Regularly-scheduled planning and coordination meeting of the APLDCA East Bay District Board of Directors. District members and sponsors are welcome to attend these meetings, but due to limited space, arrangements must be made prior to the meeting by contacting the District Secretary.

10th Anniversary of Harvest Day

sponsored by The University of CaliforniaCooperative Extension anf Fair Oaks Recreation and Parks District.
join us in celebrating the summer harvest from the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, maintained by Master Gardeners, and the harvest from the Fair Oaks Community Garden.

Harvest Day features many interesting and knowledgeable speakers addressing many timely garden topics. There will also be outstanding demonstration speakers throughout the day.

In addition, there will be more than 18 educational tables, including a Sacramento district APLD table.

there will also be a table staffed by UC Master Gardeners to help with landscape/garden problems and answer general questions.

Enjoy this self-guided and bicycle-friendly tour in and around Palo Alto. Learn what motivates people to grow their own food! Discover how folks weave edible plants into both garden beds and the landscape! Meet the gardeners and get inspired by the special features of their gardens! The ten gardens are all very different and unique. They cover a broad range of styles and sizes. What they share is that they all demonstrate the enthusiasm of the owner/gardeners for organic gardening and sustainability.

This tour is an important annual fundraising event for two great local organizations that support our environment by educating gardeners. Find out more about these two great organizations: Conexions at www.conexions.org and The Common Ground Garden Supply and Education Center at www.commongroundinpaloalto.org.

Please watch this space for further details.

Escape those August doldrums and join us for a much-requested presentation on the uses of metal in the garden!

Our speaker will be Eric Powell, a noted artist and metal fabricator. Eric will present many of his designs of gates, furniture, railings and sculptures and will discuss various metals and finishes. Most of his work is high-end, but he will also discuss what is possible for a moderate sized budget.

Powell says of his work, ‘In making sculpture, gates and furniture I cross over the line of so-called function and so-called non-function all the time. On the one hand they are distinct and different languages. On the other hand they inform and influence each other. I don’t think in strictly categorical terms. The difference between design and art is something to explore, not something to try to define’.

Powell’s studio is located in West Berkeley. His work includes commissions and his direct studio work. He has completed over four hundred public and private commissions since 1989.

Powell’s most recent Public Art commissions are ‘Mandala Gates’, entry gates for the City of Berkeley Corporation Yard, Berkeley (2007); ‘Ripple Effect’, the gateway to Goodman Swimming Pool in Madison, Wisconsin (2006); the entry gate for Bella Vista Park in Oakland (2005); and five bronze sculptures for Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco (2003). He is presently engaged in public art projects for the cities of Brentwood, San Francisco, and Castro Valley.

APLD August: Independent Community Service. Between summer and folks
attending the National Conference in CT, we suggest using your two-hour meeting time volunteering with an organization of your choice. You are welcome to join Alma volunteering Wednesday morning on the restoration team in Glen Canyon. It's fun, beautiful, dog friendly, and if you aren¹t aware of this natural resource it¹s a great way to become acquainted with the 75-acre open space filled with native species, birds, reptiles, and Islais Creek in slow summer flow. Google Glen Canyon Park for more information. Please RSVP Alma 415-586-6578, alma@secondnature.bz.

Alternatively, please let us know with whom you will be volunteering - maybe write a paragraph for the newsletter.

The Farwest Show: North America's top nursery & greenhouse industry trade show.

With more than 870 exhibitors and 1,365 booth spaces, the annual Farwest Show in Portland, Oregon, is your ticket to everything green. The 2008 show is scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, August 21-23, in Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. The companion Farwest Show Seminars will run Wednesday-Saturday, also in the same location. Nursery tours are available Tuesday-Wednesday, August 19-20.

The Farwest Show, now in its 36th consecutive year, is proudly produced by the Oregon Association of Nurseries. The growth of the show over the years is a reflection of the growth of Oregon's nursery industry in general. Oregon is one of the largest nursery growing states in the United States, ranking third in total annual wholesale sales behind only California and Florida.

NURSERY TOURS: The Farwest Show nursery tours showcase Oregon's quality and diverse plant material that will help increase sales for your business and satisfy your customers. If you want to learn what's new, what's available and alternatives to sold out favorites, these tours are for you. Please note: These tours are not production technique-oriented tours.

A diversity of plant material from liners to specimens, size of nursery and production types (container, bare root, pot-in-pot, B&B) will be featured on each tour so there's bound to be something for everyone. The tours are specifically designed for:

--Growers looking for liner material;
--Retailers interested in nurseries selling to independent garden centers
--Landscape professionals, retailers, municipalities and others purchasing finished, landscape-ready and bare root product

NEW VARIETIES SHOWCASE: View new varieties in a relaxed landscape setting, the only one of its kind at a green industry tradeshow. You'll see an impressive display of new plants at the display garden, which is created by a team of local landscape design professionals. Last year's display garden stopped people in their tracks and left some speechless!

Look for more new varieties in the 2008 showcase display garden on the show floor. Plants displayed in the showcase are new to commercial production and can be purchased through Farwest Show exhibitors.