2nd Annual West End Earth Day Celebration! April 5, 2010

The Friends of the West End Park will be hosting our wonderful 2nd Annual Earth Day Celebration!

THIS WEEKEND!!! 2nd ANNUAL EARTH DAY CELEBRATION at WEST END PARK!!!

• Participate in ‘Edible Landscaping’ project!
• Make your very own rain barrel for only $40! Pre-register by contacting Jamila: 404-693-1742
• Children activities include creating garden art, face-painting &  plantings
• Build new benches for the park
• Plant new trees
• Mulch existing trees
• Clean playground mulch and overall park!

WISH LIST:
-Fruit or Flowering trees
-Gardening Soil
-Playground mulch

Starts @ 10am! Don’t miss it!
West End Park (Oak/Lucille)

I’d like to get involved, how can I help?

• Cash donations can help buy much needed supplies!
• If you’re knowledgeable in areas of  reusing, gardening, water harvesting, children’s environmental education and art…consider facilitating a workshop for others. Email: yomara@9to5.org!
• Donate a tree: we’d like fruit trees but a spring blooming flower tree would bring much needed color to the park. You can even make an art plaque to label your tree!
• Volunteer: We’ll need volunteers for set-up, during the event & clean-up. Please consider picking up a shift even if it’s just 45 minutes! We need you!

For more information, to give a donation or sign-up for a volunteer shift contact:

• Jamila Norman: jamilanorman@yahoo.com
• Yomara Velez: yomaravelez@yahoo.com

This event can be a wonderful community event but we need you to get involved!

REUSE: Children’s Floor Playmats February 22, 2010

A good idea, glue letters to blocks and make your own letter stamps-pretty cool. Original post from: http://bkids.typepad.com/

REUSE: PAPER January 30, 2010

Use junk mail, left over wrapping paper, food wrappers, old magazines, cut little hearts or shapes that make your heart happy and arrange in frames. Sounds silly but it can be beautiful and a great way to recycle…

Source: Sarah + Bendrix (flickr). These are for sale on etsy:http://www.etsy.com/shop/sarahandbendrix

Source: Sarah + Bendrix (flickr)

REUSE: GRANDMA’s ROCKING CHAIR

Photo from Design Sponge

REUSE: Pez Containers II January 29, 2010

source: apartmentterapy.com

SHOP LOCAL: Cute V-DAY PRESENTS! January 27, 2010

These cute magnets look just like heart candies! At $2.50 they're healthier for you and will last longer than candy. Buy: craftesania.etsy.com

Creamy pink SOY candles in salvaged cans! Reuse, Reduce, Recycle! 10% goes to Friends of the West End Park! Buy: craftesania.etsy.com

Cute alternative to traditional classroom Valentine's! Buy: craftesania.etsy.com

FIND YOUR AVERAGE LAST FREEZE… January 26, 2010

FIND YOUR AVERAGE LAST FREEZE…

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/How-to-Find-Average-Last-Spring-Frost-Date.aspx

WHAT TO GROW IN MARCH…

VEGETABLES	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Arugula		XXX
Asparagus			XXX
Beet		XXX
Broccoli	XXX		XXX
Cabbage	XXX		XXX
Carrot		XXX
Celery	XXX
Chard	XXX
Eggplant	XXX
Endive	XXX	XXX	XXX
Fava bean		XXX
Fennel, bulb	XXX
Kale	XXX		XXX
Kohlrabi	XXX	XXX	XXX
Leek	XXX		XXX
Lettuce	XXX	XXX	XXX
Mache		XXX
Onions, bulb	XXX
Pac choi	XXX	XXX	XXX
Parsnip		XXX
Peas (snow, shell, snap)		XXX
Peppers	XXX
Potatoes		XXX
Radishes		XXX
Rhubarb			XXX
Radicchio	XXX	XXX	XXX
Scallion (green onion)	XXX		XXX
Sorrel		XXX
Spinach		XXX	XXX
Tomato	XXX
Turnip		XXX

CULINARY HERBS	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Basil	XXX
Chives		XXX	XXX
Cilantro		XXX
Dill		XXX
Fennel, leaf			XXX
Horseradish			XXX
Marjoram	XXX
Parsley		XXX	XXX
Rosemary			XXX
Sage			XXX
Savory, summer	XXX		XXX
Thyme			XXX

REUSE: Old Suitcase January 24, 2010

For directions go to: http://www.readymade.com/projects/article/have_drinks_will_travel

REUSE: Old Board Game January 20, 2010

Turn old board games into a bulletin board and the game pieces into tacks…more info: http://readymade.com/projects/article/scrabble_babble

Back to the lovely West End… January 9, 2010

I missed the West End!

This past week, we headed to the Smokey Mountains to celebrate my RESPITE AWARD!  I received this award as a recognition for my community organizing work, for more information visit: http://www.noacentral.org/page.php?id=277. As part of  the award, I was honored to receive an all inclusive, paid trip to the mountains!

This award is given annually to two Community Organizers in the U.S. The award is a time for Organizers to retreat, reflect, rest and renew. And so we headed up to the Smokey Mountains last Saturday and had a wonderful time (many thanks to the National Organizer’s Alliance). Now, I’m getting ready to start this year right!

While in the mountains I knitted (of course) but I also made soaps, candles and other projects with Diego. The most exciting part of the trip was the purchase of a loom (that I’ve been wanting for some time now), on our way home we stopped by Asheville (btw I love it there) and I finally bought the loom! Now I’m all HAPPINESS- in 2010…I will learn to weave.

Overall…I spent a lot ot time during this trip thinking about the coming year and what projects I’d like to focus on.  I know it’s going to be a wonderful year in our little neighborhood. I look forward to more art, gardens, parks + progressive initiatives (and development) for the West End in 2010! Inspire…

Diego is taking more and more pictures-he also loves filming.

Celebrating the snow!

HANDMADE w/ lots of LOVE!

Diego's sketch book...