STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS
Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment
February, 2002
Living Lightly
By DAN and BARBARA POLLOCK
Mud Pies and Purple Onions
Dear
Friends and Fellow Gardeners,
Amidst
all of the bad things that have been happening of late, I am happy to report
some good news.
Some
of you may have heard that there is an Arboretum being planned in the City of
Hughson just southeast of Modesto. I can tell you that it is true, as I am a
member of Hughson Arboretum Board of Directors.
This
Arboretum has long been the thought, desire, and
inspiration of Margaret Sturtevant who is responsible for putting together this wonderful
community project.
The
Board of Directors has developed goals that will be reflected in the landscape
design. Emphasis will be on historic and important trees, with gardens that are
completely organic and environmentally sustainable. The Arboretum will provide
horticultural education for students and members, and will have gardens that
represent peace and memorials to loved ones.
We
have been meeting for a little over a year, but within that last few months
things have started to come together.
Dennis
Dahlin has been hired as the Landscape Architect to work on the design and, at
the last Board meeting, Dennis presented a creative and beautiful master plan.
Some
of the master plan components are a visitor center, herb spiral, heritage
orchard, meditation garden, memorial grove, Mideast peace garden, delta-riparian forest, valley savannah, and Sierra vista mound. ( on a clear day the
Sierra is visible including half dome in Yosemite)
Several
years ago Margaret planted over three
acres of trees and shrubs that will be integrated into the ten acres of new
design.
The
Arboretum is located in Hughson on the corner of Whitmore and Euclid.
I
envision this place as a place to unwind, a place to take time out from the
frantic world to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of nature. A place to sit and
stay for awhile, a place for meditation, a place to learn, and to leave with the desire
to return.
Until
next time, Peace and good Gardening.
Ed
Sullivan’s mother served perfect Valentine’s Day
treat
By
TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL
Ed Sullivan, once asked for
his favorite dish, volunteered, “Here it is, the most delicious bread pudding
you’ve ever tasted, made as my mother made it.” The recipe was included in a
cookbook self published by my niece, Lisa, a chef in Minnesota, and gifted to
all the relatives at Christmas. When I made it for the family a short time
later, they agreed with Sullivan’s praises.
ED SULLIVAN’S MOTHER’S
BREAD PUDDING
2 egg yolks, slightly
beaten, reserve whites
2 cups fine dry bread crumbs*
1 whole egg
1/4 cup sugar
nutmeg
3 cups scalded milk
currant jelly*
1 t. vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
(*Note: I used freshly
processed and slightly dried dutch crust roll crumbs and Indira Clark’s
fabulous Mariposa Plum and Blackberry jam. Any favorite jam or bread crumbs may
be substituted.)
Put the bread crumbs in an
ungreased quart and a half casserole. Mix together and add beaten egg yolks,
whole egg, sugar, vanilla and scalded milk. Sprinkle with nutmeg and set
casserole in a pan of hot water about an inch deep. Bake in moderate oven (350
degrees) until knife inserted one inch from the edge comes out clean (about an
hour). Remove from oven and spread jelly over pudding. Cover with meringue made
of the egg whites and remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Return to oven about 15 minutes
until meringue is browned . Cool 20 to 30 minutes before serving.
Modesto
recycling program will take even food the dog won’t
eat
By
TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL
Modesto’s green can
recycling, originally established to accept garden and grass clippings and
prunings, has recently been expanded to include food waste recycling.
Vegetable and fruit
peelings, bread, egg shells, solid dairy products, meat and bones, fish and
other organic solid food scraps, as well as paper dinnerware and napkins, coffee
filters, tea bags and paper towels can be mixed into the green can along with
green waste. Solid food waste also may be wrapped in newspaper or brown paper
bags.
Green can recycling should
not include liquids, any kind of plastics or foil, blue bags or blue bag
recyclables (office paper and magazines, metal or glass containers), food
containers or packaging, diapers, animal feces, kitty litter, dirt or rocks, or
any type of household garbage.
