your own repurposed seed containers (think envelopes out of the recycle bin or old medication bottles). And our favorite local expert on beneficial insects, Rincon Vitova, will be on hand to answer questions.

The exchange is hosted by All Good Things Organic Seeds and the Ojai Valley Green Coalition.

This year we're expanding to include plants grown locally and inviting nonprofits and growers to sell seeds, starts and garden amendments. A donation of 10% of gross sales to the Coalition is requested. For further information or to coordinate sharing or selling seeds and plants contact Justin Huhn at (805) 758-3184 or [email protected].

Download a flyer to share here.

"Valley of the Moon"
Community Garden 2012
In Review

Did you know the Ojai Valley has an organic community garden? It is the result of the actions and hard work of founders Robin Graham and Keith Brock.

"I got involved originally with community gardening working with 'Food for Thought' in 2010 at Topa Topa Elementary," says Robin, Certified Master Gardener. "The school garden was so popular I ended up having to turn students away. That's when I got the idea to start another community garden."

The Ojai Valley of the Moon Community Garden was founded in 2011 at Help of Ojai's West Campus, 370 Baldwin Road and operates under the non-profit umbrella of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition. The Garden is now home to three different programs: a traditional "community garden"; The Help of Ojai Vegetable Garden; and a University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) site, for hands-on training of Ventura County Master Gardener Trainees.

The traditional, "community garden," portion of the Garden provides for a gardening individual, group or family to tend apportioned plots. The Garden's minimal annual dues, ranging from $65 to $180 depending on the size, covers the cost of the lease of an individual plot, including water, and the automated entrance gate. Fourteen participants of varying ages and experience have signed up for the 2013 season so far.

"For those who are interested in donating about an hour a week," says Robin "The Help of Ojai Senior Lunch Program will need a couple of volunteers to harvest weekly beginning in June. Or, there are lots of other ways to join in."

If you want to know more or to volunteer contact Robin at (805) 640-0569. To find out more about the Ventura County Master Gardener Program click here.

to read more click here.

Our City, Our Valley
Needs Our Activism!

Come to City Hall. . .

Wednesday, February 20

The Ojai City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint meeting to discuss the housing element of the General Plan, February 20 at 6 p.m. The City Council adopted the City's 2006-2014 Housing Element on October 9, 2012, and has submitted the adopted element to the State Housing and Community Development Department for certification.

As required by state law, the 2006-2014 Housing Element includes an analysis of existing and projected housing needs and sets forth programs and policies for the preservation, improvement, and development of housing in the City. Several of the Housing Element's programs will require follow-up actions in the form of Zoning Ordinance amendments, and work on these programs will be conducted over the next several months.

Preserving and sustaining natural resources in the valley should be a key component of the housing element dialog. The Coalition will read a formal statement at the meeting, as part of our ongoing effort to keep tabs on this process.

Tuesday, February 26

Turning off night-time lights, reducing night wattage and shielding exterior lights are easy ways to conserve energy and help the environment. With a considerable number of studies showing the unintended adverse consequences of night-time lighting, the time to act is now. We want to let you know that an updated Exterior Lighting Standards Ordinance is coming up for a vote.

If you, like us, are concerned about light pollution and reducing our lighting energy consumption in the Valley, please join us in requesting lights "down" at the February 26 Ojai City Council meeting beginning at 7 p.m. It is especially valuable to have city residents speak.

Remember Solarize Ojai?
We Think It's a Winner!

Last year the Community Environmental Council of Santa Barbara invited the Coalition to bring a program they started in Santa Barbara to Ojai - we called it Solarize Ojai. We ran the program from mid-October to mid-December and on balance it was a success, especially considering it was the worst possible time to promote solar - during the winter holidays.

We garnered a total of 44 leads (that's the successful part), but unfortunately we were not able to reach our goal of 10 new solar installations in the Valley. We did sign up 5 homes and now have 2380 more watts of energy coming from a renewable energy source - the sun! We learned a lot and are pleased to share that our board and CEC both would like to do it again. If you want to be contacted when we start the program again in June, or if you would like to work on this project, please contact Deborah at [email protected].