Fall Home & Garden Festival, Backyard Flock, Build a Scarecrow, Tamale Making 101, From Laundry to Landscape, Small Space Garden, and Gardening on a Rooftop

September 3, 2011 (Rancho San Diego)--The Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College invites the public to enjoy its 2011 fall and winter events.  Gardening classes help residents save water and money by focusing on water-smart landscaping techniques and plants.  Classes are taught by professionals , with offerings for both adults and children. 

Scroll down for details on new classes sprouting up this season.

Can chickens provide early warnings of wind turbine health dangers?

By Miriam Raftery
August 21, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Like those proverbial canaries in the coal mine, chickens near wind farms may provide early clues to potential harm to health of humans and animals. That’s the contention of Hamish Cumming, a farmer battling proposed wind turbines near his home in Australia.

He has written a letter to East County Magazine seeking help from people living near wind farms locally (and in other locations) to document cases of shell-less eggs, dead chickens, or other animals that suffer internal hemmorrhaging.

August 11, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- Join Mission Trails Regional Park's trail guide and resident birder, Jeanne Raimond, for a special evening guided walk in search of resident owls on August 12 and August 19.

Meet at 7:30 p.m. in the dirt parking lot on the corner of Bushy Hill Drive and Father Junipero Serra Trail, across from the Kumeyaay Lake Campground entrance.

Looking for a new plant for your garden or architectural endeavor?

By Matt Kopjak

August 4, 2011 (San Diego's East County)--Choosing the right plant for your garden can be a daunting task, but with Plants-Pedia you can sift through 48,000 plants from the USDA plants database and narrow down your choices, complete with charts and images. You can filter your options by growth period, soil texture, lifespan, shade tolerance, temperature, toxicity, fire tolerance, drought tolerance and more, depending on your needs. This tool is simple enough for the average gardener and has enough advanced options to be useful for even the most experienced botanist.

July 31, 2011 (Sacramento) -- The Federal and State Renewable Energy Action Team (REAT) launched a joint environmental review for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP or Plan) that seeks to streamline permitting of renewable energy facilities for seven counties in the California desert, including San Diego and Imperial Counties.

Public meetings are set for August 16 and 24, with written comments encouraged for those who cannot attend.

June 16, 2011 (El Cajon) -- In order to create a cleaner environment for our community, the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce is hosting an electronic waste [e-waste] recycling collection event on Saturday and Sunday June 25 and 26, 2011, in the parking lot of Westfield Parkway, directly in front of the Best Buy, from 9:00AM to 4:00PM. 

Local elementary school names wild owlets and wins their own owl nesting box with spycam!

June 14, 2011 (Lakeside) –The four owlets of Hoot and Holla, a mated pair of wild barn owls at The Water Conservation Garden, have fledged the nest (or taken their final flight into the wild) as of June 7, 2011.   Unbeknownst to them, the owlets have been observed by a loyal group of fans 24-hours a day via a live infrared Owlcam at www.thegarden.org, since they were eggs laid by Holla in mid-February of this year. 

June 11, 2011 (San Diego) – The average car emits 12,000 pounds of C02 pollution each year – the weight of an adult elephant! Metropolitan Transit Service and the San Diego Zoo have teamed up to urge San Diego County residents to leave their cars at home and ride public transit on national “Dump the Pump” Day this Wednesday, June 15.

Flowers, herbs and other plants on sale to public

June 2, 2011 (El Cajon) -- St. Madeline Sophie's Center how has a Certified Organic Garden program that includes a full citrus orchard, flower gardens, a passive-solar greenhouse, a propagation house, ornamental trees, shrubs, herbs, and a worm farm.

The Garden Program cultivates more than strong, healthy plants; it is a vocational training ground where professional horticulture managers help students reap the benefits of developing physical and mental skills, social relationships, teamwork, self-esteem, and a sense of community and accomplishment.

Centers Offer Free Gardening Classes as Part of the Healthy Works Initiative

May 19, 2011 (San Diego County) -- Want to learn how to plant and maintain a garden? County officials and community partners announced five Regional Garden Education Center locations today at Olivewood Gardens in National City. Olivewood is one of five sites where residents can take free classes to help them to start or maintain school gardens as well as teach residents how to convert lawns, yards and small spaces into fruit and vegetable gardens.

In addition to Olivewood Gardens, centers are located at: Solana Center in Encinitas, San Diego Youth Services at Spring Valley East Community Center, the International Rescue Committee locations in City Heights and Wild Willow Farm, and Education Center in south San Diego.

May 8, 2011 (Rancho San Diego) – Looking to start a green business—or find a job in a green industry?

Learn the keys to success at the Green Business Symposium hosted by Cuyamaca College on May 26th.  For program details and information on registration, scroll down.

The Green Potential