Free countertop food waste
buckets are available, and arrangements can be made to deliver them for home use
by calling your local garbage collection company - Bertolotti Disposal,
537-8000, Gilton Solid Waste, 527-3781, or Waste Management, 538-2210.
Bruce
Frohman on Urban Sprawl
By
MYRTLE OSNER
“Without agriculture
there can be nothing else. Without food to eat nothing else is possible”
With these words Modesto
City Councilman Bruce Frohman showed his firm commitment to saving agricultural
land. In a recent interview, Mr. Frohman explained his actions on behalf of
placing urban limits around cities in Stanislaus County. In 47 years, according
to Rudy Platzek, retired urban planner,, at the current rate of urbanization, we
won’t be able to feed the people who are here, let alone the world market.
Frohman expressed his
disappointment that the “Visioning Process” ably led by Tom Van Groningen
about five years ago has gone nowhere. Its conclusions were highly touted at the
time and a glossy booklet published setting out a vision for Stanislaus county
which had been agreed upon after many public meetings.
At the time, GOAL (Growth,
Orderly, Affordable, Liveable), headed by Denny Jackman, was attempting to place
on the ballot the FOOD initiative, a measure calling for Stanislaus County
cities to establish urban limit lines. Stanislaus County would then accept that
these and all future urban growth would occur within these limits.
Frohman and Jackman were
persuaded by county leaders that the vision would take care of everything and
that the FOOD initiative wasn’t needed. So they withdrew their initiative from
circulation. No comprehensive implementation measures have ever been adopted to
establish urban limit lines. It remains a vision document without power. You
might say it’s a paper tiger.
Frohman emphatically states
that all jurisdictions, both city and county, must implement the vision together
if farmland is to be rescued from incessant sprawl.
“The county needs a unity
of purpose,” he avers. If one jurisdiction fails, all fail. Without urban
limits, cities will take agland whenever they want to grow. The county has
already shown its unwillingness to implement the vision by approving many
subdivisions and other urban uses outside of city boundaries (see Salida for an
example of development in unincorporated land on prime farmland)
Frohman says there may be
light at the end of the tunnel. A city-county committee is being convened to
work on concrete policies to implement the visioning process.
Counties by their very
nature do not have the capability to serve urbanized areas. Frohman mentions the
lack of drainage, inadequate streets, lack of other city services in areas
served by the county. In contrast, cities are equipped to provide services such
as police, roads, sewer systems, city water, parks, and all the other amenities
that city dwellers expect as their due. He is also aware that the Capital
Facilities Fees structure in Modesto needs adjusting to provide these services,
but at least there is a mechanism in place. Residents outside cities (when
subdivisions are built to look like cities) expect city services and are shocked
when informed that the county cannot provide them.
Achieving a more compact
city is one of Mr. Frohman’s ultimate goals. He relates this to the lack of
adequate transit systems here in California. He has worked for a transit system
that is convenient for everybody. Such systems work best in cities that are
denser than ours. He advocates bus systems that are frequent, on time, and
convenient to all. He includes in his pet peeves the lack of smaller housing for
those who don’t need the oversized houses now being built around here. He
claims no one is building starter homes, it being much more lucrative to build
big and bigger. “I don’t need a house this big,” he says,” but it was
all that was available.”
What
will it take to halt sprawl?
By
MYRTLE OSNER
Just as I was finishing the
article about Bruce Frohman, my World
Watch magazine came, with an article, “What will it take to halt
sprawl?” by Molly O’Meara Sheehan. Many of their findings back up
Frohman’s conclusions. Some Interesting quotes:
“Car-oriented urban
expansion has become a global phenomenon. Its effects aren’t just disrupting
pleasant neighborhoods and making it harder for people to get around. When new
construction caters to cars, those who cannot drive lose out. Children who must
rely on adults to drive them do not have the opportunity to develop the
independence and fitness enjoyed by children who can get around on foot or by
bicycle. The non-drivers are one-third of the US population.”
