Our Creeks, Our Selves: Watershed Tour of Willow and Cedar Mill Creeks

Our creeks are the stories of ourselves. Their health, flow, and supported wildlife  all reflect the human state- past and present. Join the Rock Creek Watershed Partners as we explore the state of Willow and Cedar Mill Creeks on Saturday, July 15^th from 10am to 1pm.

Neighborhood coordinators are key volunteers that help to catalyze a neighborhood and get homeowners interested in planting with FOT.

Training will prepare people for the next planting season, November 2006-April 2007.

Each year, Tree Team volunteers monitor the health of newly planted street trees. Volunteers are trained to identify problems with tree care and maintenance. Each volunteer is assigned a neighborhood route where trees have been planted during the past year. Each tree's health is inspected: Is it receiving enough water? Has its bark been scarred by lawnmowers or car doors? Is the ground around it properly weeded and mulched? Is the tree healthy and free of diseases and pests? Volunteers leave door-hangers for homeowners, congratulating them for taking good care of their new trees and identifying ways they can help to improve their trees' health.

Join the Portland Water Bureau on May 6^{th, 2006 for a FREE class about Portland’s drinking water system, the effects of the system on native salmon, and the current work to protect and restore wild salmon in the Bull Run River and Sandy River Basin.}

 Tired of pulling garden weeds? ? get revenge ? eat them! Visit    
an organic farm and make a delectable wild gourmet salad on the spot with      
other participants. We'll harvest the weeds that the farmers would be          
pulling. Learn how to identify common, plentiful, nutritious, and flavorful    
wild vegetables in this field trip. Get real hands-on experience with plants   
you'll see on a farm and in your own garden. Take advantage of these readily   
available sources of nutrients, and dietary variety. Wild gourmet garden       
vegetables plant themselves, enjoy the rich moist growing environment of the   
garden, and provide many seasons of foods that can add meal options you        
never dreamed of before. Once your learn these wild foods you can change       
from a "weeding" to a "harvesting" mentality. Meeting Site & Parking: Sauvie island. Sauvie island is a 10 mile drive from downtown Portland. Go north towards St Helens on Highway 30. Turn right onto the Sauvie Island bridge. We'll meet at the dirt lot on the left between the       
island store & the bridge. We'll car pool or caravan from there to an          
organic farm. We have a map to the site on our website. We will meet in the rectangular area   
below the star. Use the Registration Form available through the workshop page of our web       
site. For more information call Wild Food Adventures.       
Enrollment Limited! - Advanced registration reserves you a place in the        
class.  Walk ons may be turned away if our class limit is reached.      Wild Food Adventures is an- Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants & Other Foragables.

 Come join us learn about the edible plants found in a northwest    
forest. Spring is when with wildflowers are blooming and wild greens are        
ripe for picking. See plants like wild violet, Solomon's seal, fairy bells,    
licorice fern, various fiddleheads, wild ginger and more. Learn the many        
ways they can be used as food. Explore one of the more beautiful forests in     
Portland's own back yard. Meet at the Wildwood Trail entrance from Germantown Road. From    

downtown Portland take Highway 30 towards the St John's Bridge. Just after      
going under the bridge there will be a sign leading you to Germantown Road.     
Turn left there onto NW Bridge Ave. Soon on your right will be Germantown       
Road. At 1.2 miles up Germantown Road CONTINUE PAST a triangular parking        
area to your left. Then, just over 1.5 miles up Germantown Road (0.3 miles      
past that last parking area) there will be a small parking area to your left    
with an official 4 x 8 foot park entrance sign labeled "Forest Park - Wild      
in the City" that includes a large detailed map of the whole of Forest Park.    
We will meet there at the Wildwood trail entrance. If you drive past the        
entrance, the intersection of Germantown Road and NW Skyline is .5 miles        
away - just turn around and go back. If you do not see the "Wild in the         
City" park entrance sign, you are at the wrong parking area. Parking will be    
at a premium, you may have to park down the road. Don't leave valuables in      
your car. Use the Registration Form available through the workshop page of our web        
site. Enrollment Limited! - Advanced registration reserves you a place in the        
class.  Walk ons may be turned away if our class limit is reached.  Wild Food Adventures is an Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants & Other Foragables.

This month's featured speaker is Metro Council
President David Bragdon. Bragdon is Metro's first
President, elected in 2002, and highlights of his
tenure include funding a new initiative to open four
new regional parks within a decade, establishing a
Greenspaces Policy Advisory Committee and charging it
with establishing a regional system of parks and
natural areas, and implementing reforms that realized
significant annual cost savings in the Metro Council
office. Bragdon's ultimate goal is to establish the
Metro region as one of the most economically
competitive, environmentally sound, and socially
dynamic regions of the world.

Mama Earth
Leslie Bloom Van Ee, US, documentary, 88 min., 2005

** SUSTAINABILITY NIGHT! **

World Premiere! Mama Earth is silent no more. The planet you live on speaks out. While experts offer solutions to the economic forces driving the sustainability movement, Mama Earth interlaces her eternal whimsy and wisdom into their thought-provoking commentary. Prepare yourself for an experience that will compel you to reevaluate your relationship with Mama Earth and concepts that will prompt action. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll, at the very least, recycle. Featuring many Portlanders! Come have a beer and meet and greet your neighbors and colleagues.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John
Taggart Siegel, USA, documentary, 83 min., 2005

** FREE Screening! Come meet Farmer John **

A roller-coaster ride through the life of maverick farmer, John Peterson who presided over the near death of his family farm. Tracking the life of Farmer John interspersed with home movies of his childhood, Taggart Siegel takes us through the demise and transformation of a traditional American, Midwestern family farm through the eyes and words of playwright and farmer John Peterson. In a moment of crisis, John copes with depression, travels to Mexico and gets creative producing the play Ember Days on the contemporary farmers’ plight and yet he resurrects himself as an organic farmer. Throughout, he contends with slander, arson, a Sheriff’s investigation and allegations of murder and devil worship. You’re never sure what’s around the corner in this must see award winning doc!

TrackersNW presents the

BACK TO BASICS SERIES: The Hearth (Portland, Oregon)

Cooking with New World Foods for the Holidays

How have the native foods of North and South America influenced cuisine all over the world?