Altadena Urban Farmers Market

If the photo looks a bit homey it's because the Altadena Urban Farmers Market takes place at someone's house.

Granted, it's a big house, but it is indeed private property. If you're local you're likely familiar with the Zane Grey Estate, owned by Steven Rudicel and Gloria Putnam, a young Altadena couple. I can't claim to know them but this past Sunday I stood in the goat pen (beyond the grape vines out back) and introduced myself to Steven, just to have a chance to tell him "thank you." I'm awed at how these two regularly open up their historic home to their community.

John and I thought we might pop up to the market and buy some soap from Anne Louise Bannon (because her hand-made soap is superior to every other soap we've ever used), then pop back home. But just because we don't know Rudicel and Putnam doesn't mean we didn't know about half the people at the market, and that included patrons and vendors. Besides Anne and her wine-making husband Michael Holland, we stopped to talk politics with this one, hiking trails with that one, etc. Our neighbor from across the street was there with her daughter. Michael Coppess from East of Allen stopped to chat. Our friend the Apron Strings Baker was there! She who makes the cookies for A Penny for Your Thoughts, the coolest coffee-shop-within-a-gift-shop in Pasadena, was selling challah and cookies at the market! She sold out, of course, as did Anne. You want the good stuff, you get there early. These folks make and grow things at home. It's small business at its loving best.

Read Felicia Friesema's LA Weekly article to learn more about this unique event. Felicia herself gave me this giant, delicious mulberry when I saw her at the market. You meet the most fascinating people there.

The Altadena Urban Farmers Market is more than a market. It's a community bonding event. Yet it's possible John and I attended the final one. Let's hope there'll be another market in June.

Lost Garden: Found

A couple of quick facts about Earthside Nature Center: it was founded in 1971 by the Pasadena Girls Club and naturalist and author Elna S. Bakker. Kevin Connelly, a horticulturalist and native plant advocate, took over the day-to-day operations in 1975. Volunteers and contributions helped Bakker and Connelly keep the place running for twenty years or so. But both of them happened to die in the mid-1990s and no one took up the cause. Earthside has been returning to nature ever since.

Earthside Nature Center appeared to be an abandoned idyll until recently. Arroyo Lover told us in yesterday's comments that plans are in the works, and I found a .pdf about it on the City's website. Since I don't know how to link you to a .pdf, I'll tell you simply to go to this page and click on the GREENVISION link. It takes you to a .pdf of a study that was done this year by four grad students in Urban and Regional Planning at Cal Poly Pomona. Among other things, the study offers suggestions and potential uses for Earthside (the uses they suggest are all parks).

One of the people the Cal Poly students met with was the guy who got the Altadena Hiker and me interested in Earthside in the first place, open space advocate Michael Coppess of East of Allen. His was the last comment on yesterday's post before I had to sign off. He said, "Most recently, the parcel was slated for a fire and police training area. Thus far, there is no official city action preserving the site for open space, park or garden use."

So though Earthside will no longer be abandoned, perhaps it will also no longer be an idyll. I'm glad I got to snoop around and take pictures. More tomorrow.

Lost Garden: Paths

I might not have known about the abandoned Earthside Nature Center if the Altadena Hiker hadn't posted about it. She might not have known about it if Michael hadn't posted about it over at East of Allen. He's posted about it three times: first here, then here and a third post here.

One day, while the Station Fire kept our trails closed in the mountains, Karin (the Hiker) took me on a tour of the nature center. I love hidden spots like this. Nature has overgrown the edges that humans once put there to define it, making it perhaps even more beautiful in disorder. It's over at 3168 E. Del Mar Blvd., behind an abandoned learning center. You can cut through the empty parking lot and take a look for yourself.

Karin, Phoebe the Boxer, Boz the Mixer and I did some snooping. I'll show you what we found over the next couple of days, and I'll do some research. You can also click on Michael's East of Allen posts for more information.

This is the first series I've taken with my new Canon 20D that I feel are good enough to post. I still keep the Olympus SP350 in my purse. It's a good little stealth camera.