Sustainable Bellingham

(Compiled by Shannon Maris/ Garden E-News, Arthur Tenebrae, and Rachel Perry)

This Tuesday (6/19) continues the Kaleidoscope Yoga and Sustainable Bellingham’s Yoga in the Parks. Each week includes a different beautiful park in Bellingham, and this week will be held at Elizabeth Park, weather permitting. Check the Kaleidoscope Yoga Facebook page, or call 676-1487 if the weather is questionable. Next week (6/26) will be Whatcom Falls Park. These are great events and a sign that summer is here. We do yoga for approximately one hour, and then share a meal together. Bring a light dish to share and utensils. The yoga begins at 7pm on each Tuesday through July. Come join us! – Jeff

The Nature of Writing Series: Gifts of the Crow
Monday, June 18th, 7:00 pm, Village Books, 1200 11th Street, Fairhaven
In Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans, John Marzluff, the preeminent researcher on crows, teams up with artist and fellow naturalist Tony Angell to offer an astonishing look at the little-known and largely underappreciated intelligence of the birds of the amazing corvid family, which includes crows, ravens, and jays. Showing that these “bird brains” are actually quite sophisticated, Marzluff and Angell tell fascinating, true stories of surprising crow behavior, such as crows using tree bark to wind surf along ridge tops, jar tops to sled down steep roofs, tools to get food from hard-to-reach places that human babies can’t figure out, and, most surprising of all, giving gifts to people who help or feed them. Along with these and other amazing stories, the authors explain the engrossing, breakthrough science that accounts for this behavior, as well as arresting illustrations of the crow’s antics and anatomy. Finally, Gifts of the Crow proves that crows are highly intelligent, undeniably emotional, and much more similar to humans than we ever imagined.

Outdoor Cast Iron Cookery
Wednesday, June 20th, 6:30 pm, Sumas Public Library, 451 2nd Street, Sumas
Just in time for summer! Join Kelly Foisy and Deborah Morgan as they demonstrate outdoor cookery using cast iron Dutch ovens. Kelly and Deborah will be cooking in the style of the pioneers. Learn techniques and secrets for creating great outdoor experiences and fun ideas for a delicious campout or backyard cookout. Don’t miss out on this yummy revival of an old favorite cooking technique and delicious samples!

The Nature of Writing Series: Arctic Voices – Resistance at the Tipping Point
Wednesday, June 20th, 7:00 pm, Village Books, 1200 11th Street, Fairhaven
World-renowned photographer, writer, and activist Subhankar Banerjee brings together first-person narratives from more than thirty prominent activists, writers, and researchers who address issues of climate change, resource war, and human rights with stunning urgency and groundbreaking research. Arctic Voices includes 32 pages of color photographs of this breathtaking region and an introductory essay by Banjerjee. From Gwich’in activist Sarah James’s impassioned appeal, “We Are the Ones Who Have Everything to Lose,” during the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 to an original piece by acclaimed historian Dan O’Neill about his recent trips to the Yukon River fish camps to an essay by Pamela Miller, the Arctic Program Director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, about the harmful effects of past drilling in Alaska’s North Slope, Arctic Voices is a window into a remarkable region. Other contributors include Velma Wallis, whose debut novel, Two Old Women, has sold over a million copies, Nick Jans, a contributing editor to Alaska magazine, Robert Thompson, an Iñupiat conservationist, George Archibald, the co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, Cindy Shogan, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, Jeff Fair, a wildlife biologist and contributor to Audubon and Alaska magazines, and Peter Matthiessen, a three-time National Book Award–winning novelist and environmental activist.

Canning 101 with Susy Hymas
Thursday, June 21st, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Cordata Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Road
Learn how to stretch your food dollars and enjoy seasonal flavors all year long in this three-session demonstration class. Course covers the techniques and equipment you will need to safely can fruit, quick pickles, salsa, jams, pressure canning vegetables, seafood, and meats. Instructor Susy Hymas has been a Certified Master Food Preserver for 14 years. The cost is $59 for members and non-members alike. To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

Ocean Frontiers
Thursday, June 21st, 6:30 pm, Pickford Film Center, 1318 Bay Street, Bellingham
“The myth of the boundless ocean is no more. But from the troubled waters now rises a new wave of hope, of prosperity through preservation, playing out in communities across the country and intimately captured in the new film by Green Fire Productions, Ocean Frontiers. Ocean Frontiers takes us on an inspiring voyage to seaports and watersheds across the country—from the busy shipping lanes of Boston Harbor to a small fishing community in the Pacific Northwest; from America’s coral reefs in the Florida Keys to the nation’s premier seafood nursery in the Mississippi Delta. Here we meet an intermingling of unlikely allies, of industrial shippers and whale biologists, pig farmers and wetland ecologists, sport and commercial fishermen, reef snorkelers and many more, all of them embarking on a new course of cooperation, in defense of the seas that sustain us. This film brings a new way of thinking, a new way of living, in concert with the sea, in consideration of those yet to come. Co-sponsored by the Whatcom MRC, NSEA, Re-Sources, Surfrider, Pickford Film Center, and the Cascadia Weekly.” Click here to purchase tickets. The cost is $10 for adults and $7 for children.

Viking Supported Agriculture
Thursday, June 21st – Thursday, November 1st or Thursday, December 6^th
The VSA program is a project of the Office of Sustainability and is funded by a Whatcom Community Foundation grant to help our community support sustainable local agriculture by making nutritious food available to members of the Viking Community. Our VSA program supports Growing Washington and Alm Hill Gardens, located in Everson 25 minutes northeast of Bellingham.

Growing Washington partners with upwards of a dozen small local Whatcom and Skagit County farms. By partaking in the VSA program and receiving fresh veggies you support local growers by investing all-at-once in well over a dozen small farms!