“As roads stretch cities
to new limits, paving over farms and forests, degrading local water supplies,
and wasting motor fuel, sprawl is beginning to seriously endanger the planet.
Road transportation is by far the fastest-growing source of carbon emissions and
increasing the precarious dependence on oil. Perhaps most insidiously of all,
sprawl is cutting off more and more of humanity from the direct contact with the
natural environment that reminds us how essential it is to keep that environment
healthy.”
The article talks about
three cities trying to reverse this situation by building densely around transit
corridors, and by infilling spaces that had been left behind. “A better mix of
housing for different income levels throughout the region would help reduce
travel demand, because when housing in one jurisdiction is available only to the
wealthy, for example, others must travel there to fill low wage jobs.”
Availability of smaller
shopping areas close to residents would also help, in that people could walk
there instead of having to drive to big box stores. We might take a lesson here.
In Village One, neighborhood centers originally were part of the General Plan.
So also were a mix of housing. There was even a provision for an affordable
housing trust fund but it never got off the ground. These ideas were amended out
at the behest of developers and residents who said it would “lower their
property values.”
Perhaps Bruce Frohman would
not go so far as to endorse all of the ideas put forth in World Watch, but
he’s on the right track. What will the Central Valley look Like in 20 years?
A number of months ago, we
published a map and study by Rudy Platzek of Ceres, a retired urban planner, who
predicted what the Central Valley would look like in 20 Years. His vision showed
a continuous urban corridor from Sacramento to Bakersfield, wiping out some of
the finest agricultural land in the world. It is beginning to look like that
already. What will it take to turn this around? Or is it really too late? Or is
anybody listening?
Source; World Watch, Jan. Feb. 2002, p. 12, “Sprawling World.” Visit www.worldwatch.org
By
KEN KOHLER
Approximately 3 years ago I
was adopted. My age, sexual orientation, creed nor color mattered to Buddy, who
lived in the apartment across from where I did. We have since moved. He liked me
from the start although I was reticent. I was willing to be friends, but being
adopted was a major commitment. I finally consented and Buddy moved in with me.
Neither one of us has regretted it, and our love and affection for each other
grows everyday. Buddy was always willing to give his former family unconditional
love and asked very little in return, but they were not even able to give him a
decent meal. It was a relief for them when he moved out. Within 6 weeks of being
with me Buddy was fat and sassy to the point that his former family did not even
recognize him.
You may have guessed by now
that Buddy is not a Homo Sapiens, but
he is very human. Buddy is a cat who practices the most ideal of all human
virtues—unconditional love. His unconditional love is based upon trust. This
is a universal trait that all warm blooded animals have. You can have lust
without trust, but never love. The animals have a basic instinct about who can
be trusted and who cannot.
I remember an incident with
a former cat Tomasina who is now in kitty heaven. She was very mellow and
welcoming except when my ex-wife’s former supervisor paid us a visit one
evening. This lady was very aggressive and not very nice. Tomasina picked up on
it immediately and scratched her—the one and only time she ever scratched
anyone. She had good instincts. I personally believe that God sent us the
animals, not to be protected by us, but to be models for how we should love each
other, and as such they are deserving of our protection.
The loss of a pet,
especially a dog or a cat, can be as devastating as losing a spouse or child. I
remember when my dog Pal passed away after having minor surgery which caused a
heart attack. I was deeply upset although I was a teenager. The loss of my
sister could not have been more devastating. I believe that, because they give
us so much love, their passing
causes so much pain.
Our pets live totally in
the present, except for remembering things that they need to protect themselves.
This is another lesson for us. Our relationship with them has to be renewed
every day. Wouldn’t it be great if we renewed our relationship with each other
on daily basis.
As Valentine’s Day
approaches and we are buying presents for our human friends let’s not forget
our special pets who model unconditional love not just 1 day of the year, but
everyday.