To Sign Up: There are two ways to sign up. The easiest is to visit Growingwashington.org, click on “Now Accepting 2012 CSA Members!” and  follow the directions. Choose your “Pickup Location” as Whatcom-Bellingham-WWU, and pay by credit card. You can also sign up via snail mail (for check/cash payment). Contact Simon Davis-Cohen at 503-756-7019 or  simon@readthedirt.org to get the mail-in sign up form, or if you have any other questions.

Summer Rides: Musical Bike Tour
Friday, June 22th, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Departs from Fountain Bistro, 1910 Broadway Street, Bellingham
“Tune up” your bike for a tuneful tour of Bellingham’s favorite music shops. Meet and listen to some of our talented local musicians who will play the instruments they love at a variety of shops. Mojo Music features ukulele by Tom Hodge, Piper Music, The Bow Shop, Wind Works, Quist Violins, and checkmate Music will all join the chorus.

Cob Designs Workshop: Essential Cob
Friday, June 22th – Tuesday, June 26th
This 5 day workshop includes mixing, building, and shaping with cob, as well as foundation work and plaster finishing techniques. All workshops are hands-on and open to all ages. They are fun and physical by nature, we encourage each person to work at a sustainable pace. Meals are  provided and camping is available. Pre-registration is required. The cost for this class is $315 per person plus a $50 non-refundable place holding fee (taken off total). Sign up with a friend and save 10%. The register and learn more about the time and location, call 360-610-7823 or send a message through the  contact page.

Efficient Rainwater Irrigation Systems
Saturday, June 23rd, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, RE: Sources Sustainable Living Center, 2309 Meridian Street, Bellingham
Developing a well managed irrigation system that meets- not exceeds – the needs of your landscape is integral to efficiently using your water supply. Learn how to minimize your time and water bill by eliminating runoff, evaporation, and creating a watering schedule that is appropriate for your plants and soil. This is an excellent follow-up class to the Rainwater Catchment for Your Home. The water source we will be using in this hands-on in-the-garden demonstration workshop will be a gravity-fed rainwater drip irrigation system. Pre-registration is required. To register, contact Hannah at 360-733-8307 or click here. The cost is $40 for members and $50 for members.

REvision Division Frame-Making with Eberhard Eichner
Saturday, June 23rd, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, Farmers Market, Depot Market Square, 1100 Railroad Avenue, Bellingham
Join Eberhard Eichner for a demonstration in building frames, mirrors trays, and more. Learn easy and inexpensive ways to create furniture as he creates functional pieces right before your eyes. Eberhard has been building furniture and doing finish carpentry for 30 years. His skill and creativity is creating new pieces daily in The RE Store’s new REvision Division. For more information, call 360-647-5921.

Food as Medicine: Workshop & Discussion
Saturday, June 23rd, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm, Harmony Fields Farm, 7465 Thomas Rd., Bow
Learn new approaches to understanding and appreciating food. Explore the role that whole foods and herbs play in our physical health, well-being, local harvesting, and traditions. The cost for admission is $10. To register, call 360-941-8196 or email at hfproduce@gmail.com.

10th Annual Home and Landscape Tour and Expo
Saturday, June 23rd and Sunday, June 24th, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm, Lincoln Square, 409 York Street
Do- it-yourself-ers and those looking for great contractors for an upcoming project will delight in a weekend of exploring beautiful, innovative and eco-friendly homes and Landscapes during the 10th annual Imagine This! Home & Landscape Tour, hosted by Sustainable Connections.

This year’s tour features even more of the best in green building and smart growth practices with examples of: affordable energy efficiency retrofits, solar panel installations, central downtown living, organic and edible landscapes, a huge green roof, innovative use of eco-friendly building materials, amazing stories of cost savings from energy efficiency upgrades, sustainable design and more.

A couple unique features this year include a hand built cob cottage, LEED Platinum and Gold homes, Farro garden bed construction, indoor/outdoor living, centuries old exterior preservation technique, meaningful re-purposing of building materials; and so much more.

Tickets are $12 and available NOW at Village Books, The Re Store, Community Food Co-ops (Cordata and Downtown), Bakerview Nursery and Garden Center, Garden Spot Nursery, and online at Brown Paper Tickets. Children 12 and under get in for FREE!

26th Annual Tour of Private Gardens
Saturday, June 23rd and Sunday, June 24th, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Come visit Bellingham’s finest private gardens! Tickets and directions are available at these locations: A Lot of Flowers, Bakerview Nursery, The Garden Room, The Garden Spot, The Gardens at Padden Creek, Kent’s Nursery, DeWilde’s Nursery, and Whatcom Convention and Visitors Bureau. Memberships and tickets are also available on the days of the tour at the gardens. Driving directions are included on the tour tickets. The cost is $15 for WHS members, $18 for non-members, and free for children under 12. For more information, email the WHS at info@whatcomhortsociety.org.

SINGLE PARENT BEAVER DAD GIVES A DAM
Beaver dads are often among the best in the animal kingdom, but one beaver widower who lost his long-time mate merits special attention.

“SWEET” PLANT FORCES ANIMALS TO SPIT
An innocent-sounding plant called “sweet mignonette” lures hungry animals in with berries, but then unleashes a toxic “mustard oil bomb” that forces diners to spit, according to a new study.

CARNIVOROUS PLANT CATAPULTS ANTS
One species of ant-eating carnivorous plant has a special trick to flip insects.

BIKES: NO BIG DEAL (FATHER’S DAY 2012)
I don’t come from a family where cycling was a big deal. But I kind of do. Leading up to Father’s Day this year, I’ve been reminded of how fathers and bikes have factored into my psyche.